The 2017 Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn ended up being the most watched college football game for the regular season.
A total of 13.657 million watched the game, which ended up just edging out the SEC and Big Ten championship games.
AUBURN, AL – NOVEMBER 25: Jalen Hurts #2 of the Alabama Crimson Tide avoids the pass rush of the Auburn Tigers during the fourth quarter at Jordan Hare Stadium on November 25, 2017 in Auburn, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
This shouldn’t be overly surprising given the implications of the game. We were all led to believe that the Iron Bowl would have massive playoff implications. Obviously, that appeared to be true at the time.
However, that turned out not to be the case at all. Alabama lost that game and the committee still put them in. Auburn went on to lose the SEC title game and is on the outside looking in of the playoff. Of course, nobody knew that’s how it’d all shake out.
It was also a great game. Too bad the whole playoff implications things didn’t work out.