Another ratings note ... our Friday night rating vs. Indiana on the ratings graveyard that is FS1 (965k) is starting to look a bit more impressive. Indiana only drew 482k for a 3:30 pm EST Saturday game at Cincinnati, so I am inclined to believe a very decent chunk of that was our fans (especially when you consider that we drew 512k for our game against Wyoming...). Here is a comparison of our Friday night IU game rating with some Saturday BTN/FS1 ratings for comparison (times are CST):
Georgia Southern at Nebraska: 1.24 million (6:30 pm on FS1) ... God, their fans are crazy.
Minnesota at Michigan State: 1.11 million (2:30 pm on BTN) ... great rating.
Illinois at Indiana: 965k (Friday at 7:00 pm on FS1)
North Dakota at Nebraska: 889k (2:30 pm on BTN) ... see above!
Iowa at Rutgers: 739k (6:30 pm on FS1)
Central Michigan at Penn State: 628k (11:00 am on BTN)
Wyoming at Illinois: 512k (3:00 pm on BTN)
Illinois State at Wisconsin: 498k (6:00 pm on BTN)
New Mexico State at Wisconsin: 426k (2:30 pm on BTN)
Nevada at Iowa: 348k (6:00 pm on BTN)
SMU at Maryland: 257k (6:30 pm on FS1)
Buffalo at Maryland: 181k (11:00 am on BTN)
Duke at Northwestern: 160k (11:00 am on FS1)
So, even though it was on a Friday, Illinois/Indiana is the third highest rated game on the BTN/FS1 this year, not that far behind Minnesota at Michigan State. And considering Indiana's pretty pathetic rating for a Saturday afternoon game on a channel that reaches WAY more viewers, I would say that is encouraging. I think a good Illini team that gets to play in these FOX, ABC, ESPN, etc. slots would draw a lot better than many here might suspect.