Weekend TV Ratings for Sports ZuD Watches

The USA Today's Sports Media God analyzes this past weekend's top events:

Given the clamor for years about college football's Bowl Championship Series — and the various groups involved with competing interests — it seems astonishing that President-elect Barack Obama would want to wade anywhere near the quagmire. In election-eve comments on ESPN, he said he'd like to see a college football playoff. On CBS' 60 Minutes, he went into more detail, suggesting "you could trim back on the regular season" to accommodate an eight-team playoff.

It might be interesting to see how the White House could influence college football, but it's hard to imagine how even the proverbial Leader of the Free World could somehow straighten out how the sport crowns its champion. But then again, nobody has tried airstrikes.

Event	Day, time (p.m., ET)	Rating (households)	Outlet
NFL: main gameSan Diego- Pittsburgh	Sunday, 4:15	14.3 (11 million)	CBS
The comparison: Down 16% from comparable coverage, featuring Dallas-Washington game, in time slot last year.
The spin on the spin:The Steelers' 11-10 win shows NFL games, if close, don't need much scoring to be solid draws.
NFL: Dallas-Washington	Sunday, 8:30	13.5 (10.4 million)	NBC
The comparison: Up 25% from New England-Buffalo game in time slot last year.
The spin on the spin: As with the Steelers' win, TV star Dallas, in 14-10 victory, shows fans don't need much scoring to keep them watching.

College football: South Carolina-Florida	Saturday, 3:30	3.7 (2.8 million)	CBS
The comparison: Up 28% from LSU-Mississippi game in time slot last year.
The spin on the spin: Not bad, considering third-ranked Florida won in a suspenseless 56-6 blowout.
NASCAR: Ford 400	Sunday, 3:45	3.6 (2.7 million)	ABC
The comparison: Down 5% from comparable coverage last year.
The spin on the spin: Not much suspense in Jimmie Johnson nailing down a season title in NASCAR's finale, but the same core fans tune in no matter what.