Key Takeaways

Texas leads college football’s TV ratings through Week 8 of the 2026 season, averaging 8.344 million viewers ahead of Ohio State’s 7.460 million and Oklahoma’s 6.274 million.

Quarterback Arch Manning, Peyton and Eli Manning’s nephew, has thrown for 1,507 yards, 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions across seven games while helping draw attention to the Longhorns.

Nielsen’s rankings cover national broadcasts from Aug. 29 through Oct. 24; No. 11 Texas next faces unranked Mississippi State on Halloween.

The college football season is heading toward its final weeks, and Texas is officially drawing the biggest television audience this time around. The latest Nielsen ratings show the Longhorns averaging 8.344 million viewers through Week 8 of the 2026 season, putting them at No. 1.

Texas has been in the spotlight thanks to its quarterback with a big name, Arch Manning. What makes him stand out is that he's the nephew of famed NFL quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Eli Manning.…