The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS The Wolverines had posted three top-five finishes, placing third at the In- verness Intercollegiate Sept. 21-22, second at the Windon Memorial Classic Sept. 27-28 and fifth at The MacKenzie Oct. 12-13. • Even though the Michigan field hockey team saw its season come to an end in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, it will host the NCAA Champion- ship this year. Syracuse and Connecticut will face off Nov. 20 at Ocker Field in one semifinal, followed by North Carolina and Duke that same day. The winners will advance to the championship game Nov. 22. This is the first time Ocker Field is hosting the NCAA Championship. Michigan Ranks Third In Big Ten Viewership Over the first 10 weeks of the football season (Sept. 3-Nov. 7), Michigan appeared on Nielsen-rated national television five times, drawing an average of 4,302,200 viewers to its broadcasts against Utah (FOX Sports 1), Oregon State (ABC), BYU (ABC), Michigan State (ESPN) and Minnesota (ESPN). The Wolverines' television appeal ranks third in the Big Ten this season, behind Ohio State (6,617,749) and Michigan State (4,424,400). However, both OSU and MSU benefited from a marquee primetime game on ABC/ESPN. The Buckeyes' Sept. 7 matchup with Virginia Tech — the only college football game of the day (Labor Day) — was seen by 10,585,000, while MSU's Sept. 12 meeting with Oregon attracted 7,898,000 sets of eyeballs. If the biggest television audience for each of the top three teams is removed (for Michigan, it would be the 7,398,000 that watched the U-M-MSU game), then Ohio State has averaged 5,295,267 in its other three nationally televised games, Michi- gan State has averaged 3,556,000 and Michigan has averaged 3,528,250. BTN Natl. Average School Games TV* Viewers Ohio State 5 4 6,617,749 Michigan State 4 5 4,424,400 Michigan 4 5 4,302,200 Wisconsin 6 4 3,628,500 Minnesota 4 5 2,448,200 Rutgers 6 3 1,949,333 Nebraska 4 6 1,793,333 BTN Natl. Average School Games TV* Viewers Penn State 3 7 1,773,374 Northwestern 5 4 1,474,000 Iowa 2 7 1,272,543 Indiana 5 4 936,746 Illinois 5 4 673,500 Maryland 5 4 632,000 Purdue 3 6 611,333 * Nielsen includes broadcasts on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNNews, NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX and FOX Sports 1