Good morning. This is LEADOFF, today’s early look inside Atlanta sports.
Auburn's 26-14 victory over Alabama was the most watched football game on Atlanta television over the weekend, surpassing both the Georgia-Georgia Tech game and the Falcons' game.
The Auburn-Alabama game posted a 21.1 Nielsen rating in the Atlanta TV market Saturday, meaning 21.1 percent of the market’s households watched on average. That equals an audience of about 510,000 local homes for the game.
The Falcons’ 34-20 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday drew a 19.6 rating in the Atlanta market, equalling an audience of about 473,000 local homes.
And Georgia’s 38-7 win over Georgia Tech drew a 16.6 rating here on Saturday, or about 401,000 local homes.
Nationally, Auburn-Alabama was the most watched college football game of the season so far, averaging a 7.8 rating across the 56 metered markets.
READ ON …
For the second time in three weeks, the College Football Playoff rankings will get a major shakeup tonight, including their third No. 1 team of the season. See story here.
For the seventh time, the SEC Championship game is a rematch of a regular-season game. The winner of the regular-season game is 5-1 in the rematches. See story here.
Don't ask Kirby Smart if Georgia is ahead of schedule. But know that it is. See Mark Bradley's column here.
