On a more personal level, Coach Prime is the more popular figure compared to Michigan’s head coach Jim Harbaugh. With the transformation that he brought to Colorado, Deion Sanders’ impact on college football is tremendous. It’s not surprising he was named the 2023 Sportsperson of the Year by Sports Illustrated.

But is it the same story when it comes to their teams in general? The Michigan Wolverines and the Colorado Buffaloes are records apart but it’s interesting to see their popularity soaring almost along the same lines. While the two teams may have stuff to compare with each other, a recent report told no lie that Michigan is more popular than Colorado in terms of views. 

Michigan beats Colorado in most-watched weekly college football views

As revealed in a recent Twitter post by CFB Home, Michigan and Colorado clinched the third and fourth spots, respectively, after Ohio State and Alabama as the most-watched teams. Michigan averaged a weekly view of 4.78M while Colorado fell slightly behind with 4.50M average weekly views. The Buffs came in strong, making a statement in their double-overtime victory over the Colorado State Rams, which garnered 9.3 million views, making it ESPN’s most-watched college football game. 

If Colorado continued with such hype without their devastating blowout loss to the Oregon Ducks, they could’ve surpassed the leading program in the most watched teams in college football. But in the end, Michigan beat Colorado’s record by defeating their rivals The Game garnered 19.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched college football game of the 2023 regular season. 

The presence of Ohio, Alabama, and Michigan in top positions is very predictable, but Colorado was definitely the dark horse in terms of popularity. Both Colorado and Michigan consistently remained in the headlines for a majority of the season but for very contrasting reasons.

Michigan’s edge over Colorado in notoriety 

Colorado’s honeymoon phase was short-lived because almost immediately after the fall to Oregon, Coach Prime’s Buffs lost a huge part of their social popularity. While people still tuned in for the headlines, they stopped tuning in for the games. As for Michigan, even before the rivalry game against Ohio State happened, the Wolverines were already heaping lots of attention and interest. Jim Harbaugh’s 2-time 3-game suspension has put the team on the headlines regularly throughout the season. 

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Jim Harbaugh entered the 2023 regular season after missing the first three games and ended the season by sitting the last three games in suspension over the sign-stealing scandal. All eyes were on the Wolverines who had gone on to prove the team’s worth by finishing the season undefeated with a spot in the CFP. 

It’s no wonder the 13-0 playoff contender took the upper seat in popularity over the 4-8 Buffs who look towards a new season for a fresh start. The Michigan Wolverines are now preparing themselves for a showdown with the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl on January 2 – a victory will lead them one game closer to the national championship. 

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