ABC was heavy on the college football games on Saturday, led by LSU-West Virginia in primetime. That game topped all college football games over the weekend with a 4.0 overnight Nielsen rating. That figure is up % from a 3.4 overnight for the comparable Oregon State-Boise State game last year. ABC also earned a 3.7 rating for regionalized coverage in the 3:30pm ET window on Saturday, which featured Colorado-Ohio State and Oklahoma State-Texas A&M. CBS aired Arkansas-Alabama on Saturday, earning a 2.6 overnight, down 52% from the same matchup last year. The net has now seen both of its SEC football telecasts have year-over-year ratings declines. Among games on cable TV, ESPN’s Clemson-Florida State game in the 3:30pm window led the way with a 1.9 overnight. The net also earned a 1.8 rating for USC-Arizona State in the late night window and a 1.6 rating for Central Florida-BYU on Friday night. FX’ telecast of Missouri-Oklahoma on Saturday night earned a 1.3 overnight. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 from New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon earned a 2.4 overnight on ESPN. That rating is up 14.3% from a 2.1 for the comparable race from Dover last year, which was the second race in the Chase. NBC also aired "Golf Central Live" prior to its coverage of the Tour Championship on Saturday and Sunday, marking the first time golf coverage on broadcast TV has had a pre-game show. Both shows earned a 0.4 overnight.
Listed below are overnight Nielsen ratings from weekend sports telecasts on broadcast TV.
| TELECAST | DATE | NET | TIME (ET) | RAT. |
| NCAA Football: Notre Dame-Pittsburgh | 9/24 | ABC | 12:00-3:30pm | 3.3 |
| NCAA Football: (regional) | 9/24 | ABC | 3:30-7:00pm | 3.7 |
| NCAA Football: LSU-West Virginia | 9/24 | ABC | 8:00pm-12:00am | 4.0 |
| MLB: (regional) | 9/24 | Fox | 4:00-7:00pm | 1.9 |
| "Golf Central Live" | 9/24 | NBC | 1:30-2:00pm | 0.4 |
| PGA Tour: Tour Championship: Third Round | 9/24 | NBC | 2:00-6:00pm | 1.1 |
| "SEC Confidential" | 9/24 | CBS | 1:00-2:00pm | 0.4 |
| "MLB 2011: Down the Stretch" | 9/24 | CBS | 2:00-3:00pm | 0.4 |
| "College Football Today" | 9/24 | CBS | 3:00-3:30pm | 0.8 |
| NCAA Football: Arkansas-Alabama | 9/24 | CBS | 3:30-7:00pm | 2.6 |
| "The NFL Today" | 9/25 | CBS | 12:00-1:00pm | 2.6 |
| "NFL on CBS": (single) | 9/25 | CBS | 1:00-4:05pm | 12.5 |
| PBR: DeWalt Guaranteed Tough Invitational | 9/25 | CBS | 4:30-5:30pm | 1.4 |
| "Fox NFL Sunday" | 9/25 | Fox | 12:00-1:00pm | 3.3 |
| "NFL on Fox": (regional) | 9/25 | Fox | 1:00-4:15pm | 9.5 |
| "NFL on Fox": Packers-Bears (81%) | 9/25 | Fox | 4:15-7:30pm | 15.8 |
| "The OT" | 9/25 | Fox | 7:30-8:00pm | 7.8 |
| "Golf Central Live" | 9/25 | NBC | 1:00-1:30pm | 0.4 |
| PGA Tour: Tour Championship: Final Round | 9/25 | NBC | 1:30-6:00pm | 1.4 |
| "Football Night in America" | 9/25 | NBC | 7:30-8:15pm | 5.1 |
| "Sunday Night Football": Steelers-Colts | 9/25 | NBC | 8:30-11:30pm | 13.2 |
