The 11 College Football Playoff games averaged 15.6 million viewers according to Nielsen, as audiences increased during each round.

Ohio State took down Notre Dame in the national title game by a final score of 34-23 to win its ninth national title. Ahead of the game, fans shared their muted excitement for the game as the college football season blended into the NFL playoff race.

Now that it’s all over and the Ohio State Buckeyes are the college football national champions, it can be definitively said: Expanding the College Football Playoff worked.