The Big Ten deal is paying early dividends for FOX.

No. 9 Ohio State's 31-20 win over Michigan Saturday set a new high mark for a regular season football game on FOX, drawing a metered market rating/share of 6.7/17, easily surpassing the previous record for the network, set when the Buckeyes topped Penn State on Oct. 28.

Yesterday's rivalry matchup between @OhioStateFB and @UMichFootball drew FOX's BEST EVER metered market rating for a regular-season college football game: pic.twitter.com/R8IR51ykjZ — FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) November 26, 2017

If these overnight numbers hold, viewership for “The Game” will be the second-most watched college football game of the regular season on any network, behind only the 6.9 that Alabama–Florida State did to open the season on ABC.

Considering the game was a 9 a.m. kickoff on the West Coast, these are the kind of numbers that will keep FOX executives happy with the Big Ten as a broadcast partner.