From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
The ACC had its best overall television numbers ever in 2005. According to a summary released by the league, it was the top-rated conference on ESPN. The ACC, in fact, had three of ESPN’s top five regular-season games. The Florida State-Miami game on Labor Day night was ABC’s highest-rated regular-season game in 2005.
Remember, these TV ratings came for what was certainly an “off year” overall in the ACC, with FSU, Miami, and VT all a bit weaker than expected. NC State, Maryland, and Virginia also fell short of expectations.
The ACC was also a big hit in the NFL draft, as we mentioned before. More from the AJC:
A total of 51 ACC players were chosen in the NFL draft, a record for any conference and 15 more than the ACC’s previous high. The Big Ten was a distant second with 41. The SEC was third with 37…In the past two years, the ACC’s powers-that-be have added Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College to form a 12-team conference. It was painful process that had some schools within the conference questioning their wisdom and critics outside the conference questioning their integrity. But again, the numbers tell the story. Those three schools were responsible for 21 of the ACC’s 51 draft choices.
As I always believed it would be, expansion has been wonderful for ACC football. Now, it’s just high time for NC State to follow up its success in placing players in the first round with better results on the field. As you can see, the nation will be watching.
