Emerald Bowl attracts big audience

Nothing seems to bring a national television audience together like a USC bowl game.

For the first time in eight years the Trojans were not invited to a BCS bowl game, but instead played in the Emerald Bowl on Dec. 26.

The Trojans off year was a blessing in disguise for the ESPN network, whose broadcast of the Emerald Bowl was their second highest rated broadcast of the bowl season and the network’s third highest all-time.

The game’s 5.6 rating share equates to about 7.6 million viewers for the game played the day after Christmas and during primetime on the East Coast.

The Jan. 2 matchup of Michigan State and Texas Tech in the Alamo Bowl was the only non-BCS bowl game to attract a larger audience than the Emerald Bowl.

The matchup between USC and Boston College brought together a national television audience of families already camped in front of their TVs on the traditionally lazy day after Christmas.

The Trojans prevailed in the Emerald Bowl 24-13 in front of an equally attentive sell-out crowd in San Francisco despite the rainy conditions the day of the game.

USC has had a tradition of attracting large television audiences, especially in their past few BCS bowls.

In each of the teams past three trips to the Rose Bowl, the Trojans have attracted the largest television audience for any bowl except the national title game, and their 2006 BCS National Championship Game against Texas is the highest rated bowl game of all time.