College football said goodbye to the BCS in a typically big fashion Monday night -- though the championship game was down from last year.
An average 25.5 million viewers tuned into ESPN's coverage of Monday night's game, making it the third most-watched broadcast in cable victory.
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The biggest night of the cable calendar, the 2014 BCS championship game did not top last year despite the down-to-the-wire victory for the Florida State Seminoles over the Auburn Tigers (34-31). The final score marked a clear departure from the last two years -- when lopsided wins prompted audiences to lose interest later in the games. Despite that, Alabama's 42-14 win over Notre Dame in 2013 averaged 26.4 million viewers.
Cable TV's biggest broadcast ever remains the 2011 BCS final, which averaged 27.3 million viewers with a narrow Auburn victory.
Florida State's win marks the final college championship game under the BSC, which will be replaced by the College Football Playoff (CFP) next season. The new system, an effort to make for the most-competitive finals, will continue to air on ESPN.
The Disney network inked a deal to keep the playoffs and the big conclusion through at least 2025 to the tune of $7.3 billion.
