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UNC Basketball: North Carolina-Duke record-breaking ratings for ESPN

When the North Carolina Tar Heels and Duke Blue Devils faced off in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference on Friday, the college basketball world stood at attention.

Apparently, a lot of other people did, too.

The tilt between storied rivals — the third of the season, and 250th of all-time. — drew the largest television audience for a Championship Week game on ESPN in the history of the network.

According to a press release from the network, the game drew a 3.0 overnight rating, the highest rating for a Championship Week game, or any other conference championship game, since ESPN began broadcasting college basketball.