According to a press release from the Valero Alamo Bowl today. That number makes it the fifth most-watched non-BCS bowl in ESPN history. If they enjoyed explosive offense, those 5.1 million viewers got quite a treat as the two teams combined to break offensive records by the boatload. Baylor, on its own, also set several records for all bowl games, including total points, total yards, and first downs, and the longest rushing touchdown in Alamo Bowl history (Ganaway's 89-yarder).
Perhaps most impressive of all is the fact that this year's Alamo Bowl had the fifth-highest attendance in Alamo Bowl history at 65,256 (over the listed capacity of the building at 65,000 and only 900 fewer than the most-attended Alamo Bowl ever in 2007). Without having been at the game, I can't say for sure what percentage of that number was made up of Baylor fans, but I would venture to guess that our contingent outnumbered Washington's 2-to-1 at the least. Someone who was there for the game, please give me your take.
Considering the relative size of Baylor's fanbase-- if 50,000+ Bear fans were in San Antonio for that game, that is a sizeable percentage of our overall base-- the fact that over 5 million people watched the game should reflect how far Baylor has come in terms of national perception due to the overwhelmingly positive impacts of Robert Griffin III and Art Briles. I can only hope that momentum continues going forward.