In its first year of existence, the linear ACC Network will broadcast approximately 450 live events.

The Florida State soccer team has the distinguished honor of being first.

When the No. 1 Seminoles (1-0) host No. 16 Wisconsin (1-0) Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Seminole Soccer Complex, it will be the first live game broadcast across the airwaves of the brand new network which launched Thursday night.

"I think it's great," FSU soccer coach Mark Krikorian said.

"Certainly, we have good timing, but beyond that, there were probably a lot of good options that they had and the fact that they chose us, it's flattering for sure. Hopefully, we can represent Florida State and the ACC the way we should."

Fresh off winning the second NCAA Championship in program history last season, the Seminoles began their title defense Thursday night with a thorough 2-0 win over visiting TCU.

Moving toward a level financial playing field

While the money the network should bring to FSU and the other ACC schools should help level the financial playing field, that isn't what concerns the FSU student-athletes.

They are more concerned with the unprecedented coverage of women's soccer and the many other non-revenue sports the ACC Network will bring.

The Wisconsin match is FSU's first of seven regular-season soccer matches set to be broadcast on the ACC Network this season. Five FSU volleyball matches will also be broadcast on the linear network.

Compare that with the FSU soccer team's 2018 schedule. Last year, the Seminoles didn't get their first nationally-televised game until the ACC Championship Game against North Carolina on Nov. 4. They've had just one nationally-televised regular-season game in the last two years.

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"It's huge. That's what we need," senior forward Deyna Castellanos said of the ACC Network's exposure.

"We need people putting our games on TV, making sure that people know we are playing and we are doing this. That's part of the process to make women's football bigger."

What an expanded TV schedule means

Castellanos is one of six international players on the Seminoles' 2019 roster. The continued growth of the network will help her family and the families of the rest of the FSU players who are far away from home be able to watch them play more regularly.

"It's nice especially for how distant everyone is from their families. Families are able to watch more of the games that they can't physically be here," junior defender Malia Berkely said.

"It's also just good exposure for everyone in the league to be able to watch the other games. The ACC is a really great league for all sports so it'll be nice to get that exposure out for everyone."

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Although it doesn't have the national attention of basketball, ACC schools have dominated soccer more than any other sport since its introduction as an NCAA sport in 1982.

The ACC's dominance nationwide

Current ACC schools have accounted for 26 of their 37 NCAA Championships. North Carolina has 21 by itself, Notre Dame has three and FSU has a pair.

The ACC was well represented as a conference in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll as it had the top two teams, four in the Top 10 and seven in the Top 25.

With soccer one of the many sports set to take major advantage of the increased airtime on the ACC Network, this makes the timing of the launch ideal for the Seminoles.

"I think that we've seen across the country with a lot of sports the impact television can have. As more and more games get broadcast live, I think it'll continue to grow the sport," Krikorian said.

"We all saw with the Women's World Cup what a great effect it had and will continue to have on the growth and development of women's soccer here in the U.S."

A physical game ahead

The Badgers' trip to FSU marks the return of a home-and-home series which began in 2018. The Seminoles won 3-0 at Wisconsin last season in the first-ever matchup between the two programs.

In spite of last year's result, the Seminoles aren't taking the Badgers lightly. They made the Sweet 16 for just the second time in program history in last year's NCAA Tournament before falling 1-0 to No. 1 overall seed Stanford.

That mixed with a quick turnaround with only two days between games has the Seminoles aware of the challenge they'll face.

"Sunday's game will be a really hard game. It's going to be a physical game," Castellanos said.

"It's never easy to play two games in a weekend so we know that Wisconsin is going to come and fight, be very physical so it's going to be a good soccer game."

No. 1 Florida State vs. No. 16 Wisconsin

When: Sunday, 2 p.m.

Where: Seminole Soccer Complex

TV: ACC Network