Help building the largest human-edited directory of the web Suggest URL - Open Directory Project - Become an editor

directopedia.org uses links and structure from dmoz Open Directory Project.
The contents has been generating using technology developed by scientec.

Atlantic Coast Conference
Data
Established	1953
Members	12
Sports fielded	20
National championships	91
NCAA men's titles	116
NCAA women's titles	57
Commissioner	John Swofford

The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is one of the oldest collegiate athletic leagues in the United States. Founded in 1953, one year before the formation of the Ivy League, the ACC's twelve member universities compete in twenty sports in the NCAA's Division I. Spanning the Eastern Seaboard, from New England to the Everglades, its member institutions are located in the Atlantic coastal states of Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.

Contents 1 Members 2 History 3 Sports 3.1 Basketball 3.2 Football 3.2.1 Bowl Games 3.3 Soccer 3.4 Lacrosse 3.5 Stadia 4 Rivalries 5 See also 6 External link

Members

• Boston College, located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
• Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina
• Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina
• Florida State University, located in Tallahassee, Florida
• Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Georgia
• University of Maryland, located in College Park, Maryland
• University of Miami, located in Coral Gables, Florida
• University of North Carolina, located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• North Carolina State University, located in Raleigh, North Carolina
• University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville, Virginia
• Virginia Polytechnic and State University (Virginia Tech), located in Blacksburg, Virginia
• Wake Forest University, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Boston College Eagles	Clemson Tigers	Duke Blue Devils	Florida State Seminoles
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	Maryland Terrapins	Miami Hurricanes	North Carolina Tar Heels
NC State Wolfpack	Virginia Cavaliers	Virginia Tech Hokies	Wake Forest Demon Deacons

History

Charter members of the ACC were Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina, and Wake Forest. In early December, 1953, officials convened in Greensboro, North Carolina and agreed to invite Virginia. The seven ACC charter members were originally aligned with the Southern Conference. After drafting a set of bylaws for the creation of a new league, they formally withdrew from the Southern Conference at the Spring Meeting on the morning of May 8, 1953. The bylaws were ratified and the ACC officially came into existence on June 14, 1953. They left the Southern Conference primarily due to the league's ban on postseason play.

In 1971, for the first and only time, the ACC lost a member in the University of South Carolina, now a member of the Southeastern Conference. The ACC operated with seven members until the addition of former Southeastern Conference member Georgia Tech from the Metro Conference, on April 3, 1978. The addition of Florida State, on July 1, 1991, brought the total to nine. In 2003's cycle of conference alignment, the ACC added three more members, all from the Big East: Miami and Virginia Tech joined on July 1, 2004, and Boston College joined on July 1, 2005 as the league's twelfth member.

Sports

Member universities compete in the following sports:

• Baseball
• Men's Basketball
• Women's Basketball
• Cross Country
• Field Hockey
• Football
• Men's Golf
• Women's Golf
• Men's Lacrosse
• Women's Lacrosse
• Rowing
• Men's Soccer
• Women's Soccer
• Softball
• Swimming & Diving
• Men's Tennis
• Women's Tennis
• Track & Field
• Volleyball
• Wrestling

Basketball

The ACC is considered one of the best men's college basketball conferences in the nation. During February 2004, six teams were ranked in the top 25 at one time. One of the unranked teams, Maryland, was the National Champion in 2002 (and the ACC Champion in March 2004) and Clemson, who was ranked last in the ACC, had a strength of schedule ranked #1 in the country. The addition of Miami and Virginia Tech was expected to make the Atlantic Coast Conference more competitive in most sports, especially football. Both schools' men's basketball programs, especially Virginia Tech's, were generally regarded as weaker than the rest of the ACC; however, the Hokies and Hurricanes finished fourth and sixth (respectively) in their inaugural season of ACC basketball in 2004, quieting their critics as both received NIT bids.

For five weeks beginning on November 29, 2004, the ACC had a record-tying seven teams ranked in the AP men's basketball poll. The feat had been accomplished previously by the conference before in December 1997, and by the Big Ten in January 1999, but never for such a duration.

Football

As of 2005, the ACC began divisional play in football. Both division leaders will compete in a playoff game at ALLTEL Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida to determine the ACC championship. The inaugural ACC Championship Game was played on December 3, 2005. Florida State defeated Virginia Tech to capture their 12th championship since they joined the league in 1992. This division structure leads to each team playing the following games:

• Five games within its division (one against each opponent)
• One game against a "permanent rival" from the other division
• Two rotating games against teams in the other division

In the table below, the teams are listed in columns by division, and horizontally paired by permanent cross-divisional rivalry (not necessarily the school's closest traditional rival).

Atlantic Division	Coastal Division
Boston College	Virginia Tech
Clemson	Georgia Tech
Florida State	Miami
Maryland	Virginia
N.C. State	North Carolina
Wake Forest	Duke

Bowl Games

The bowl lineup as of 2006, based on standings of bowl-eligible teams in the conference:

• 1 – BCS (Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, or Orange)
• 2 – Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida (vs Big East)
• 3 – Peach Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia (vs SEC)
• 4 – Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Florida (vs Big 12)
• 5 (share) – Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee (vs SEC)
• 5 (share) – Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina (vs Big East)
• 5 (share) – Emerald Bowl in San Francisco, California (vs Pac-10)
• 8 – MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho (vs WAC)

Soccer

Another sport that has seen dominance by the Atlantic Coast Conference is soccer. In men's soccer, the ACC has won 10 national championships in the past 21 seasons, five of them by the University of Virginia (1989, 1991–1994). Five others have come from Clemson University (1984, 1987), Duke University (1986), the University of North Carolina (2001), and the University of Maryland (2005).

Since women's soccer became a collegiate sport in 1982, the conference has produced a national powerhouse that not many sports in the NCAA have seen. The University of North Carolina, in the 23 years since the NCAA crowned its first champion, has won 15 of the national titles (1982-1984, 1986-1994, 1996-1997 and 2003).

Lacrosse

Yet another sport that the conference is known for excelling in is men's and women's lacrosse. Since 1971, when the first men's national champion was determined by the NCAA, the ACC has won 7 national championships (as of 2005). North Carolina has won four national championships (1981, 1982, 1986, and 1991), the University of Virginia has won three (1972, 1999, and 2003), and the University of Maryland has won one (1973). Women's Lacrosse, a sport in which the national champion has only been determined since 1982, has seen much dominance by the ACC, specifically by The University of Maryland. In all, the ACC has won 12 women's national championships. The University of Maryland accounts for nine of those championships (1986, 1992, 1995-2001), and the University of Virginia won the other three (1991, 1993, and 2004).

Stadia

School	Football stadium	Stadium capacity	Basketball arena	Arena capacity
Boston College	Alumni Stadium	44,500	Conte Forum	8,606
Clemson	Memorial Stadium	81,000	Littlejohn Coliseum	10,980
Duke	Wallace Wade Stadium	34,000	Cameron Indoor Stadium	9,314
Florida State	Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium	83,000	Donald L. Tucker Center	12,200
Georgia Tech	Bobby Dodd Stadium	55,000	Alexander Memorial Coliseum	9,191
Maryland	Byrd Stadium	51,500	Comcast Center	17,950
Miami	Miami Orange Bowl	74,177	BankUnited Center	7,900
North Carolina	Kenan Stadium	60,000	Dean Smith Center (men) Carmichael Auditorium (women)	21,750 10,180
NC State	Carter-Finley Stadium	53,500	RBC Center (men) Reynolds Coliseum (women)	19,722 12,400
Virginia	Scott Stadium	61,500	University Hall (Under construction: John Paul Jones Arena)	8,457 (15,000)
Virginia Tech	Lane Stadium	66,233	Cassell Coliseum	9,847
Wake Forest	Groves Stadium	31,500	Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum	14,407

Rivalries

As with most ACC traditions, the conference's classic rivalries began on the (men's) basketball court. Before the 2003 expansion, the ACC was able to maintain a full home-and-home double round-robin basketball schedule, meaning each team played each other team both at home and away each season. Coupled with the conference's geographic compactness (especially before Florida State joined in 1991), this enhanced conference cohesiveness and built a strong, interlocking web of rivalries, as each school could generally find something historical to be upset with each other school about. Some rivalries were, of course, stronger than others — notably those among the four "Tobacco Road" schools located in North Carolina.

With the exception of Florida State-Miami, lesser-known are the ACC's football rivalries. With the recent expansion, intra-state rivalries in Florida and Virginia that have always been more significant in football than basketball are now under the conference banner. This gives them added meaning, as these games will have more direct impact on postseason bowl game invitations.

Some of the ACC's classic rivalries include:

• Duke-Maryland: Traditionally a basketball rivalry; reached heightened status in the early 2000s as both programs were frequently mentioned as national championship favorites
• Duke-North Carolina: This basketball rivalry is considered by fans and analysts to be one of the biggest in the country, these schools are eight miles apart from each other and they play for the "Victory Bell" in football
• Florida State-Miami: Arguably the two most successful college football teams of the last 25 years. Known for its "Wide Right" outcomes, and has Florida Cup implications.
• N.C. State-Clemson: football's "Textile Bowl"
• North Carolina-N.C. State
• Virginia-Georgia Tech: football's "41-38" (only GT fans know the game by this title)
• Virginia-Maryland: border rivalry
• Virginia-North Carolina: football's Oldest Rivalry in the South
• Virginia-Virginia Tech: football's Commonwealth Cup
• Virginia Tech - Miami: Both schools were powers in the Big East and the rivalry has continued with both of them moving to the ACC, traditionally one of the bigger games for each team due to the level of talent on both sides

Extra-conference rivalries involving ACC members include:

• Boston College and Notre Dame (Independent): football's "Holy War"
• Boston College and Boston University (Hockey East): hockey's "Green Line Rivalry"
• Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, and Northeastern: hockey's "Beanpot"
• Boston College, Georgetown, Fordham, Loyola and Holy Cross: rowing's "Jesuit Invitational"
• Clemson and South Carolina (of the SEC)
• Georgia Tech and Georgia (SEC): "Clean, Old Fashioned Hate"
• Georgia Tech and Auburn (SEC)
• Florida State and Florida (SEC)- Florida Cup implications
• Miami and Florida (SEC)- Florida Cup implications
• Maryland and Penn State (Big Ten)
• Maryland and West Virginia (Big East): football; longest current continuous non-conference series for both schools, as they have played each other each year since 1980.
• Virginia Tech and West Virginia (Big East) - the teams used to play for the Black Diamond Trophy.

In addition, Maryland has a long-held bitter rivalry in men's lacrosse with Johns Hopkins.

Since the 1999-2000 season, ACC teams have played Big Ten teams in the annual ACC - Big Ten Challenge men's basketball tournament; the ACC has "won" this tournament every year since its inception (ACC teams have won a majority of the games played in every season).

See also

• ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year
• List of Atlantic Coast Conference football champions

External link

• Official ACC Athletic Site

Atlantic Coast Conference: Boston College | Clemson | Duke | Florida State | Georgia Tech | Maryland | Miami   North Carolina | North Carolina State | Virginia | Virginia Tech | Wake Forest

This article is based on the article "Atlantic Coast Conference" from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License. Here you find the list of authors of this article. The article can only edited within Wikipedia. Edit this article in Wikipedia.