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THE ATLANTIC COAST
THE ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE
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The Tradition
Consistency. It is the mark of
true excellence in any endeavor.
However, in today’s intercollegiate
athletics, competition has become so
balanced and so competitive that it is
virtually impossible to maintain a high level
of consistency.
Yet the Atlantic Coast Conference has
defied the odds. Now in its 55th year of
competition, the ACC has long enjoyed the
reputation as one of the strongest and most
competitive intercollegiate conferences in the
nation. And that is not mere conjecture, the
numbers support it.
Since the league’s inception in 1953,
ACC schools have captured 105 national
championships, including 56 in women’s
competition and 47 in men’s. In addition,
NCAA individual titles have gone to
ACC student-athletes 139 times in men’s
competition and 86 times in women’s action.
If success is best measured in terms of
wins and losses, then the ACC is unrivaled in
NCAA annals. With North Carolina’s victory
over Illinois in the 2005 NCAA title game, ACC
teams have captured 10 NCAA basketball
championships, including six over the last 17
years.
No conference has posted a better NCAA
Tournament record than the ACC since the
NCAA’s inaugural tournament in 1939. With
an impressive 65-33 mark over the past six
years, the 12 current conference members
have posted an NCAA Tournament-best
mark of 364-203 for a sterling .642 winning
percentage against the nation’s toughest
competition.
In the 23 years of the current 64-team
field, the ACC has produced 21 Final Four
teams, an average of almost one per year and
five more than any other conference.
Since 1985, when the NCAA Tournament
was expanded to 64 teams, ACC teams have
been even more impressive compiling a
227-111 (.672) NCAA record,
including 62 “Sweet 16”
appearances and 21 Final Four
berths - all NCAA Tournament
bests. Since 1985, 62 of the 116
ACC teams receiving NCAA
berths have won at least two
NCAA Tournament games.
Following their title run
in 2005, North Carolina’s Tar
Heels lead all ACC schools
with four NCAA basketball
championships to their credit.
Duke has claimed three
national titles, NC State two and
Maryland one. The Tar Heels
have captured NCAA titles in
1957, 1982, 1993 and 2005
while the Blue Devils won their
third title in 2001, following
back-to-back championships
CONFERENCE
in 1991 and 1992. The Wolfpack walked away
with the coveted crown in 1974 and 1983
while the Terps claimed the 2002 national
title.
The ACC has 10 or more NCAA
Tournament wins in four of the last
seven years and 13 times overall and the
league has not posted a losing record in
NCAA Tournament play since 1987. The
conference’s 18-year non-losing streak in
NCAA Tournament play is tops among all
conferences.
Since 1981, the ACC has produced 36
consensus All-Americans - 16 more than
any other conference. Since 1981, the ACC
has accounted for 26 percent of the nation’s
consensus All-Americans (36-of-140).
Six of the last 11 and eight of the last 15
consensus National Players of the Year have
come from the ACC. Since 1975, the ACC has
had 15 consensus national players of the year
- 12 more than any other conference. Eight of
the ACC’s 15 National Players of the Year were
unanimous selections.
A year ago the ACC led all conferences
with 54 players in the NBA. In addition, over
the past two years 23 ACC players have made
their NBA debuts, including 15 in 2006 and
eight last year.
This past June the ACC led all conferences
with six players selected in the first round of
the annual NBA draft. The ACC has had the
most, or tied for the most, first round draft
picks in four of the past six years and in 10
of the last 15. Since 1986, the ACC has had
88 first round selections - 19 more than any
other conference.
The ACC became the first conference
in NCAA history to have 10 teams finish
the season with 20 or more wins and for
the second-straight year, 10 ACC teams
took part in post-season play in 2006-07,
including an ACC record seven NCAA
Tournament teams.
For the first time in league history,
the ACC surpassed the 2.4 million mark
in attendance in 2006-07. The 12 league
schools totaled 2,435,441 over 213 regular
season games and six ACC Tournament
sessions.
The stature of ACC basketball is no
where more clearly defined than by the
league’s regional and national television
exposure. A year ago, a record-setting 278
television appearances involving ACC teams,
highlighted the 2006-07 schedule, including
156 appearances on national television
networks.
The Championships
The conference will conduct
championship competition in 25 sports
during the 2007-08 academic year - 12 for
men and 13 for women.
The first ACC championship was held
in swimming on February 25, 1954. The
conference did not conduct championships
in cross country, wrestling or tennis during
the first year.
The 12 sports for men include football,
cross country, soccer, basketball, swimming,
indoor and outdoor track, wrestling,
baseball, tennis, golf and lacrosse. Fencing,
which was started in 1971, was discontinued
in 1981.
Championships for women are currently
conducted in cross country, volleyball,
field hockey, soccer, basketball, swimming,
indoor and outdoor track, tennis, golf,
lacrosse, softball and rowing.
The Virginia Tech women’s indoor track team won the first of four ACC titles the Hokies earned last year.
Golf, softball and the women’s outdoor track team also won conference championships in 2006-2007.
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