ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MISSION STATEMENT The Atlantic Coast Conference, through its member institutions, seeks to maximize the educational and athletic opportunities of its student-athletes, while enriching their quality of life. It strives to do so by affording individuals equitable opportunity to pursue academic excellence and compete successfully at the highest level of intercollegiate athletics competition in a broad spectrum of sports and championships. The Conference will provide leadership in attaining these goals, by promoting diversity and mutual trust among its member institutions, in a spirit of fairness for all. It strongly adheres to the principles of integrity and sportsmanship, and supports the total development of the student-athlete and each member institution’s athletics departmental staff, with the intent of producing enlightened leadership for tomorrow.
The Atlantic Coast Conference continued to set a high standard, both academically and through its athletic performance, in a memorable <strong>2014</strong>-<strong>15</strong> academic year. With Louisville joining our 14 other outstanding member schools, the ACC’s unique blend of public and private institutions continued to lead the way academically among Autonomy 5 conferences. This was again demonstrated in the “Best Colleges” rankings released by US News & World Report, as the ACC was the only Autonomy 5 conference to place over half of its member institutions among the Top 50, and to place seven member schools among the Top 35. The ACC saw 82 combined teams receive Academic Progress Rate recognition awards from the NCAA in May of 20<strong>15</strong>, once again the most of any Autonomy 5 conference. In the NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate report released in October of <strong>2014</strong>, the ACC’s graduation rate of 88.1 percent ranked more than six points above the national average. Additionally, the league owned the highest GSR among Autonomy 5 conferences in men’s basketball and baseball. In the sport of football, the ACC remained the only Autonomy 5 conference to have multiple teams score 90 or higher every year since 2005. Individually, our student-athletes excelled in the classroom with a record number being named to the <strong>2014</strong>-<strong>15</strong> ACC Honor Roll for earning a grade point average of 3.0 or better for the entire academic year. The cumulative success of ACC teams on the playing fields was evident in late June, when five league schools ranked among the top 20 of the final Division I Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup Standings. It marked the 14th consecutive year in which four or more ACC institutions placed among the top 30. The ACC placed nine schools among the top 50 of this year’s standings, and all <strong>15</strong> member institutions placed among the top 100. In <strong>2014</strong>-<strong>15</strong>, ACC teams captured five NCAA championships, and student-athletes from league schools claimed 16 individual titles. Our conference now owns 141 NCAA team titles over the course of its 62-year history, and ACC student-athletes have claimed individual title 279 times. The ACC’s strength in Olympic sports continued last fall, when the Virginia men and Florida State women swept the NCAA soccer championships. Virginia, under head coach George Gelnovatch, claimed the seventh NCAA men’s soccer championship and the 21st overall national championship in school history. The Florida State women, under head coach Mark Krikorian, topped Virginia 1-0 in an All-ACC College Cup final. It marked the third time in Women’s College Cup history that two ACC teams met in the title game, and the Seminoles claimed the 22nd NCAA women’s soccer championship by an ACC team. The men’s basketball season saw Duke claim its fifth NCAA championship – all under head coach Mike Krzyzewski – and the 13th overall by an ACC program. Coach Krzyzewski, who earlier in the year became the first Division I men’s basketball coach in history to reach the 1,000 wins plateau, upped his all-time NCAA coaching wins total to 82. With five teams reaching at least the Sweet 16, ACC teams posted a combined record of 17-5 in the NCAA Tournament, marking the league’s 28th consecutive year of a .500 or better showing. In addition to Duke, ACC champion Notre Dame and regular-season champion Virginia were among the six league teams to earn NCAA berths. This marked the <strong>15</strong>th consecutive year that the league has placed at least four teams in the field, and the ACC remains the winningest conference in NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament history with a 393-203 all-time record. The spring brought two more national championship celebrations. The Virginia men’s tennis team captured its second NCAA title in three years under head coach Brian Boland. The Cavaliers, who also won the title in 2013, became the sixth program in NCAA history to win multiple men’s tennis championships and finished the year with a sparkling 29-3 record. The exclamation point came in late June, when the Virginia baseball team brought home the ACC’s first NCAA championship in that sport since 1955. Head coach Brian O’Connor’s squad regrouped after being seeded seventh in the ACC Championship and No. 3 in their NCAA Regional to make one of the most remarkable title runs in the history of the College World Series. Miami joined the Cavaliers in the CWS, marking the seventh time in the last 10 years that the ACC has sent multiple teams to Omaha. A total of 20 ACC teams have competed in the CWS over the last decade. ACC teams were strong contenders for national titles in additional sports. The football season saw Florida State finish the regular season unbeaten, claim its third consecutive ACC title and earn a spot in the inaugural College Football Playoff. The ACC became the first conference in NCAA history to send 11 teams to bowl games in back-to-back years. The conference ranks second nationally since 2005 with 86 teams taking part in bowl games, and the ACC’s 4-1 record since 2012 in the New Year’s Six and College Football Playoff Games (formerly the BCS) leads all conferences. The ACC boasted three teams among the final four of both the <strong>2014</strong> field hockey and 20<strong>15</strong> women’s lacrosse NCAA Championships. Eight ACC women’s basketball teams earned berths in the 20<strong>15</strong> NCAA Tournament, matching the league record set in <strong>2014</strong>. The ACC’s five top-four tournament seeds were the most of any league. With two-time ACC champion Notre Dame advancing to the NCAA finals for the second straight year, this season marked the 20th appearance in the Final Four by a current ACC member school. As we look at the ACC’s role in the changing landscape of college athletics over the past 12 months, the conference continued to be prominently involved in the new NCAA structure and the new efforts with autonomy. With all 65 of the schools in the five major conferences together in the same room and student-athletes for the first time with voting privileges, it was a historic and very positive step for college athletics. The ACC and its member institutions remain poised to continue a long tradition of balancing athletics, academics and integrity. As a conference, we are extremely proud of our student-athletes’ accomplishments over the past year and look forward to the year ahead. Sincerely, John D. Swofford Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner <strong>2014</strong>-<strong>15</strong> <strong>ANNUAL</strong> <strong>REPORT</strong> / LETTER FROM THE COMMISSIONER 1
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