Atlantic Coast Conference

The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is one of the major college sports conferences in the United States. It was formed in 1953 by a group of seven colleges and universities that left the Southern Conference.

Members

Starting with the 2023–24 school year, the only sport in which the conference's members are split into groups—the Atlantic and Coastal Divisions—is baseball. The Atlantic–Coastal split was also used in football before the 2023 season.

Notre Dame does not play football in the ACC; in that sport, it remains an "independent" school that does not play in a conference. However, it has agreed to play five of its 12 regular-season games each year against other ACC schools. Syracuse does not have a baseball team; Notre Dame takes its place in the Atlantic Division for that sport.

School Location Founded Type
(affiliation)
Nickname Joined
ACC
ACC
Division
Boston College Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 1863 Private (Catholic) Eagles 2005 Atlantic
Clemson University Clemson, South Carolina 1889 Public Tigers 1953 Atlantic
Duke University Durham, North Carolina 1838 Private (nonsectarian) Blue Devils 1953 Coastal
Florida State University Tallahassee, Florida 1851 Public Seminoles 1991 Atlantic
Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) Atlanta, Georgia 1885 Public Yellow Jackets 1979 Coastal
University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky 1798 Public Cardinals 2014 Atlantic
MiamiUniversity of Miami Coral Gables, Florida 1925 Private (nonsectarian) Hurricanes 2004 Coastal
North CarolinaUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina 1789 Public Tar Heels 1953 Coastal
North Carolina State University Raleigh, North Carolina 1887 Public Wolfpack 1953 Atlantic
Notre DameUniversity of Notre Dame South Bend, Indiana 1842 Private (Catholic) Fighting Irish 2013 Atlantic
PittsburghUniversity of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1787 State-related Panthers 2013 Coastal
Syracuse University Syracuse, New York 1870 Private (nonsectarian) Orange 2013 N/A
VirginiaUniversity of Virginia Charlottesville, Virginia 1819 Public Cavaliers 1953 Coastal
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
(Virginia Tech)
Blacksburg, Virginia 1872 Public Hokies 2004 Coastal
Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, North Carolina 1834 Private (nonsectarian) Demon Deacons 1953 Atlantic

Future members

Amid a major NCAA conference realignment in the early 2020s, the ACC announced on September 1, 2023 that it would add three new members for the 2024–25 school year. Two are leaving the Pac-12 Conference, which will likely fold at the end of the 2023–24 school year, and the other is leaving the American Athletic Conference.[1]

School Location Founded Type
(affiliation)
Joining Current conference Nickname
University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, California 1868 Public 2024 Pac-12 Conference Golden Bears
Southern Methodist University (SMU) Dallas, Texas[a] 1911 Private 2024 American Athletic Conference Mustangs
Stanford University Stanford, California 1891 Private 2024 Pac-12 Conference Cardinal
  1. The SMU campus is actually located in University Park, a separate city within the Dallas city limits. All locations in University Park have a Dallas mailing address.

Former members

Two schools have left the ACC:

School Location Founded Type
(affiliation)
Joined Left Current conference Nickname
University of Maryland, College Park College Park, Maryland 1801 Public 1953 2014 Big Ten Conference Terrapins
University of South Carolina Columbia, South Carolina 1801 Public 1953 1971 Southeastern Conference Gamecocks

Sports

As of the 2023–24 school year, the ACC holds championships in 28 sports. Thirteen of these are men's sports and 15 are women's sports. One sport, fencing, has separate ACC men's and women's team championships, but has a single coeducational (men's and women's) NCAA team championship.

Atlantic Coast Conference Media

References

  • "Atlantic Coast Conference". theacc.com. Retrieved 2014-06-29.