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 

In the 2023–24 school year, the only sport in which the conference's members were split into groups—the Atlantic and Coastal Divisions—was baseball. The Atlantic–Coastal split was also used in football before the 2023 season. The ACC has not announced whether a divisional split will continue in 2024–25 after the arrival of two new baseball members (California and Stanford; the other 2024 arrival, SMU, does not have a baseball team).

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.

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 left the Pac-12 Conference, which collapsed at the end of the 2023–24 school year, and the other left the American Athletic Conference.

 School  Location  Founded  Type(affiliation)  Nickname  JoinedACC Boston College  Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts  1863  Private (Catholic)  Eagles  2005   Berkeley, California  1868  Public  Golden Bears  2024 Clemson University  Clemson, South Carolina  1889  Public  Tigers  1953 Duke University  Durham, North Carolina  1838  Private (nonsectarian)  Blue Devils  1953 Florida State University  Tallahassee, Florida  1851  Public  Seminoles  1991 Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech)  Atlanta, Georgia  1885  Public  Yellow Jackets  1979   Louisville, Kentucky  1798  Public  Cardinals  2014 MiamiUniversity of Miami  Coral Gables, Florida  1925  Private (nonsectarian)  Hurricanes  2004 North CarolinaUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill  Chapel Hill, North Carolina  1789  Public  Tar Heels  1953 North Carolina State University  Raleigh, North Carolina  1887  Public  Wolfpack  1953 Notre DameUniversity of Notre Dame  South Bend, Indiana  1842  Private (Catholic)  Fighting Irish  2013 PittsburghUniversity of Pittsburgh  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania  1787  State-related  Panthers  2013  (SMU)  Dallas, Texas  1911  Private  Mustangs  2024 Stanford University  Stanford, California  1891  Private  Cardinal  2024 Syracuse University  Syracuse, New York  1870  Private (nonsectarian)  Orange  2013 VirginiaUniversity of Virginia  Charlottesville, Virginia  1819  Public  Cavaliers  1953 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University(Virginia Tech)  Blacksburg, Virginia  1872  Public  Hokies  2004 Wake Forest University  Winston-Salem, North Carolina  1834  Private (nonsectarian)  Demon Deacons  1953

Former members
Two schools have left the ACC:

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

Sports
As of the 2024–25 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 had separate ACC men's and women's team championships since the conference reinstated that sport in the 2014–15 school year. At that time, the NCAA held a single coeducational (men's and women's) NCAA team championship. Starting in 2025–26, the NCAA will again hold separate men's and women's team championships in fencing. (It had held separate men's and women's championships from 1982 to 1989.)
 Baseball (men only)
 Basketball (both)
 Cross country (both)
 Fencing (both)
 Field hockey (women only)
 Football (men only)
 Golf (both)
 Gymnastics (women only)
 Lacrosse (both)
 Rowing (women only)
 Soccer (both)
 Softball (women only)
 Swimming and diving (both)
 Tennis (both)
 Track and field, indoor (both)
 Track and field, outdoor (both)
 Volleyball (women only)
 Wrestling (men only)

References