Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Meet The New In-Laws Notre Dame’s marriage to the ACC brings 14 family members By Lou Somogyi Seven charter members formed the original Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953 while seceding from what was known as the Southern Conference. It featured the “Tobacco Road” quartet of Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State and Wake Forest, plus Clemson, Maryland and South Carolina. One year later, Virginia was added to make it eight. When South Carolina opted out in 1971 to become independent, the ACC remained at seven until Georgia Tech joined in 1978. Venerated mainly as the premier basketball conference in America, the ACC added football powerhouse Florida State in 1991 before Miami and Virginia Tech bolted the Big East in 2004, and Boston College followed suit a year later. The Big East to ACC exodus continued the past year with Pitt and Syracuse signed up for 2013 … and now Notre Dame at a date to be determined (with football remaining independent and hockey in Hockey East). Here is a thumbnail sketch of the conference members, including the years they joined the ACC and their football series with Notre Dame. Enrollment is based on 2011-12 undergraduate numbers: Boston College (2005) Enrollment: 9,088 Athletics Legacy: Men’s hockey has 23 Frozen Fours and five national titles, including a 4-1 victory versus Notre Dame in the 2008 final. The Irish join BC in the Hockey East league starting in 2013-14. Football: Notre Dame leads the series 12-9 after winning each of the past three years. The two schools have been scheduled to meet yearly through 2019. Did You Know?: Notre Dame and Boston College are the only two Roman Catholic universities competing in the 120-team Football Bowl Subdivision of the NCAA. Clemson (1953) Enrollment: 15,697 Athletics Legacy: The school has won four national titles, highlighted by football in 1981. It also captured them in men’s soccer (1984 and 1987) and men’s golf (2003). Football: The Irish rallied for a pulsating 21‑17 win at Clemson in 1977 on its way to the national title, but lost 16-10 in the return match at home in 1979. Did You Know?: Clemson was ranked No. 1 in The Princeton Review’s list of “Jock Schools” based on the popularity of intercollegiate and intramural sports. Duke (1953) Enrollment: 6,680 Athletics Legacy: Men’s basketball is among the five most renowned programs in the nation with four national titles under Mike Krzyzewski. Men’s lacrosse defeated Notre Dame in overtime for the 2010 national title. The 12 overall national titles are paced by women’s golf with five. Football: Notre Dame leads 3-1, most recently a 28-7 victory in 2007 to improve to 2-9. The Blue Devils haven’t won a bowl game since the 1961 Cotton Bowl, nor produced a winning season since 1994. Did You Know?: Former Notre Dame athletics director Kevin White (2000-08) left the post to take the same position at Duke. Florida State (1991) Enrollment: 32,201 Athletics Legacy: The football team won the national titles in 1993 (despite losing to No. 2 Notre Dame) and 1999, and men’s track & field won three straight from 2006-08. Baseball is the second-winningest program all-time, but has never won a national title. Football: Florida State leads Notre Dame 5‑2, most notably rallying from 26-14 and 14-3 fourth-quarter deficits to win 31-26 and 18-14 in the 1996 Orange Bowl and 2011 Champs Sports Bowl, respectively. Did You Know?: The football team played in five national title showdowns in the eight seasons from 1993‑2000. Georgia Tech (1978) Enrollment: 13,948 Athletics Legacy: The football team won news poll national titles in 1917, 1928, 1952 and 1990 (UPI, while Colorado won the AP), but its first-ever national title granted by the NCAA came in women’s tennis in 2007. Men’s basketball was the 2004 NCAA runner-up to UConn. Football: Notre Dame leads the series 27-6-1, with the most famous victory coming in 1953, 27‑14, ending Georgia Tech’s 31-game unbeaten string. Did You Know?: In 1976, Georgia Tech upset No. 11 Notre Dame 23-14 — the last team to post a win over the Irish without completing a pass. Maryland (1953) Enrollment: 26,775 Athletics Legacy: The Terrapins have 38 national titles, led by women’s lacrosse (10) and women’s field hockey (seven). Men’s soccer won it all in 2005 and 2008, while men’s basketball (2002) and women’s basketball (2006) also have achieved it since the turn of the century. Football: Notre Dame has met the Terps twice, both on neutral sites, a 22-0 Irish victory in the 2002 Kickoff Classic and a 45-21 Notre Dame win at FedEx Field near Washington, D.C., last year. Did You Know?: Maryland finished No. 1 over 9-0-1 Notre Dame in 1953 despite losing in the Orange Bowl to Oklahoma, whom the Irish had defeated. Back then, national titles were determined at the end of the regular season. Miami (2004) Enrollment: 10,144 Athletics Legacy: The Hurricanes have the most football national titles the past 30 years with five (1983, 1987, 1989, 1991 and 2001), and they have four in baseball, most recently 2001. Football: Notre Dame leads the series 16-7-1, highlighted by the 31-30 victory over No. 1 Miami in 1988. The two programs have met only once since the Hurricanes joined the ACC. That was a 33-17 Irish win in the 2010 Sun Bowl. Did You Know?: Notre Dame and Miami met every year on the gridiron from 1971-90, except 1986. North Carolina (1953) Enrollment: 18,503 Athletics Legacy: The 40 national titles are eighth most in the NCAA, with half of them in women’s soccer. North Carolina also has six in field hockey, five in men’s basketball (voted by ESPN as the top program the past 50 years), four in men’s lacrosse, two in men’s soccer and one in women’s basketball. It also went to four straight College World Series from 2006-09. Football: Notre Dame leads 16-2, but the Tar Heels won the last meeting, 29-24 at Chapel Hill in 2008. Did You Know?: Last year, 1984 Notre Dame graduate Lawrence “Bubba” Cunningham was named the school’s director of athletics. North Carolina State (1953) Enrollment: 25,176 Athletics Legacy: Its two NCAA-sanctioned titles came in 1974 and 1983, both in men’s basketball. Football: The lone meeting was the 2003 Gator Bowl, a 28-6 victory by the Wolfpack. That vaulted them to their highest finish in the Associated Press poll (12th) since 1974, when Lou Holtz led 9-2-1 NC State to a No. 11 finish. Did You Know?: Football head coach Tom O’Brien was 5-3 against Notre Dame when he was at Boston College from 1997-2006, notably four straight victories from 2001-04. Pittsburgh (2013) Enrollment: 17,083 Athletics Legacy: Pitt has claimed nine national titles in football, seven of them prior to the AP poll that began in 1936. Football: The Irish hold a 46-20-1 advantage over the Panthers. The only programs to play Notre Dame more often are Navy (86), Purdue (84), USC (83) and Michigan State (76). Did You Know?: Pitt and Syracuse, now in their final year in the Big East, paid the Big East $7.5 million to leave early and join the ACC by the 2013-14 academic year. Syracuse (2013) Enrollment: 14,671 Athletics Legacy: Half of the 28 team national titles are in men’s lacrosse, and six more in men’s crew. Football (1959) and men’s basketball (2003) also made the list. Football: The series is tied 3-3. In 2008, the 2-8 Orange became the first eight-loss team to defeat Notre Dame, posting a 24-23 upset. Did You Know?: In 2010, Syracuse men’s basketball set the NCAA record for single-game on-campus attendance (34,616) for a home contest. Virginia (1954) Enrollment: 14,591 Athletics Legacy: Thomas Jefferson’s school has 21 recognized NCAA titles, with 16 coming since 1980. Seven in men’s lacrosse, six in men’s soccer and three in women’s lacrosse lead it. Football: The lone meeting was a 36-13 Irish conquest in the 1989 Kickoff Classic, part of Notre Dame’s school-record 23-game unbeaten streak. Virginia’s two ACC titles came in 1989 and 1995. Did You Know?: Notre Dame athletics director Gene Corrigan (1981-87) was hired from the University of Virginia before becoming the ACC commissioner. His son, Kevin, also a Virginia grad, begins his 25th season coaching the Irish lacrosse team in 2013. Virginia Tech (2004) Enrollment: 23,647 Athletics Legacy: The football team lost 46-29 in the 1999 national title game to Florida State. An overtime basket at the buzzer gave Virginia Tech a 92-91 victory over Notre Dame in the then prestigious 16-team NIT field in 1973. Football: The two programs have never met on the gridiron. Did You Know?: Hokies head coach and graduate Frank Beamer has the longest tenure (32 years) and most victories (253 entering the weekend of Sept. 15) at the FBS level in the NCAA. Wake Forest (1953) Enrollment: 4,775 Athletics Legacy: The ACC’s smallest school has won eight national titles, the first in baseball (1955) and the most recent in men’s soccer (2007). It also has three in men’s golf (Arnold Palmer is an alumnus) and won three straight in women’s field hockey (2002-04). Football: The first meeting resulted in a 24-17 Notre Dame victory last season in Winston-Salem. The Irish host the Demon Deacons on Nov. 17. Did You Know?: Wake Forest president Nathan Hatch was a faculty member at Notre Dame starting in 1975 and was the school’s provost from 1996-2005 before moving to Wake Forest.