NCAA Record 10 ACC Teams Head to Bowls |
GREENSBORO, N.C. –The Atlantic Coast Conference becomes the first conference to have ten teams participate in bowl games in a single season as the ACC sends 10 of its 12 conference members to post-season bowl trips led by its 2008 champion—Virginia Tech--heading to the FedEx Orange Bowl in Miami to play Cincinnati of the Big East Conference on Jan. 1 in an 8:30 pm contest that will be nationally-televised by FOX.
In addition the Conference posted an all-time best 37-11 record against non-conference foes this season, a .771 winning percentage. Including this year’s total, no conference has had more teams go to bowl games—34—than any other conference in the nation over the last four years. Joining the Hokies, ranked 19th in the final BCS Standings, in participating in post-season bowls this year will be 14th-ranked Georgia Tech (Chick-fil-A), Clemson (Konica Minolta Gator Bowl), Florida State (Champs Sports), 24th-ranked Boston College (Gaylord Hotels Music City), North Carolina (Meineke Car Care), Miami (Emerald Bowl), Maryland (Roady’s Humanitarian), Wake Forest (EagleBank Bowl) and NC State (Papajohns.com Bowl). Virginia Tech (9-4 Overall; 5-3 ACC) will be making its third appearance--and second straight--in the FedEx Orange Bowl. The Hokies of Coach Frank Beamer, who just claimed their third ACC football title in five years, will also be making their 16th consecutive appearance in a post-season bowl game. Virginia Tech will be making its 22nd bowl appearance but will be facing the Bearcats in postseason for the first time since their initial bowl bid in the 1947 Sun Bowl. Georgia Tech (9-3 Overall; 5-3 ACC) will be making its 11th straight bowl appearance and the first in the Atlanta-based bowl since it became the Chick-fil-A Bowl and first under head coach Paul Johnson. Previously, the Jackets had made appearances in the Peach Bowl in 1971, 1978 and the 2000. Tech’s opponent, the LSU Tigers of the Southeastern Conference, were also the Jackets’ foe in its last bowl game in Atlanta in the 2000 Peach Bowl. The Chick-fil-A Bowl will have a 7:30 pm kickoff on Dec. 31 and will be nationally-televised by ESPN. Tech is sixth in bowl winning percentage among schools who have played in 15 or more bowl games, posting a 22-14 record and a .711 winning percentage. Clemson (7-5 Overall; 4-4 ACC) will be making its ninth appearance—more than any other school--in the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl but their first to the Jacksonville bowl game since 2001. The Tigers have earned a bowl berth in each of the last five years and 10 of the last 11 seasons. Clemson will face Nebraska of the Big 12 Conference in a 1 pm game on January 1 that will be nationally-televised by CBS. It will be the first meeting between the two teams since the 1982 Orange Bowl, when the Tigers captured a 22-15 citory and the 1981 National Championship. Florida State (8-4 Overall, 5-3 ACC), which will be making its first visit to the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla., will face Wisconsin of the Big Ten. The Seminoles hold the NCAA mark for longest consecutive bowl victory streak, having won 11 straight between 1985 and 1996. This will be the Seminoles’ 27th straight bowl trip under Head Coach Bobby Bowden, whose team has compiled 33 straight winning seasons. The Champs Sports Bowl will be played on Dec. 27 at 4:30 pm. will be nationally televised by ESPN. Boston College (9-4 Overall; 5-3 ACC), which has the longest current bowl winning streak in the NCAA, having won eight straight bowl games, is returning to the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl for the second time, having defeated Georgia in the 2001 Music City Bowl. The Eagles of Coach Jeff Jagodzinski will face Vanderbilt of the Southeastern Conference in a 3:30 pm contest in Nashville on Dec. 31 that will be nationally televised by ESPN. BC has the nation’s best record--percentage wise--among teams which have played in a minimum of 15 bowl games, posting a 13-6 mark (.684). North Carolina’s (8-4 Overall; 4-4 ACC)) appearance in this year’s Meineke Car Care Bowl will be the Tar Heels’ first since playing in the Charlotte-based bowl game—then named the Continental Tire Bowl—in 2004, but it is also UNC’s 26th overall bowl appearance and its first under head coach Butch Davis. UNC will face West Virginia of the Big East Conference on Dec. 27 in a 1 pm contest that will be nationally televised on ESPN. The game marks the first meeting between the two teams since the 1997 Gator Bowl game. Miami (7-5 Overall; 4-4 ACC) is making its first trip to the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco. The This will be the Hurricanes ninth bowl trip in 10 years and their 34th appearance overall. Miami will be facing California of the PAC-10 Conference on Dec. 27 in an 8 pm contest that will be nationally televised by ESPN from AT&T Park. Overall, Miami is 19-14 in bowl games. Maryland (7-5 Overall, 4-4 ACC) prepares to head to its third straight bowl trip and sixth in seven years when it travels to Boise, Idaho, to meet Nevada from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in the Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl at Bronco Stadium on Dec. 30 at 4:30 pm. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN. The Terrapins are making their 23rd post-season appearance in football, their sixth in seven years under current head coach Ralph Friedgen. Wake Forest (7-5 Overall, 4-4 in the ACC) is making its third straight bowl appearance for the first time in school history as it becomes one of the participants in the inaugural EagleBank Bowl, to be played Dec. 20 at 11 a.m. at RFK stadium in Washington, D.C. The Demon Deacons of Coach Jim Grobe will be facing the Midshipmen of Navy for the second time this season. Navy took a 24-17 decision from Wake on Sept. 27. The EagleBank Bowl will be nationally televised on ESPN. NC State (6-6 Overall, 4-4 ACC) is making its first post-season bowl appearance under head coach Tom O’Brien, traveling to meeting Rutgers of the Big East Conference in the Papajohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, Ala., on Dec. 29 at 3 pm which will be nationally-televised on ESPN. State’s bowl appearance is its first since the 2005 Meineke Car Care Bowl, but is its 24th overall bowl trip. As a Coach O’Brien has won seven straight bowl games, all while the head coach at Boston College (2000-2006).
ACC Bowl Games ACC Team Opponent
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