Bowl season is on us and the ACC has teams participating from South Florida to El Paso. Duke starts it off vs Northern Illinois on December 26th followed up by both FSU and Boston College playing in their respective bowl games on the 27th. “Honorary” ACC team, Notre Dame will take on LSU  on January first and later that same day Clemson and Alabama will tango in the Sugar Bowl for the right to play in the National Championship game.

 

• Clemson Ranked No. 1, Returns to CFP: The ACC Champion Clemson Tigers (12-1) are No. 1 in the CFP rankings and will face No. 4 Alabama (11-1) in the CFP Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl at 8:45 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 1. It marks the third-consecutive year Clemson has faced the Crimson Tide in the College Football Playoff. If the Tigers advance past Alabama this year, they will face No. 2 Oklahoma (12-1) or No. 3 Georgia (12-1) for the CFP National Championship at 8 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 8, at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Tigers are looking to become the first team to repeat as national champions since Alabama in 2011 and 2012.

• Orange Success: ACC Coastal Division champion and 10th-ranked Miami (10-2) will face No. 6 Wisconsin (12-1) in the Capital One Orange Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 30, at 8 p.m. (ESPN). It will be the 41st bowl appearance for the Hurricanes, who own a 20-20 record in their previous postseason games. Miami will be playing in the Orange Bowl for the 10th time, and the first since 2004. The Hurricanes own a 6-3 record in their previous appearances. The ACC has won five consecutive Orange Bowl games, the longest streak by any conference in 73 years.

• ACC Earns Nation’s Best 10 Bowl Bids: Led by defending national champion Clemson, the ACC secured 10 spots in the 2017 postseason bowl lineup – the most of any conference. Over the last two years, the ACC has had 21 teams in bowl games. This marks the 17th consecutive year that at least six ACC teams are in a bowl game. The ACC ranks second among all conferences with 116 total bowl bids since 2005.

• The Last Five Years: Since 2013, the ACC has made 54 postseason appearances (second-most among Power 5 conferences), has the most wins (7) of any conference in BCS, New Year’s Six and CFP games, and has captured the most national championships (Florida State in 2013, Clemson in 2016).

• Bowl Streaks: A pair of ACC schools – Florida State and Virginia Tech – will continue the two longest current Division I bowl streaks in the nation. FSU is in a bowl game for the 36th-straight year and will face Southern Miss in the Walk-On’s Independence Bowl on Dec. 27. Virginia Tech, which has the longest streak recognized by the NCAA, will play in its 25th-straight bowl when the 22nd-ranked Hokies take on No. 19 Oklahoma State in the Camping World Bowl on Dec. 28.

• BCS/NYE6/CFP Success: Since 2012, no other conference has been as successful on the biggest stage as the ACC. During that time, the league is 8-3 (.727) in BCS, New Year’s Six and CFP games. The only other Power 5 conference with a winning record in those games entering this year’s bowl season is the Pac-12 with a 5-4 mark (.556).

• Bowling the Last Two Years: Thirteen of 14 ACC teams have earned an invitation to a postseason bowl game over the last two seasons. Over the last four years, every ACC team has enjoyed a trip to a bowl game and the league has made 43 postseason appearances.

• Swinney Becomes Fourth ACC Head Coach to Win 100 Games: Clemson’s Dabo Swinney became just the fourth head coach to win 100 games while coaching in the ACC, when his Tigers defeated South Carolina 34-10 on Nov. 25. Swinney joined Bobby Bowden (173) of Florida State, George Welsh (136) of Virginia and Frank Beamer (113) of Virginia Tech, who each had at least 100 wins as ACC head coaches.

• Seven ACC Coaches Rank Among the Top 25 Active Head Coaches in Career Victories: The ACC has seven of the Top 25 active coaches nationally in career victories – all of them with 100 or more – which is by far the most of any conference. The next closest league has four coaches in the top 25. Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson is in fourth place with 182 wins. He is followed by Miami’s Mark Richt, who is eighth with 164 wins, Louisville’s Bobby Petrino is 17th with 116, Wake Forest’s Dave Clawson is tied for 21st (110), Virginia’s Bronco Mendenhall is 23rd (107), Duke’s David Cutcliffe is 24th (102) and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney is 25th (101).

• Winning 10: Clemson has won 10 or more games in each of the last seven years. The Tigers and Alabama are the only two teams that currently have active streaks of seven or more years with double-figure victories.

• NC State’s Bradley Chubb Becomes Fourth ACC Player in Eight Years to win the Nagurski Trophy: NC State DE Bradley Chubb was named the winner of this year’s Bronko Nargurski Trophy, given annually by the FWAA to the nation’s defensive player of the year. Chubb becomes the fourth ACC player in eight years to win the Trophy, joining Da’Quan Bowers of Clemson (2010), Luke Kuechly of Boston College (2011) and Aaron Donald of Pitt (2014). He is also the eighth player from a current ACC school to win the honor. Chubb is second nationally in tackles for loss per game (2.2) and eighth in sacks per game (0.83).

• ACC Has Won Five Straight in the OB: When No. 10 Miami faces No. 6 Wisconsin in this year’s Capital One Orange Bowl, the Hurricanes will be seeking to extend a streak of five consecutive wins by ACC teams. The streak is the longest in Orange Bowl history since the SEC won seven straight from 1938-44 (73 years ago). One of those wins was by Georgia Tech, then a member of the Southeastern Conference.