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1996 ACC Season Review

The Tradition
Consistency. It's the mark of true excellence in any endeavor.

However, in today's intercollegiate athletics, competition has become so balanced and so competitive that it is virtually impossible to maintain a high level of consistency.

Yet the Atlantic Coast Conference has defied the odds. Now in its 45th year of competition, the ACC has long enjoyed the reputation as one of the strongest and most competitive intercollegiate conferences in the nation. And that is not mere conjecture, the numbers support it.

Since the league's inception in 1953, ACC schools have captured 59 NCAA and AIAW championships, including 27 in men's competition and 32 in women's.

1996-97 IN REVIEW
The 1996-97 academic year concluded with the league pocketing three more national titles and four individual NCAA crowns. The ACC's 1996-97 national champions were North Carolina in women's soccer and field hockey and Maryland in women's lacrosse. In addition, the ACC had two other teams participate in national championship title games -- Florida State in football and Maryland in men's lacrosse. Overall, the ACC posted a 54-48 (.529) mark in NCAA tournament play.

The ACC placed at least one team in the Top 10 nationally in 16 of the 24 sports sponsored by the league. Other records of note during the 1996-97 season include 84 teams competing at NCAA Championships, four bowl teams and 33 Top 10 showings.

Seven ACC teams, in six different sports representing five of the nine member institutions, earned a No. 1 ranking during the course of the past academic year.

The History
The Atlantic Coast Conference was founded on May 8, 1953, near Greensboro, NC with seven charter members - Clemson, Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina and Wake Forest.

On December 4, 1953, conference officials met again and officially admitted the University of Virginia. The only withdrawal of a school from the ACC came on June 30, 1971 when the University of South Carolina tendered its resignation.

The conference operated with seven members until April 3, 1978, when Georgia Tech was added. The ACC expanded to nine members on July 1, 1991, with the addition of Florida State.

Final Conference Standings  
TEAM         W   L    PCT    FOR  OPP
Maryland    16   0   1.000   48   10
Ga.Tech     11   5   .688    37   22
Duke        10   6   .625    38   24
Clemson      9   7   .563    30   29
UNC          9   7   .563    33   31
UVA          7   9   .438    32   34
FSU          6   10  .375    27   37
NC State     4   12  .250    23   40
Wake Forest  0   16  .000    7    48
Overall Standings
TEAM           W   L    PCT     FOR  OPP
Maryland      26   5   .839     83   27
Ga.Tech       32   8   .800    101   39
Duke          15  12   .556     55   45
Clemson       17  15   .531     62   54
UNC           20  12   .625     69   53
UVA           24  11   .686     83   46
FSU           12  19   .387     48   67
NC State      21  16   .568     77   52
Wake Forest   10  23   .303     40   73

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