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Charter members included Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina, and Wake Forest. The seven charter members were formerly aligned with the Southern Conference. Virginia, another former Southern Conference member that was then operating as an independent in intercollegiate sports, was admitted into the conference in December 1953. Florida State joined in 1991.
The only former member of the ACC is South Carolina (1953-1971), which is now aligned with the Southeastern Conference.
Current members (and year joined)
Member schools participate in baseball, men's and women's basketball, field hockey, football, men's and women's golf, men's and women's lacrosse, women's rowing, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's tennis, indoor and outdoors track, cross country, women's volleyball, and wrestling.
Expansion of the ACC has been approved for the 2004 season, and will increase membership to 11 schools, with the University of Miami and Virginia Tech from the Big East Conference scheduled to join. Boston College is now expected to join in 2006, bringing the total to 12 schools.
The ACC is considered one of the best college basketball conferences in the NCAA. For example, during February 2004, six teams were ranked in the top 25 at one time. One of the unranked teams, Maryland, was the National Champion in 2002, and Clemson, who was ranked last in the ACC, had a strength of schedule ranked #1 in the country.