List of Atlantic Coast Conference Football Champions - Early Era

Early Era

The charter members of the ACC were Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina, and Wake Forest. The seven ACC charter members had been aligned with the Southern Conference, but left due in part to the conference's ban on postseason play. The ACC officially came into existence on June 14, 1953. The 1953 college football season, the first under the new conference, saw Duke and Maryland crowned conference co-champions. Maryland later went on to be crowned national champions before losing the 1954 Orange Bowl.

On December 4, 1953, conference officials convened in Greensboro, North Carolina, and admitted the University of Virginia as the eighth member of the conference. Virginia was the first non-Southern Conference member to join the new conference, as Virginia had played football with no conference affiliation since 1936. The conference operated with eight members until June 30, 1971, when the University of South Carolina left to become an independent.

After South Carolina's departure, the ACC operated with seven members until April 3, 1978, when the Georgia Institute of Technology was admitted. The Atlanta, Georgia, school had withdrawn from the Southeastern Conference in January 1964 and had operated as an independent before joining the ACC. Though the school joined the conference beginning with the 1979 season, it did not become eligible to win the ACC football championship until the 1983 season. Seven years after beginning full ACC play, Georgia Tech won its first ACC football championship en route to winning the 1990 NCAA Division I football championship.

In the fall of 1982, Clemson University was put on probation by the NCAA for recruiting violations. The probation forbade the team from participating in any bowl games, reduced the scholarships available to the team, and rendered the team ineligible for ACC football championship competition. Though the team still played its full slate of games during the 1983 season and finished 9–1–1, Maryland, which finished with an 8–4 record, was awarded the ACC football championship.

The ACC expanded to nine members on September 15, 1990, with the addition of Florida State. Beginning with the 1992 football season—its first in the ACC—Florida State won or shared the ACC football championship nine consecutive times. The conference expanded to 11 members on July 1, 2004, with the addition of the University of Miami and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Miami and Virginia Tech began official ACC play with the 2004 college football season, but because the league was forbidden from hosting a championship game, the conference was forced to award a championship based on regular-season play (round-robin scheduling was no longer used beginning that season). Virginia Tech, which had the best conference record at the conclusion of the season, was awarded the ACC championship.