The table below that can be seen in larger a format by clicking here ranks Atlantic Coast Conference institutions by the number of ACC Championships claimed since 2000 (the year that Lee Fowler came to NC State). Additionally, the italicized numbers in parantheses is the rank for each school in the designated column. For example, NC State ranks 12th (last) in number of National Championships and 9th (last of pre-expansion ACC schools) in number of different sports in which we have won an ACC Championship.
Some following notes &; bytes:
* The table ranks Atlantic Coast Conference institutions on the number of ACC Championships claimed by the institution since 2000 (the year that Lee Fowler came to NC State). The italicized numbers in parantheses is the rank for each school in the designated column.
* NC State is the only pre-expansion Atlantic Coast Conference school who has not won a National Championship in any sport. Virginia Tech, who joined the ACC with expansion in 2004/2005 is the only other ACC school to fail to win a National Championsip.
* NC State ranks 6th in total number of ACC Championships (edging Georgia Tech who recently hired a new Athletics Director) by one title.
* The depth and breadth of NC State’s ACC Championships are the most shallow in the conference as State and Wake Forest have each won Championships in only four sports. Wake Forest’s student enrollment is approximately 10% the size of NC State’s and represents the smallest student enrollment of any BCS football program in America.
* In just four years, Virginia Tech has already won Championships in five unique sports. The only schools that are tied or rank below NC State in number of different sports with a conference title are the former Big East programs who joined the ACC with expansion in 2004/2005 and private institutions with significantly smaller resource and alumni bases.
* The breakdown of NC State’s 14 ACC Championships are as follows:
– 5 in Men’s Cross Country
– 4 in Women’s Cross Country
– 1 in Softball
– 4 in Wrestling
* Prior to Fowler’s arrival in Raleigh, NC State had historically strong programs in three of those four sports under long time coaches Rollie Gieger and Bob Guzzo. Men’s Cross Country had won 9 ACC titles before Fowler arrived in Raleigh; Women’s Cross Country had won 17 ACC Titles pre-Fowler; and Wrestling had won 10 ACC titles.
* Despite years of focus and promotion for new facilities by Lee Fowler and NC State’s leadership, the only programs at NC State to win ACC Championships don’t/didn’t have facilties (running in the woods for cross-country and no field for softball) or share 60 year old Reynolds Coliseum with various other sports (wrestling).
* Since the beginning of the 2004 fall semester, both North Carolina and Duke have won more ACC Championships than NC State has won since 2000. Therefore, our biggest and closest rivals have added more ACC titles to their trophy cases in 4 years as NC State has in 8 years, twice that time.
* If you were to average the ranking of each school in all four categories, NC State would rank LAST amongst pre-expansion ACC programs with a ranking #9.75. Virginia Tech, who has competed in the ACC for half the time as NC State, is only a half of ranking behind with an average of #10.25. Amongst pre-expansion institutions, Clemson and Georgia Tech rank closest to NC State at #7.5, a whopping 30% ahead of the Wolfpack.
Note: We’d like to send out a HUGE note of thanks to wvwolf for his contributions to this research and analysis. We have an amazing community who can produce amazing results with dedication and focus.
