25 Best Out of Conference ACC Wins

6 FSU
10 Clemson
4 Miami

http://allsportsdiscussion.com/2018/04/23/the-accs-25-best-out-of-conference-football-wins-of-the-2010s-through-2017-25-21/

1. #1 Florida State 34 #2 Auburn 31 – January 6, 2014

What else but this game could be number 1? It will end up being the most historically significant National Championship of the decade. This Seminole team was the SEC National Championship streak stopper that ended at 7. It also marked the end of SEC’s dominance over college football, and gave the ACC it’s first national championship in football in over 10 years. This Florida State team was a transcendent group, that achieved greatness.

2. #2 Clemson 35 #1 Alabama 31 – January 9, 2017

Clemson defeated Alabama in the national title game for their first national championship since 1981. Many thought this was Nick Saban’s best Alabama team ever, and the Tide were going for their 5th title in 8 years. Alabama is the current standard in college football, and they made the SEC their personal playground, but they couldn’t beat Clemson in this one. Clemson QB Deshaun Watson became a legend, and the game stamped the ACC as the best football conference in the country for 2016.

3. #2 Clemson 31 #3 Ohio State 0 – December 31, 2016

The final score of the national semi-final game between Clemson and Ohio State seems impossible. Clemson had beat an Urban Meyer coached Ohio State team 31-0. It is the single most shocking score of the playoff era. The Tigers dominated in every phase of the game. It was the first time Meyer had ever been shut out as a head coach, and it set the stage for a rematch against Alabama in the national title game. Urban Meyer at Ohio State has an astonishing 47-3 record in the Big 10, but he’s 1-3 against teams from the ACC.

4. #15 Clemson 25  #9 LSU 24 – December 31, 2012

If any game marked the beginning of the ACC and Clemson being able to compete with the elite of college football it was this one. At the time the SEC was still the standard when it came to college football. Clemson defeated a LSU team that was a handful of plays from the national title game. The game also proved Clemson had the potential to be a college football power. Since that game, Clemson has  established itself as one of the premier college football programs in the country. This is where it all started.

5. #1 Clemson 37  #4 Oklahoma 17 – December 31, 2015

It was a bit surprising that coming into this Orange Bowl National Semi-Final game, that 13-0 Clemson was an underdog to Oklahoma. Those of us that followed Clemson, knew the Tigers were very good, but after this thrashing of the Sooners the rest of the country knew too. The win propelled the Tigers into the National Title Game against Alabama, and gave the ACC it’s second National Title participant in three years.

6. #12 Georgia Tech 49 #7 Mississippi St. 34 – December 31, 2014

This game was significant in so many ways. It proved Paul Johnson’s Triple Option could succeed even if the opponent had weeks to prepare, and it lifted Georgia Tech to a top 10 finish in the 2014 season. The win was part of a series of SEC West losses where each ranked SEC West team lost it’s bowl game proving the best football teams in the country could now play and defeat the best teams the SEC had to offer. Mississippi State spent several weeks ranked #1, but were no match for the Yellow Jackets in this Orange Bowl game. This Georgia Tech team is the best non-FSU/Clemson ACC team of the decade so far.

7. #11 Florida State 33 #6 Michigan 32 – December 30, 2016

Michigan spent most of the year as a playoff contender, while especially early in the year a few questions were starting to be asked about the direction of the FSU program. The Noles finished the year with a flourish winning 7 of their last 8 games. The Big 10 was considered college football’s top conference – before bowl season, and this one of the wins that lifted the ACC to #1 by season’s end. The Noles finished in the top 10, and will start 2017 as one of the favorites to win the national title. It was the ACC’s 5th straight Orange Bowl win.

8. #12 Clemson 40 #7 Ohio State 35 – January 3, 2014

Clemson showed with this win, that they were here to stay as a football power. Along with FSU’s national championship win, it gave the ACC a 2-0 BCS record in 2013. The 2-13 BCS record of the ACC was a distant memory. At the time,  Urban Meyer had only lost 4 games in 3 years at Ohio State, and this was one of them. Clemson used this win to finish 2013 in the top 10.

9. #16 Georgia Tech  30 #9 Georgia 24  – November 29, 2014

Georgia entered this week as a darkhorse to make the college football playoff. Missouri winning the SEC East effectively ended the Bulldogs playoff chances, but you can see how well UGA was regarded. Georgia Tech hadn’t beat Georgia since 2008, but this win gave the Yellow Jackets a chance at a truly great season. Add in the fact the ACC went 4-0 against the SEC in rivalry games, with this being the crowning jewel of that weekend and this win makes our top 10 best OOC wins of the decade.

10. Virginia Tech 35 #8 Ohio State 21 – September 6, 2014

Ohio State lost one game in 2014 on their way to the National Title and it was at home to the Virginia Tech Hokies. This game is a little lower on the list because Virginia Tech couldn’t use it to propel itself to a great season. It was more of a singular event than some of the other games. That said we were again able to see the genius of Bud Foster as a defensive coordinator. Foster called a masterpiece of a game, and the Buckeyes had no answer. This result very nearly kept Ohio State out of the college football playoff.

11. #8 Clemson 38 #5 Georgia 35 – August 31, 2013 

Georgia entered this game as a pre-season national title contender. Clemson was looking to validate a Chick Fila Bowl win over LSU, and beat a 2nd straight top 10 SEC team. The Tigers won this game, and around the country people knew the Tigers were building something. The win helped the Tigers eventually get to #3 in the country setting up one of the most anticipated ACC games ever when they faced fellow top 5 team Florida State. It was the first time ever a non-SEC team had beat back to back top 10 SEC teams.

12. #2 Florida State 31 #5 Notre Dame 27 – October 19, 2014 

Notre Dame’s late season swoon takes a little luster off this battle, but at the time it was one of the biggest games of the 2014 season. It turned out to be the 2nd highest rated college football game of the regular season, and kept Florida State in the thick of the national title chase. It was a tremendous game that wasn’t decided until the final seconds, as the entire nation watched.

13. #12 Clemson 24 #6 Notre Dame 22 – October 3, 2015

This game laid the groundwork for Clemson’s 2015 National Title appearance run. This game had it all – National TV, Prime-Time, Gameday and an epic game. It was the BYOG (Bring Your Own Guts) game as Dabo Swinney called it. Again the Irish slipped down the stretch losing their final 2 games, but without this high-profile win Clemson probably doesn’t make the college football playoffs. This is the first of two classic ACC Games that went into the final seconds with Notre Dame.

14. #7 Miami 41 #3 Notre Dame 8 – November 11, 2017

Mark Richt and his Miami Hurricanes turned back the clock in a vintage performance against at the time the #3 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish. In prime time national TV, the Hurricanes absolutely ran the Irish off the field. It got Miami into the thick of the playoff chase and eventually into the top 5. Even though Miami lost their last three games of the season – they reached the ACCCG and made the Orange Bowl in one of their best seasons in years. .

15. Miami 31 #16 West Virginia 14 – December 28, 2016

The Miami Hurricanes hadn’t won a bowl game since 2006, but returned to the bowl winner’s circle in 2016 with a turn back the clock performance against a top 20 ranked West Virginia team. Mark Richt in his first year at Miami, led the Canes to their best season in several years.

16. #3 Clemson 14 #13 Auburn 6 – September  9, 2017

This game was headed for the top 10 of this list before Auburn fell apart in their final 2 games of the year against Georgia and UCF. Prior to that Auburn was in position to be the first team to make the playoffs with 2 losses. Don’t let the score fool you, Clemson dominated this game. Auburn could barely cross mid-field for the final 3 quarters of the game, and totaled only 117 yards on offense. Auburn would later beat both teams that would appear in the national title game Alabama and Georgia, and still finished the season in top 10.

17. #23 Florida State 26  #19 South Carolina 17 – December 31, 2010

This was one of the first games where you really got the feeling that Jimbo Fisher would be capable of turning the Noles into a National Power. This Chick Fil A Bowl win was against a South Carolina team that won the SEC East and had defeated #1 Alabama earlier in the year. Florida State showed a physicality in this game that would be part of the the Noles national title run a couple of years later.

18. Boston College 37 #9 USC 31 – September 13, 2014 

People have forgotten what an impressive win this was for Boston College. The Pac 12 was considered the best or second best conference in college football in 2014, and this USC team finished 9-4 and in the top 25. They entered this game in the top 10, and Boston College ran for a whopping 452 yards in the 37-31 win. Boston College QB Tyler Murphy was unstoppable in this one.

19. Pittsburgh 42 Penn State 39 – September 10, 2016

At the time this Pittsburgh win over Penn State looked like a nice rivalry win, and not that much else. As the year progressed it became one of the best non-conference wins of the 2016 season. Penn State went on to win the Big 10 Championship and just miss the playoffs, but they couldn’t beat the Pittsburgh Panthers. Pitt RB James Conner had 117 yards on the ground.

20. Clemson 38  #21 Auburn 24 – September 17, 2011

This was the game that began Clemson’s march from unranked team to an 8-0 start and a top 10 ranking. Auburn was the defending national champion and was on a 17 game winning streak. The final score was closer than it really was. This was Dabo Swinney’s first really noteworthy non-conference win at Clemson, and led to a 10 win season. It was the Tigers first 10 win season in more than 20 years.

21. #14 Florida State 27  #10 Florida 2 – November 29, 2015

Florida came into this game with Florida State 10-1, SEC East Champions, and were playing in the Swamp. They were no match for Florida State. Dalvin Cook ran wild in the 4th quarter, and FSU proved that despite the Gators gaudy record how much separated and continues to separate the two programs.

22. Miami 21 #12 Florida 16 – September 7, 2013

It was the day Dabo Swinney flashed the U.

Dabo: “How about that ACC? Spunky little old league?” Then he makes “The U” sign as he walks out.

— Greg Wallace (@gc_wallace) September 7, 2013

ACC teams beating SEC teams is fairly common place now, but back in early 2013 it was a big deal as the ACC desperately fought for football respect. Clemson beat a big SEC opponent on this same day, that you’ll see on this list later. It was one of Al Golden’s biggest wins during his tenure at Miami.

23. #25 Florida State 18 Notre Dame 14 – December 29, 2011

Who was the last team to defeat Notre Dame, before Alabama did in the 2012-2013 BCS National title game? It was the Florida State Seminoles. This was the ACC’s best bowl win of 2011, and got the Noles into the national title discussion to start the 2012 season for the first time in several years. In only his 2nd year and Florida State, this game proved that the Noles wouldn’t start backing up after a 10 win 2010.

24. Miami 24 #16 Ohio State 6 – September 17, 2011

This win could have been higher on this list but the Buckeyes collapsed to a 6-7 season. Coming into the game though Ohio State had won 24 of their previous 26 games. It was Al Golden’s first marquee win and seemed to have set the foundation for the future of his tenure. Year’s later the game wasn’t the stepping stone for Golden some expected, but at the time it was an upset that stunned the college football world.

25. Wake Forest 55 Texas A&M 52  – December 29, 2017

Wake Forest gave hope to every school in the ACC, that upward mobility is possible. Wake Forest finished 2017 with an 8-5 record playing in division with 2 recent national title winners and with the reigning Heisman Trophy winner. The season was capped by beating a Texas A&M team with more resources that all but a handful schools in college football. Wake Forest is one of smallest programs in FBS, but that didn’t matter in 2017 Belk Bowl. It was was one of the best bowl games of 2017.