On ACC stature

Did a little bit of research yesterday for this column and came across numbers that underscored the lack of resistance Clemson faced in the ACC during the glory years.

The year-by-year account of Clemson’s ACC foes that finished ranked:

1991: 0
1990: 2 (Georgia Tech, Virginia)
1989: 1 (Virginia)
1988: 1 (N.C. State)
1987: 0
1986: 0
1985: 2 (Georgia Tech, Maryland)
1984: 2 (Virginia, Maryland)
1983: 0
1982: 2 (North Carolina, Maryland)
1981: 1 (North Carolina)
1980: 1 (North Carolina)
1979: 1 (North Carolina)
1978: 2 (N.C. State, Maryland)
1977: 1 (North Carolina)

What about recent years? We know the ACC is awful this year, and we know the ACC has underachieved since it expanded to 12 teams in 2004-2005. But has Clemson's conference opposition been better than it was during the aforementioned time frame, using final rankings as the criteria?

Let's see:

2011: 3 (Florida State, Virginia Tech, Virginia Tech {ACC title game})
2010: 3 (Florida State, N.C. state, Maryland)
2009: 3 (Georgia Tech, Miami, Georgia Tech {ACC title game})
2008: 2 (Florida State, Georgia Tech)
2007: 2 (Boston College, Virginia Tech)
2006: 3 (Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Boston College)
2005: 3 (Florida State, Boston College, Miami)
2004: 3 (Miami, Virginia, Florida State)

Heck, let's take it back to the nine-team ACC:

2003: 2 (Florida State, Maryland)
2002: 4 (Maryland, N.C. State, Virginia, Florida State)
2001: 3 (Maryland, Florida State, Georgia Tech)
2000: 2 (Florida State, Georgia Tech)
1999: 2 (Georgia Tech, Florida State)
1998: 3 (Georgia Tech, Florida State, Virginia)
1997: 2 (North Carolina, Florida State)
1996: 2 (North Carolina, Florida State)
1995: 2 (Virginia, Florida State)
1994: 3 (Florida State, Virginia, N.C. State)
1993: 2 (North Carolina, Florida State)
1992: 4 (North Carolina, Wake Forest, N.C. State, Florida State)

LW