University of Maryland Athletics

The Atlantic Coast Conference
Conference of Champions
The Atlantic Coast Conference continued to be one of the most dominant football conferences in the nation in 2010, as four teams finished among the top 25 in the both the Associated Press and USA Today polls. The league continues to show unparalleled parity and balance.

• The Conference was No. 1 with a diploma in 2010 for the sixth straight year, as the ACC led all Football Bowl Subdivision Conferences in the NCAA’s graduation rate (GSR). The ACC also had the highest football APR as a league for the fifth consecutive year. In 2010, six ACC schools were honored nationally (AFCA) for their graduation rates. ACC schools have led the nation in football graduation rates no fewer than 20 times.

• Since becoming a 12-team league in 2005, the ACC has consistently made history in the NFL’s annual professional football draft. This year, the ACC had 15 of the first 60 players chosen in the NFL Draft. No other league had more than 10 of the first 60 players drafted.

• In the 2009 NFL Draft, the ACC was the only league with four players chosen among the top nine selections in the draft. It marked the second time in four years the ACC had managed that trick, also claiming four of the top nine picks in 2005. During the 2006, 2007 and 2008 drafts, the Conference became the first college league in history to have two of the top four NFL Draft picks in each of three consecutive years.

• The 12 current ACC schools have had 2,256 players selected in the annual professional football draft, including 229 first-round selections. The ACC was one of only three conferences nationally to have at least four teams chosen in both the final 2010 Associ?ated Press Top 25 in Virginia Tech (16), Florida State (17), Maryland (23) and NC State (25); and the 2010 final Top 25 for the USA Today Coaches poll in Virginia Tech (15), Florida State (16), Maryland (24) and NC State (25).