The ACC had a disappointing college football season in 2024, and that was summed up adequately by their dismal showing as a conference in this season's bowl games. 13 of the 17 ACC teams qualified for bowl games this year, including the conference's two College Football Playoff teams: Clemson and SMU.
They didn't fare too well in postseason play. Both of the conference's CFP teams were eliminated in their first matchups, and the rest of the ACC limped through their bowl games. Here's a look at how the teams fared:
ACC Bowl Games:
Bowl Game
Teams & Score
ACC Record
CFP First-Round Game
SMU (10) vs. Penn State (38)
0-1
CFP First-Round Game
Clemson (24) vs. Texas (38)
0-2
Art of Sport LA Bowl Hosted By Gronk
California (13) vs. UNLV (24)
0-3
GameAbove Sports Bowl
Pittsburgh (46) vs. Toledo (48)
0-4
Birmingham Bowl
Georgia Tech (27) vs. Vanderbilt (35)
0-5
DirecTV Holiday Bowl
Syracuse (52) vs. Washington State (35)
1-5
Wasabi Fenway Bowl
UConn (27) vs. North Carolina (14)
1-6
Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl
Boston College (15) vs. Nebraska (20)
1-7
Pop-Tarts Bowl
Iowa State (42) vs. Miami (41)
1-8
Go Bowling Military Bowl
East Carolina (26) vs. NC State (21)
1-9
Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl
Louisville (35) vs. Washington (34)
2-9
Taxslayer Gator Bowl
Duke (20) vs. Ole Miss (52)
2-10
Duke’s Mayo Bowl
Minnesota (24) vs. Virginia Tech (10)
2-11
Through the first 11 of the conference's 13 bowl game appearances, only two teams have emerged victorious: Louisville and Syracuse. Every other ACC team has fallen short in their bowl games, with Duke and Virginia Tech still yet to play.
Syracuse secured the conference's biggest victory, defeating Washington State by 17 while dropping an ACC-best 52 points. Meanwhile, SMU's 28-point loss to Penn State in the opening round of CFP play was the conference's biggest margin of defeat during bowl season.
The conference whimpered to the finish, with Duke losing 52–20 to Ole Miss in the Taxslayer Gator Bowl and Virginia Tech falling to Minnesota 24–10 in the Duke's Mayo Bowl.
