The Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament, sometimes referred to simply as the ACC tournament, is the conference championship tournament in baseball for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). In 2017, the event adopted a modified twelve-team pool play format. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament.
History The ACC has a history of odd formats for its baseball championship. Since 1973, the first year of the tournament, the format has changed six times. The current format is a four-group, three-team round robin tournament with the winner of each grouping playing in a single-elimination tournament for the semifinals and final.
1973–78 See Example: 1976 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament
For the first six seasons of the tournament, the ACC had seven members, resulting in a format where the #1 seed received a bye to play the winner of the #4 v #5 match-up. The first round of the tournament was single-elimination with the losers going home. After the first round, the remaining 4 teams played a traditional double-elimination-style tournament.
1979 Due to conflicts with exams, the ACC opted to not hold a tournament. Instead, the regular season winner Clemson was given the conference's automatic bid to the 1979 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.
1980–2003 Example: 1981 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament
Beginning with the addition of Georgia Tech to the conference in 1980, the ACC began using a format closer to that of a true double-elimination tournament with a few exceptions. The winner of the Winner's Bracket Quarterfinal match (Game 12) would play the winner of either Quarterfinal match of the Loser's Bracket (Game 10 or 11). The decision of which teams faced each other was determined by whether or not they had already faced each other in the tournament. From TheACC.com :
If the winner of the Winner's Bracket Quarterfinal match (Game 12) loses in the Semifinal match (Game 13), that team will receive a bye and play the winner of the Finals match in a winner-take-all championship game.
1991–2003 With the introduction of Florida State into the ACC to bring the total teams to nine, the baseball tournament added a Play-In game where the bottom two teams in the conference regular season standings played in a winner-takes-all game for the 8th spot in the regular tournament.
2004
In 2004, the ACC began using a true eight-team double-elimination tournament with the bottom two teams in regular season conference play facing each other in a single-elimination game where the winner got the #8 spot in the regular tournament.
2005
In 2004, the conference expanded to 11 teams with the addition of Miami and Virginia Tech. Beginning with the 2005 Baseball Tournament, the tournament switched from a true eight-team double-elimination to two four-team double-elimination brackets with winner of each side playing in a winner-take-all championship game. The bottom four teams in conference play faced off in a single-elimination bracket, with the winner earning the #8 spot in the tournament.
2006
In 2005, Boston College joined the conference, bringing the total number of members to 12. Instead of adjusting the tournament yet again, the tournament would remain the same format as was developed in 2005, but the ACC eliminated the play-in round.
2007–2013 See Example: 2007 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament
Beginning in 2007, the ACC developed a new tournament format that eliminated the brackets altogether. This new format was a two-group, four-team round robin tournament with the winner of each grouping playing in a winner-take-all championship game. Only the top eight teams in the regular season conference standings were invited to play in the tournament. On July 6, 2009, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced a decision to move three future baseball tournaments out of Myrtle Beach, citing miscommunications with the NAACP concerning the display of the Confederate flag in South Carolina. (Charlotte was included in the NAACP Boycott because Knights Stadium was in York County, South Carolina, less than five kilometers from the state line.) The 2010 ACC tournament was initially scheduled to take place at Fenway Park, but cost-containment for schools (most of whom would have to fly to Boston) was cited for moving the tournament to Greensboro.
2014–2016 Beginning in 2014, with the expansion of the conference, the tournament expanded to ten teams. The four lower seeds (7 vs 10 and 8 vs 9) played a one-game play-in game to participate in pool play with the 6 higher seeds.
2017 On September 14, 2016, the ACC announced that the 2017 tournament slated to be played in Durham, NC, along with neutral site championships for seven other sports, would be moved out of the state of North Carolina due to the controversial NC House Bill 2. On October 4, 2016, it was announced that Louisville Slugger Field in Louisville, Kentucky, would be the new host venue for 2017.
On October 6, 2016, the ACC announced that the tournament would expand to twelve teams and have a new format. The regular season winners of the Atlantic and Coastal divisions claim the top two seeds, while the remaining seeds are determined by conference winning percentage. The teams are split up into four pools of three teams each. The pools are a round robin format, with each team in the tournament guaranteed a minimum of two games. If a pool fails to produce a team with two wins, the top seed automatically advances. The four winners of pool play then advance to a four team, single-elimination bracket to determine the conference champion.
Champions
By year Year Champion Runner-up Site MVP 1973 Boshamer Stadium • Chapel Hill, NCNone Selected 1974 Doak Field • Raleigh, NC 1975 Boshamer Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC 1976 Clemson Beautiful Tiger Field • Clemson, SC 1977 Clemson Beautiful Tiger Field • Clemson, SC 1978 Beautiful Tiger Field • Clemson, SC 1979 No tournament due to conflict with exams 1980 Clemson Doak Field • Raleigh, NC 1981 Boshamer Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC 1982 Boshamer Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC 1983 Boshamer Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC Scott Bankhead, P, UNC 1984 Durham Athletic Park • Durham, NC Todd Wilkinson, OF, UNC 1985 Russ Chandler Stadium • Atlanta, GA Scott Jordan, OF, GT 1986 Durham Athletic Park • Durham, NC Jeff Distasio, 1B, GT 1987 Greenville Municipal Stadium • Greenville, SC Todd Shiver, P, GT 1988 Greenville Municipal Stadium • Greenville, SC Ty Griffin, 2B, GT 1989 North Carolina Greenville Municipal Stadium • Greenville, SC Brian Barnes, P, CU 1990 Greenville Municipal Stadium • Greenville, SC Steve Estroff, 1B, UNC 1991 Clemson Greenville Municipal Stadium • Greenville, SC Michael Spiers, OF, CU 1992 Clemson Greenville Municipal Stadium • Greenville, SC Matt Donahue, P, NCSU 1993 Clemson Greenville Municipal Stadium • Greenville, SC Jeff Morris, 2B, CU 1994 Clemson Florida State Greenville Municipal Stadium • Greenville, SC Shane Monahan, OF, CU 1995 Florida State Clemson Greenville Municipal Stadium • Greenville, SC Jonathan Johnson, P, FSU 1996 Florida State Durham Bulls Athletic Park • Durham, NC Seth Greisinger, P, UVA 1997 Clemson Florida Power Park • St. Petersburg, FL Jeremy Morris, OF, FSU 1998 Florida State Durham Bulls Athletic Park • Durham, NC John Hendricks, P, WF 1999 Clemson Durham Bulls Athletic Park • Durham, NC Andrew Riepe, C, WF 2000 Clemson Knights Stadium • Fort Mill, SC Jason Basil, OF, GT 2001 Knights Stadium • Fort Mill, SC Dave Bush, P, WF 2002 Clemson Florida Power Park • St. Petersburg, FL Stephen Drew, SS, FSU 2003 Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium • Salem, VA Brian Burks, P, GT 2004 Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium • Salem, VA Shane Robinson, OF, FSU 2005 Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville • Jacksonville, FL Tyler Greene, SS, GT 2006 Clemson Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville • Jacksonville, FL Tyler Colvin, OF, CU 2007 North Carolina Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville • Jacksonville, FL Josh Horton, DH, UNC 2008 Miami (FL) Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville • Jacksonville, FL Dave DiNatale, OF, UM 2009 Virginia Durham Bulls Athletic Park • Durham, NC Dan Grovatt, OF, UVA 2010 Florida State NewBridge Bank Park • Greensboro, NC Harold Riggins, 1B, NCSU 2011 Virginia Durham Bulls Athletic Park • Durham, NC Steven Proscia, 3B, UVA 2012 NewBridge Bank Park • Greensboro, NC Jake Davies, 1B/DH/UT, GT 2013 North Carolina Virginia Tech Durham Bulls Athletic Park • Durham, NC Cody Stubbs, 1B, UNC 2014 MarylandNewBridge Bank Park • Greensboro, NC Dusty Isaacs, P, GT 2015 Florida State NC State Durham Bulls Athletic Park • Durham, NC Boomer Biegalski, P, FSU 2016 Clemson Florida State Durham Bulls Athletic Park • Durham, NC Mike Triller, DH, CU 2017 Florida State Louisville Slugger Field • Louisville, KY Jackson Lueck, OF, FSU 2018 Lousville Durham Bulls Athletic Park • Durham, NC Cal Raleigh, C, FSU 2019 North Carolina Durham Bulls Athletic Park • Durham, NC Michael Busch, 1B, UNC 2020Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic 2021 Duke NC State Truist Field • Charlotte, NC Joey Loperfido, OF, DUKE 2022 North Carolina Truist Field • Charlotte, NC Vance Honeycutt, Inf/OF, UNC 2023 Clemson Miami (FL) Durham Bulls Athletic Park • Durham, NC Caden Grice, Utility/P, CU 2024 Truist Field • Charlotte, NC Devin Obee, OF, Duke 2025 North Carolina Clemson Durham Bulls Athletic Park • Durham, NC Luke Stevenson, C, UNC 2026 Georgia Tech North CarolinaTruist Field • Charlotte, NC Ryan Zuckerman, 3B, GT2027Durham Bulls Athletic Park • Durham, NC2028Truist Field • Charlotte, NC2029Durham Bulls Athletic Park • Durham, NC
By school All current ACC members with baseball programs have appeared at least once in the tournament. Syracuse, which joined the conference in 2013, has not sponsored varsity baseball since 1972. SMU, which joined the conference in 2025, has not sponsored varsity baseball since 1980.
School Appearances W L Pct. Titles Title Years Boston College 7 8 9 0 California 1 2 1 0 Clemson 52 123 78 111976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 2006, 2016, 2023Duke 42 38 64 22021, 2024Florida State 33 90 46 81995, 1997, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2015, 2017, 2018Georgia Tech 47 86 74 101985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2026 Louisville 10 7 16 0 Maryland 33 19 54 0 Miami (FL) 21 29 29 12008 NC State 51 94 87 41973, 1974, 1975, 1992 North Carolina 50 94 74 91982, 1983, 1984, 1990, 2007, 2013, 2019, 2022, 2025 Notre Dame 8 4 13 0 Pittsburgh 7 7 9 0 Stanford 1 0 1 0 Virginia 52 63 83 31996, 2009, 2011 Virginia Tech 10 7 14 0 Wake Forest 47 59 78 41977, 1998, 1999, 2001 Italics indicate school is no longer a member of the ACC. Updated through 2025
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