2012 Atlantic Coast Conference football season

The 2012 ACC football season is an NCAA football season that will be played from September 1, 2012, to January 1, 2013. The Atlantic Coast Conference consists of 12 members in two divisions. The Atlantic division consists of Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Maryland, North Carolina State and Wake Forest. The Coastal division consists of Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia, and Virginia Tech. The division champions will meet on December 1 in the 2012 ACC Championship Game, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. This season also marks the 60th football season in the conference's history.

2012 ACC football season
League	NCAA Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision)
Sport	Football
Duration	August 31, 2012 – December 1, 2012
Number of teams	12
Regular season
Season MVP	TBA
Atlantic champions	Florida State
Coastal champions	Georgia Tech, UNC, Miami
ACC Championship Game
Champions	Florida State
Runners-up	Georgia Tech

2012 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Atlantic Division
No. 10 Florida State xy$		7	–	1					12	–	2
No. 11 Clemson x		7	–	1					11	–	2
NC State		4	–	4					7	–	6
Wake Forest		3	–	5					5	–	7
Maryland		2	–	6					4	–	8
Boston College		1	–	7					2	–	10
Coastal Division
Georgia Tech xy		5	–	3					7	–	7
North Carolina†		5	–	3					8	–	4
Miami‡		5	–	3					7	–	5
Virginia Tech		4	–	4					7	–	6
Duke		3	–	5					6	–	7
Virginia		2	–	6					4	–	8
Championship: Florida State 21, Georgia Tech 15
$ – BCS representative as conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant † North Carolina ineligible for ACC title, championship game, and bowl game due to NCAA sanctions.[1] ‡ Miami ineligible for ACC title, championship game, and bowl game due to self-imposed sanctions.[1] Rankings from AP Poll

Boston College (in white) on defense versus Wake Forest (in black) during the November 3, 2012 game

Preseason

Preseason Poll

The 2012 ACC Preseason Poll was announced at the ACC Football Kickoff meetings in Greensboro, NC on July 23. Virginia Tech was voted to win Coastal division while Florida State was voted to win the Atlantic division and the conference. Sammy Watkins of Clemson was voted the Preseason ACC Player of the Year.[2]

Atlantic Division poll

1. Florida State – 543 (72 first place votes)
2. Clemson – 470 (17)
3. North Carolina State – 402 (5)
4. Wake Forest – 241
5. Boston College – 181
6. Maryland – 148

Coastal Division poll

1. Virginia Tech – 558 (83)
2. Georgia Tech – 421 (10)
3. North Carolina – 341 (2)
4. Virginia – 326
5. Miami – 245
6. Duke – 04

Predicted ACC Championship Game Winner

1. Florida State–60
2. Virginia Tech–18
3. Clemson–13
4. Georgia Tech–3
5. NC State-1

Preseason ACC Player of the Year

1. Sammy Watkins, CLEM - 25
2. Logan Thomas, VT - 21
3. E. J. Manuel, FSU - 19
4. Tajh Boyd, CLEM - 18
5. Mike Glennon, NCSU - 5
6. David Amerson, NCSU - 3
7. Giovani Bernard, UNC - 1
8. Bryn Renner, UNC - 1
9. Tanner Price, WF - 1
10. Kyle Fuller, VT - 1

Preseason All Conference Teams

Offense

Position	Player	School
Wide Receiver	Conner Vernon	Duke
	Sammy Watkins	Clemson
Tight End	Matt Furstenburg	Maryland
Tackle	James Hurst	North Carolina
	Oday Aboushi	Virginia
Guard	Omoregie Uzzi	Georgia Tech
	Jonathan Cooper	North Carolina
Center	Dalton Freeman	Clemson
Quarterback	Tajh Boyd	Clemson
Running Back	Giovani Bernard	North Carolina
	Andre Ellington	Clemson

Defense

Position	Player	School
Defensive end	Brandon Jenkins	Florida State
	James Gayle	Virginia Tech
Defensive tackle	Joe Vellano	Maryland
	Nikita Whitlock	Wake Forest
Linebacker	Kevin Reddick	North Carolina
	Bruce Taylor	Virginia Tech
	Steve Greer	Virginia
Cornerback	David Amerson	NC State
	Kyle Fuller	Virginia Tech
Safety	Lamarcus Joyner	Florida State
	Earl Wolff	NC State

Specialist

Position	Player	School
Placekicker	Dustin Hopkins	Florida State
Punter	Dalton Botts	Miami
Specialist	Greg Reid	Florida State

[3]

Coaches

NOTE: Stats shown are before the beginning of the season

Team	Head Coach	Years at School	Overall Record	Record at School	ACC Record
Boston College	Frank Spaziani	5	20–19	20–19	12–12
Clemson	Dabo Swinney	5	29–19	29–19	19–10
Duke	David Cutcliffe	5	59–62	15–33	6–26
Florida State	Jimbo Fisher	3	19–8	19–8	11–5
Georgia Tech	Paul Johnson	5	141–58	34–19	21–11
Maryland	Randy Edsall	2	76–80	2–10	1–7
Miami	Al Golden	2	33–40	6–6	3–5
North Carolina	Larry Fedora	1	34-19	0-0	0-0
NC State	Tom O'Brien	6	108–75	33–30	18–22
Virginia	Mike London	3	36–18	12–13	6–10
Virginia Tech	Frank Beamer	26	250–121–4	208–98–2	53–11
Wake Forest	Jim Grobe	11	101–100–1	68–67	38–51

Rankings

See also: 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Legend

		Improvement in ranking
		Drop in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
RV		Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll

		Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Final
Boston College	AP
	C
	BCS	Not released
Clemson	AP	14	12	11	10	17	15	16	14	14	10	10	11	12	15	14	11
	C	14	12	11	9	16	15	13	13	13	9	8	9	9	14	13	9
	BCS	Not released							19	18	13	13	11	11	14	14
Duke	AP							RV
	C							RV		RV
	BCS	Not released
Florida State	AP	7	6	5	4	4	3	12	12	11	9	8	10	10	13	13	10
	C	7	6	6	4	4	4	11	10	10	7	6	6	5	12	12	8
	BCS	Not released							14	12	9	10	10	10	13	12
Georgia Tech	AP	RV	RV	RV	RV
	C	RV	RV	RV	RV
	BCS	Not released
Maryland	AP
	C
	BCS	Not released
Miami	AP					RV	RV
	C					RV	RV
	BCS	Not released
North Carolina	AP	RV	RV	RV					RV						RV	RV
	C	Ineligible for ranking
	BCS	Not released							Ineligible for ranking
NC State	AP	RV						RV	RV	RV
	C	RV						RV
	BCS	Not released
Virginia	AP
	C	RV	RV	RV
	BCS	Not released
Virginia Tech	AP	16	15	13	RV	RV
	C	20	18	13	RV	25	RV
	BCS	Not released
Wake Forest	AP
	C		RV	RV
	BCS	Not released

Bowl Games

Bowl Game	Date	Stadium	City	Television	Matchup/Result[4]	Attendance	Payout (US$) per team
BCS
Discover Orange Bowl	January 1, 2013	Sun Life Stadium	Miami Gardens, FL	ESPN	Florida State 31, Northern Illinois 10	72,073
Non-BCS
Belk Bowl	December 26, 2012	Bank of America Stadium	Charlotte, NC	ESPN	Duke 34, Cincinnati 48	48,128
Russell Athletic Bowl	December 28, 2012	Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium	Orlando, FL	ESPN	Virginia Tech 13, Rutgers 10	48,127
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl	December 31, 2012	LP Field	Nashville, TN	ESPN	NC State 24, Vanderbilt 38	55,801
Hyundai Sun Bowl	December 31, 2012	Sun Bowl Stadium	El Paso, TX	CBS	Georgia Tech 21, USC 7	47,922
Chick-fil-A Bowl	December 31, 2012	Georgia Dome	Atlanta, GA	ESPN	Clemson 25, LSU 24	68,027

References

1. "2018 ACC Media Guide" (PDF). theacc.com. ACC. p. 115. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
2. "ACC Football Kickoff Media Selects Florida State as 2012 Favorite". CBS Interactive. 2012. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
3. "2012 Preseason ACC Football Team Announced". CBS Interactive. 2012. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
4. "College Bowl Games 2012-2013". ESPN.com. 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2013.