Before expansion brought the Atlantic Coast Conference to a 15-school league, even before Florida State joined it in 1992, Clemson owned the ACC.
Back in the day, people used to say the ACC stood for Another Clemson Championship. The Tigers won or shared 12 ACC titles in the league’s first 38 years, including seven from 1978-’91. In fact, if it was not for probation in 1983, it would have been eight as the Tigers went 7-0 in league play that year. However, the conference did recognize those wins because of Clemson’s NCAA probation.
After Danny Ford was forced out after the 1989 season, Clemson football slipped as the Tigers’ went 20 years in between ACC Championships.