FSU’s All-Time Record Against Every ACC Opponent in Conference Play

For a quarter of a century, Florida State has played its football games as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Seminoles joined the league in 1992, becoming the ninth member.

Since then, the conference has expanded to 14 with six new additions and one subtraction, beginning in 2004. With the Seminoles less than two months away from beginning their 26th season as a member of the ACC, we decided to look at Florida State’s record against every ACC opponent in conference play.

For example, contests between the Seminoles and other ACC foes do not count if they took place before both teams were members of the conference. That means every Miami game before 2004 are out the window. Wins over Syracuse in 2004 and 2005 also do not count and neither does the 2000 Sugar Bowl against Virginia Tech for the national championship.

Since the ACC has added three new members since 2013 — Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Louisville — we first broke down the schools that FSU has faced at least five times in conference play. Overall, FSU is 165-40 against conference opponents, which includes ACC title games. It is worth noting that Maryland left the ACC for the Big Ten following the 2013 season.

Here they are from best winning percentage to worst:

The only team that was in the ACC when FSU joined that the Seminoles have yet to lose to is Duke. FSU is a perfect 19-0 against the Blue Devils with a 25-6 win in 2007 being the closest contest in the series. One of the wins over Duke was a 45-7 contest for the 2013 ACC crown.

The team in conference play that FSU has the worst record against is Virginia Tech, although the sample size is very small. Two of the five meetings between the schools took place for the ACC Championship with each team winning one.

For many of the teams on the list, the losses came in bunches. All four of FSU’s losses to Wake Forest came in a 6-year span between 2006 and 2011. Two of FSU’s three losses to Georgia Tech came in consecutive years of 2008 and 2009.

The longest losing streak for FSU to any ACC opponent is three. That happened against Clemson from 2005-07 and against Wake Forest from 2006-08. Clemson could equal that streak by beating the Seminoles in Death Valley on Nov. 11.

Duke, Maryland and Virginia Tech are the only three teams on the list never to win in Tallahassee. North Carolina, Miami and Boston College are the only three teams with more wins in Tallahassee than at home.

North Carolina is the only team with more wins against current FSU head coach Jimbo Fisher than previous FSU head coach Bobby Bowden. The Tar Heels are also the only team the Seminoles have not defeated in Fisher’s tenure.

Here’s how FSU has fared against the conference’s three newest members. Syracuse and Pittsburgh joined the ACC in 2013. Louisville replaced Maryland a year later.

Of the newcomers, only Louisville has defeated Florida State and that was a 63-20 thumping in the Bluegrass State last year. FSU is averaging a margin of victory of more than 32 points in its four wins over Syracuse.

The Seminoles and Pittsburgh met on Labor Day to open the 2013 season with FSU winning 41-13 in what would be a national championship campaign. Florida State was also the first ACC opponent ever for Miami in 2004 and Boston College in 2005.

Like the Pittsburgh contest, the Miami game in 2004 was also scheduled for Labor Day, but was pushed back four days because of Hurricane Frances. Miami won that contest in overtime, 16-10. FSU beat Boston College in its first-ever ACC game in 2005, 28-17. All three games for FSU were on the road.

Florida State’s ACC success has been well-documented. Since joining the conference in 1992, FSU has won the ACC 15 times. The Seminoles over that span have won three national championships and have finished ranked in the top 10 on 13 occasions. That’s not bad for a quarter century of work.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson