The 2005 Dr. Pepper ACC Championship Game was the inaugural contest of the championship game for the recently expanded Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). It was a regular season-ending American college football contest held at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Florida State Seminoles. The game decided the winner of the ACC football championship. Florida State University (FSU) defeated Virginia Tech 27–22 in a game characterized by penalties, defense, and a fourth-quarter comeback attempt by Virginia Tech. The game was the final contest of the regular season for the teams, as bowl games are not considered part of the regular season.
The 2008 ACC Championship Game was a college football game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Boston College Eagles. The game, sponsored by Dr Pepper, was the final regular-season contest of the 2008 college football season for the Atlantic Coast Conference. Virginia Tech defeated Boston College, winning the Atlantic Coast Conference football championship, 30–12. Until 2021, this was the last ACC Championship Game to not feature Clemson or Florida State from the Atlantic Division.
The 2008 Virginia Tech Hokies football team represented Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University during the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was Frank Beamer. Prior to the season, the Hokies were expected to be in a rebuilding mode, recovering after the graduation of several key players. Despite that fact, Tech was picked to win the Atlantic Coast Conference's Coastal Division in the annual preseason poll of media covering the ACC. The Hokies were ranked the No. 15 team in the country at the start of the season, but suffered an upset loss to East Carolina in their first game. Tech recovered, however, and won five consecutive games following the loss, the ACC Championship, and the Orange Bowl. Permanent team captains were Macho Harris, Orion Martin, Brett Warren, and Ryan Shuman.
The 1986 Peach Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the North Carolina State Wolfpack from on December 31, 1986. The game was the final contest of the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season for both teams, and ended in a 25–24 victory for Virginia Tech, the first bowl victory in school history.
The 2013 Washington Huskies football team represented the University of Washington in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team, coached by fifth-year head coach Steve Sarkisian, was a member of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference. Sarkisian left the team to become the head coach at USC following the Apple Cup. The team was led by quarterbacks coach Marques Tuiasosopo following Sarkisian's departure. The Huskies played their home games at their on-campus home of Husky Stadium.
The 2012 UCLA Bruins football team represented the University of California, Los Angeles in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by first year head coach Jim L. Mora and played its home games at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. They were members of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference. The Bruins won the conference's South Division and played in the Holiday Bowl, where they lost 26–49 to Baylor. UCLA finished the season 9–5, including 6–3 in conference play, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 482 to 386.
The 2012 Houston Cougars football team represented the University of Houston in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was the 67th year of season play for Houston. The season marked the last for the Cougars as a member of Conference USA as they moved to the American Athletic Conference in 2013. In addition, it was the final season for the team to host its home games at Robertson Stadium as the university announced plans to begin construction on TDECU Stadium in December 2012—following the conclusion of the season. The 2012 season was the first full season under head coach Tony Levine as he took over for Kevin Sumlin after his departure following the 2011 Conference USA Football Championship Game.
The 2012 Washington State Cougars football team represented Washington State University during the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by first-year head coach Mike Leach, the Cougars played their home games on campus at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington. They were members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference and finished the season 3–9 overall, 1–8 in Pac-12, and last place in the North Division.
The 2012 Sun Devils football team represented Arizona State University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by first year coach Todd Graham and played their home games at Sun Devil Stadium. They were a member of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 8–5, 5–4 in Pac-12 play to finish in a tie for second place in the South Division. They were invited to the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl where they defeated Navy.
The 2012 Rice Owls football team represented Rice University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by sixth year head coach David Bailiff and played their home games at Rice Stadium. They were a member of the West Division of Conference USA. They finished the season 7–6, 4–4 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for third place in the West Division. They were invited to the Armed Forces Bowl where they defeated Air Force.
The 2013 California Golden Bears football team represented the University of California, Berkeley in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. This was Cal's first year of being led by the head coach Sonny Dykes. Cal's athletic director Sandy Barbour stated that it was his emphasis on offense that was the primary factor in the decision. Dykes was hired from Louisiana Tech, and was known for his reliance on the pass heavy and high scoring Air Raid offense, that utilized a shotgun formation with four wide receivers. Cal finished this season with a 1–11 record, with Dykes becoming the first head coach since the University began playing football in 1886 to fail to defeat a single D-1 opponent in a season that has lasted at least five games. The Bears lost to Stanford by 50 points, the largest margin ever in the 119-year history of the Big Game. During the season, the team was featured on The Drive, a weekly documentary series on the Pac-12 Network.
The 2013 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder during the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by first-year head coach Mike MacIntyre, the Buffaloes played their home games on-campus at Folsom Field in Boulder and were members of the Pac-12 Conference. Head coach Mike MacIntyre was hired after the firing of Jon Embree concluding the 2012 season.
The 2013 UCLA Bruins football team represented the University of California, Los Angeles in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by second year head coach Jim L. Mora and played its home games at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. They were members of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference. The Bruins finished the season 10–3, including 6–3 in conference play to finish second in the South Division, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 480 to 301.
The 2013 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS college football season. They played their home games at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and were members of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 10–4, 6–3 in Pac-12 play to finish in a tie for second place in the South Division. They were invited to the Las Vegas Bowl where they defeated Fresno State.
The 2013 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah during the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was headed by ninth year head coach Kyle Whittingham and played their home games in Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. They were members of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference.
The 2013 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team represented the Georgia Institute of Technology in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Yellow Jackets were led by sixth year head coach Paul Johnson and played their home games at Bobby Dodd Stadium. They were members of the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They finished the season 7–6, 5–3 in ACC play to finish in a three way tie for second place in the Coastal Division. They were invited to the Music City Bowl where they lost to Ole Miss.
The 2013 New Mexico State Aggies football team represents New Mexico State University in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Aggies were led by first–year head coach Doug Martin and played their home games at Aggie Memorial Stadium. They competed as an independent. They were a football–only member of the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) from 2014 to 2017.
The 2014 California Golden Bears football team represented the University of California, Berkeley in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bears were led by second-year head coach Sonny Dykes and played their home games at Memorial Stadium. They were members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference. When compared to 2013, Cal improved to 5–7, starting out with a 4–1 start, but losing six of their last seven games. It averaged 38.3 points per game, second-best in the Pac-12 and 11th-best in FBS, generating a program-record 459 total points for the season. However, the Golden Bears lost 367.2 passing yards per game along with 42 total passing touchdowns, both of these numbers ranked last out of 128 FBS teams. From Week 3 to Week 5, the Bears played three consecutive high-scoring games that were won or lost in the final seconds. The Bears lost on a Hail Mary to Arizona 49–45, but beat Colorado 59–56 in double overtime in their next game. The following week, Dykes faced his former Air Raid mentor Mike Leach and the Washington State Cougars. California allowed an FBS record 734 passing yards to Cougars' senior quarterback Connor Halliday, but still won 60–59 when WSU missed a 19-yard field goal with 15 seconds to play. They finished 3–6 in Pac-12, in fourth place in the North Division.
The 2017 Virginia Tech Hokies football team represented Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University during the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Hokies were led by second-year head coach Justin Fuente and played their home games at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Virginia. Virginia Tech competed as members of the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They finished the season 9–4, 5–3 in ACC play to finish in second place in the Coastal Division. They were invited to the Camping World Bowl where they lost to Oklahoma State.
