Here on MNC Wednesday, we’ve been struggling to think of what to do next, and we have decided to look at the other three power conferences more in-depth, starting with the Atlantic Coast Conference. This is a league with a 70-year history, and it has been a mixed bag of success on the national scene in the sport of college football. With an overall record of 3909-3601-87, there is some success. But the bowl record (139-154-2) tells a different story. You decide!

We’re going to outline the ten best seasons for the conference in its history before we take on the current individual schools in the conference starting someday. This should be fun, since we’re not Atlantic Coast people; we’re Best Coast people. But hey, we’re never too old to learn new tricks, are we? On with the show …

10. 2016

The Clemson Tigers won the MNC via the College Football Playoff, but obviously, there was more to the league than just one team if it made this list. Eleven of the league’s 14 teams reached bowl games, including Florida State in the Orange Bowl and Louisville in the Citrus Bowl. The combined 108-74 record was tops in the FBS for winning percentage, and the league rated out as the No. 3 conference in the SRS rankings.

9. 1997

In an era when the league had just 9 teams, only 4 of them reached a bowl game. But the Seminoles should have been the MNC, in our minds, after their Sugar Bowl victory. The ACC’s record (58-45) was good enough for third overall in the FBS, and the league finished No. 3 in the SRS rankings, as well. Somehow 10-1 North Carolina ended up in the lame Gator Bowl, but with a victory there, the Tar Heels finished sixth in the Associated Press poll, and Florida State was No. 3, too.

8. 1974

The way-back machine takes us to this season, where a mere seven ACC teams posted a combined 42-37-1 record—which was just sixth in the nation. However, the league was fifth in the SRS rankings, so there’s that. Five teams posted winning records, as Maryland won the conference with a perfect league record. Only 3 teams went to bowl games, however: North Carolina and North Carolina State joined the Terps in an era where most winning teams stayed home.

7. 1981

Officially, Clemson won the MNC, but we disagree(d) there. Yet the Tigers’ undefeated year helped the ACC post a 41-37-1 record overall, which was fifth in the country. However, overall, the conference finished No. 4 in the SRS rankings. UNC joined Clemson in the postseason, with a Gator Bowl victory. It was a top-heavy season in the league, for sure, as no other team won more than six games during the year.

6. 2005

With 12 teams now in the conference, 8 of them qualified for a bowl game—led by league champ FSU in the Orange Bowl. Virginia Tech reached the Gator Bowl in an 11-win season, and all eight bowl teams won at least 7 games to help the ACC to a 81-61 mark. That was third best in the FBS, and the conference finished No. 2 in the SRS rankings overall. Five teams finished the year ranked in the AP Poll’s Top 25, too.

5. 2003

The overall 63-51 record was just fourth in the country, but the ACC finished No. 2 overall in the SRS rankings. Both Maryland and Florida State won 10 games, with the Seminoles taking the conference title and advancing to the Orange Bowl. There were no MNC contenders, but six teams reached bowl games. In addition to the Seminoles and the Terps, Clemson also finished in the AP Top 25 at the end of the season.

4. 2004

In an 11-team league with no divisions, it was Virginia Tech that emerged as the conference champion. The ACC’s combined 71-57 record was second best in the nation, and the SRS finish (No. 2) was consistent with that record. Six teams made bowl games, led by the Hokies’ Sugar Bowl bid. Four teams also finished the year ranked in the Top 25: VaTech, Miami-FL, FSU, and Virginia.

3. 1990

Anchored by Georgia Tech’s split MNC, the ACC was strong overall with a 55-35-3 record, the top mark of all the Division I-A conferences. That also earned the conference the No. 1 finish in the overall SRS rankings. With eight teams in the league, five of them went to bowl games—even though Virginia went to the Sugar Bowl (despite finishing third in the conference standings), and Tech merely got a Citrus Bowl invite. Clemson joined those two teams in the AP Final Top 25.

2. 2017

Ten of the 14 teams went bowling, as the league posted a combined 100-78 record (third) to finish second in the SRS rankings. Clemson played in the Sugar Bowl as part of the CFP, and the Hurricanes went to the Orange Bowl, too. Nine teams finished with winning records, and four teams ended up in the AP’s last poll: Clemson, Miami, North Carolina State, and Virginia Tech.

1. 1979

Hard to believe this season tops all the others, really. With just seven teams in the ACC, only one of them finished the season ranked by the AP voters (North Carolina). Clemson and Wake Forest joined the Tar Heels as bowl game participants, too. But the conference’s combined 46-32-2 record was the best in the country, and that was augmented mostly by the No. 2 finish in the SRS rankings. Duke was the only team to not post a winning record.

Note: This is a weird season, as the North Carolina State Wolfpack won the conference—and didn’t play in a bowl game, turning down an insulting invite to the Garden State Bowl. This team was the last bowl-eligible, Power Five conference champion to not play in a bowl game.