101-592: The Atlantic Coast Conference Athlete of the Year award is given to the male and female athlete who show extraordinary talent throughout the entire season. The award is decided by members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. The Anthony J. McKevlin Award, which originally went to the league's athlete of the year regardless of gender until 1990, named in honor of a former sports editor of
202-652: A 9–3 league team. For the 2020 season only, Notre Dame competed for the ACC conference championship and was eligible for all games, including the Orange Bowl. Although the NCAA does not determine an official national champion for Division I FBS football, several ACC members claim national championships awarded by various "major selectors" of national championships as recognized in the official NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records . Since 1936 and 1950 respectively, these include what are now
303-461: A consortium that provides a vehicle for inter-institutional academic and administrative collaboration between member universities. Growing out of a conference-wide doctoral student-exchange program that was established in 1999, the ACCAC has expanded its scope into other domestic and international collaborations. The stated mission of the ACCAC is to "leverage the athletic associations and identities among
404-596: A fauna resembling its position in the dry deserts with temperature extremes. The western continental coast of the U.S., just as the East Coast, varies from a colder-to-warmer climate from north to south. Few species live throughout the entire West Coast, however, there are some, including the bald eagle that inhabits both the Alaskan Aleutian Islands and the California Channel Islands . In most of
505-429: A former Southern Conference charter member that had been independent since 1937, into the conference. Virginia's president Colgate Darden argued fiercely against joining the ACC or any conference, while UVA athletics director Gus Tebell argued in favor. In the end, UVA's Board of Visitors approved joining the ACC by a vote of 6–3. In 1960, the ACC implemented a minimum SAT score for incoming student-athletes of 750,
606-461: A four-year cycle (the standard length of a college player's career). Participation in the ACC championship game will also no longer be determined by the winners of the two divisions; the two teams with the highest conference winning percentage will play instead. The designated rivals under this system were as follows: With the 2024 arrival of California, SMU, and Stanford, the ACC adopted a new scheduling model effective that season and running through
707-644: A home-and-home non-conference series in 2019 and 2021. Prior to this, the division format was as follows: For the 2020 season, changes were made to the football schedule model due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of divisions was suspended, with conference games being scheduled on a regional basis. The top two teams by winning percentage against conference opponents advanced to the ACC Championship Game. All teams played 10 conference games and were permitted to play one non-conference game of their choice as long as
808-697: A linear network in August 2019. On August 24, 2021, the ACC formed an alliance with the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences. In 2022, the ACC brought back old rivalries like the Backyard Brawl between the University of Pittsburgh Panthers and the West Virginia University Mountaineers . A friendly rivalry between University of Pittsburgh Panthers and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in memory of
909-414: A myth of the west which has shaped much of American popular culture since the late 19th century. Writers as diverse as Bret Harte and Zane Grey celebrated or derided cowboy culture, while artists such as Frederic Remington created western art as a method of recording the expansion into the west. The American cinema , in particular, created the genre of the western movie , which, in many cases, use
1010-852: A national issue, agencies of the federal government own and manage vast areas of land. (The most important among these are the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management within the Interior Department , and the U.S. Forest Service within the Agriculture Department .) National parks are reserved for recreational activities such as fishing , camping , hiking , and boating , but other government lands also allow commercial activities like ranching , logging , and mining . In recent years, some local residents who earn their livelihoods on federal land have come into conflict with
1111-897: A portion of the income generated by the ACC Football Championship Game and by supplemental allocations by individual universities and various grants. Major academic programs that have been implemented under ACCAC include: The ACCAC also supports periodic meetings among faculty, administration, and staff who pursue similar interests and responsibilities at the member universities either by face-to-face conferences, video conferences, or telephone conferences. ACCAC affinity groups include those for International Affairs Officers, Study Abroad Directors, Teaching-Learning Center Directors, Chief Information Officers, Chief Procurement Officers, Undergraduate Research Conference Coordinators, Student Affairs Vice Presidents, Student Leadership Conference Coordinators, and Faculty Athletic Representatives To
SECTION 10
#17328631205681212-459: A possible shift in the popular understanding of the West as a region in the early 1990s, historian Walter Nugent conducted a survey of three groups of professionals with ties to the region: a large group of Western historians (187 respondents), and two smaller groups, 25 journalists and publishers and 39 Western authors. A majority of the historian respondents placed the eastern boundary of the West east of
1313-710: A set of bylaws for the creation of a new league, the seven withdrew from the Southern Conference at the spring meeting on the morning of May 8, 1953, at the Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina . The bylaws were ratified on June 14, 1953, and the new conference was created. The conference officials indicated a desire to add an eighth member, and candidates mentioned were Virginia , VPI and West Virginia . On December 4, 1953, officials convened in Greensboro, North Carolina , and admitted Virginia,
1414-564: A sharp decline in citrus production in Arizona. Many varieties of chile peppers are grown in the valleys of New Mexico . Starting in 1902, Congress passed a series of acts authorizing the establishment of the United States Bureau of Reclamation to oversee water development projects in seventeen western states. During the first half of the 20th century, dams and irrigation projects provided water for rapid agricultural growth throughout
1515-506: A team in the " Power 5 " conferences since 2017. Games against Notre Dame also meet the requirement. In January 2015, the conference announced that games against another FBS independent , BYU , would also count toward the requirement. This requirement can also be met by scheduling other ACC teams in non-conference games; the first example of this was also announced in January 2015, when North Carolina and Wake Forest announced that they would play
1616-457: A total 2020 population of 78,588,572. The West is one of the most sparsely settled areas in the United States with 49.5 inhabitants per square mile (19.1 inhabitants/km ). Only Texas with 78.0 inhabitants/sq mi (30.1 inhabitants/km ), Washington with 86.0 inhabitants/sq mi (33.2 inhabitants/km ), and California with 213.4 inhabitants/sq mi (82.4 inhabitants/km ) exceed
1717-737: A volcano in Washington , is also over 14,000 feet (4,300 m). Mount St. Helens , a volcano in the Cascades , erupted explosively in 1980 . A major volcanic eruption at Mount Mazama around 4860 BC formed Crater Lake . These mountain ranges see heavy precipitation, capturing most of the moisture that remains after the Coast Ranges, and creating a rain shadow to the east forming vast stretches of arid land. These dry areas encompass much of Nevada , Utah , and Arizona . The Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert along with other deserts are found here. Beyond
1818-484: Is in the Western states. Public lands account for 25 to 75 percent of the total land area in these states. The climate of the West is semi-arid , yet parts of the region get high amounts of rain or snow. Other parts are true desert which receive less than 5 inches (130 mm) of rain per year. The climate is increasingly unstable, and subject to periods of severe drought. The seasonal temperatures vary greatly throughout
1919-514: Is not considered a football member and is not eligible to play in the ACC Championship Game. On June 28, 2022, the ACC approved a new football schedule format, set to take effect in the 2023 season. Under this format, the conference will remove divisions, and instead play a 3–5–5 format, where each team plays 3 designated rivals every year along with two separate 5-team rotations that flip every other year, such that every team will have at least one home game and one away game against every other team in
2020-684: Is predicted to experience drought-like conditions for much of the 21st century. Violent thunderstorms occur east of the Rockies . Tornadoes occur every spring on the southern plains, with the most common and most destructive centered on Tornado Alley , which covers eastern portions of the West, ( Texas to North Dakota ), and all states in between and to the east. Agriculture varies depending on rainfall, irrigation, soil, elevation, and temperature extremes. The arid regions generally support only livestock grazing, chiefly beef cattle. The wheat belt extends from Texas through The Dakotas , producing most of
2121-702: Is the largest region of the country, covering nearly half the land area of the contiguous United States . It is also the most geographically diverse, incorporating geographic regions such as the temperate rainforests of the Northwest , the highest mountain ranges, including the Rocky Mountains , the Sierra Nevada , and the Cascade Range , numerous glaciers , and the western edge of the Great Plains . It also contains
SECTION 20
#17328631205682222-615: The Raleigh News and Observer , has been voted upon and handed out annually since the ACC was formed in 1953–1954. In 1990, The Mary Garber Award, named in honor of Mary Garber , a former Winston-Salem Journal reporter and a pioneer for women in the field of sports journalism , was established to honor the league's top female athlete. In 2005, the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) distinguished Garber by honoring her with its prestigious Red Smith Award , making her
2323-533: The 1956 Sugar Bowl and Bobby Grier , during the last game, actor Anthony Mackie appeared on field to honor Grier and the game. On September 1, 2023, the conference voted to expand and add three new members: California , SMU , and Stanford . The announcement was initially controversial, given the distance between the schools and its current members. SMU joined on July 1, 2024, from the American Athletic Conference , while Cal and Stanford joined
2424-560: The ACC Championship Game to determine the conference championship, which guarantees a berth in a New Year's Six bowl game. The inaugural Championship Game was played on December 3, 2005, in Jacksonville, Florida , at the venue then known as Alltel Stadium , in which Florida State defeated Virginia Tech to capture its 12th championship since it joined the league in 1992. Notre Dame began playing several ACC teams each year in 2014, but
2525-772: The American West , the Western States , the Far West , the Western territories , and the West ) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau . As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward , the meaning of the term the West changed. Before around 1800, the crest of the Appalachian Mountains was seen as the western frontier . The frontier moved westward and eventually
2626-567: The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States , the ACC reached an agreement to allow Notre Dame to play a full, 10-game conference schedule and be eligible to play for the ACC championship. Since August 2, 2024, the 18 members of the ACC are: In 1971, the University of South Carolina left the ACC to become an independent , later joining the Metro Conference in 1983 and moving to its current home,
2727-561: The Cenozoic era. Salt flats and salt lakes reveal a time when the great inland seas covered much of what is now the West. The Pacific states are the most geologically active areas in the United States. Earthquakes cause damage every few to several years in California . While the Pacific states are the most volcanically active areas, extinct volcanoes and lava flows are found throughout most of
2828-578: The East . During the latter half of the 20th century, several transcontinental interstate highways crossed the West bringing more trade and tourists from the East. Oil boom towns in Texas and Oklahoma rivaled the old mining camps for their rawness and wealth. The Dust Bowl forced children of the original homesteaders even further west. The movies became America's chief entertainment source featuring western fiction , later
2929-665: The Grand Canyon . The Colorado River is a major source of water in the Southwest and many dams, such as the Hoover Dam , form reservoirs along it. So much water is drawn for drinking water throughout the West and irrigation in California that in most years, water from the Colorado River no longer reaches the Gulf of California . The Columbia River , the largest river in volume flowing into
3030-533: The Gulf of Mexico . The Mississippi River forms the easternmost possible boundary for the West today. The Missouri River , a tributary of the Mississippi , flows from its headwaters in the Rocky Mountains eastward across the Great Plains , a vast grassy plateau, before sloping gradually down to the forests and hence to the Mississippi . The Colorado River snakes through the Mountain states , at one point forming
3131-672: The Las Vegas Valley and Los Angeles . Plains make up much of the eastern portion of the West, underlain with sedimentary rock from the Upper Paleozoic , Mesozoic , and Cenozoic eras. The Rocky Mountains expose igneous and metamorphic rock both from the Precambrian and from the Phanerozoic eon. The Inter-mountain States and Pacific Northwest have huge expanses of volcanic rock from
ACC Athlete of the Year - Misplaced Pages Continue
3232-413: The Mississippi , Ohio , Missouri , Illinois , Tennessee , Cumberland , Arkansas , and White Rivers and their tributaries, and certain other rivers that flow towards the Gulf of Mexico ." The Ohio River portion of the system includes parts of several Atlantic coastal states, from Georgia to New York. Most of the public land held by the U.S. National Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management
3333-518: The Mormon Trail , made its fortunes on outfitting settlers; St. Louis built itself upon the vast fur trade in the West before its settlement. The 1850s were marked by political battles over the expansion of slavery into the western territories, issues leading to the Civil War . Between 1863 and 1869, North America's first transcontinental railroad was constructed to connect the eastern US with
3434-573: The Mountain States include Denver , Colorado Springs , Phoenix , Tucson , Albuquerque , Las Vegas , Reno , Salt Lake City , Boise , El Paso , and Billings . Along the Pacific Ocean coast lie the Coast Ranges , which, while not approaching the scale of the Rocky Mountains , are formidable nevertheless. They collect a large part of the airborne moisture moving in from the ocean. East of
3535-608: The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision . The ACC sponsors competition in twenty-eight sports with many of its member institutions held in high regard nationally. Current members of the conference are: Boston College , California , Clemson , Duke , Florida State , Georgia Tech , Louisville , Miami , North Carolina , NC State , Notre Dame , Pittsburgh , SMU , Stanford , Syracuse , Virginia , Virginia Tech , and Wake Forest . ACC teams and athletes have claimed dozens of national championships in multiple sports throughout
3636-501: The National Football Foundation . Maryland won one championship as a member of the ACC in 1953. The members of the ACC have longstanding rivalries with each other, especially on the football field. The following is a list of active rivalries and protected annual matchups in the ACC with totals & records through the completion of the 2023 season . Western United States The Western United States (also called
3737-832: The Northern Mariana Islands ) are sometimes considered part of the Western United States. American Samoa is in Polynesia in the South Pacific Ocean , while Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are in the Mariana Islands in the western North Pacific Ocean . Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands have district courts within the 9th Circuit , which includes western states such as California and Nevada. (See District Court of Guam and District Court for
3838-624: The Oklahoma panhandle are typically considered to be the Southwest states. Meanwhile, the states of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington can be considered part of the Northwest or Pacific Northwest . The term West Coast is commonly used to refer to just California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska, whereas Hawaii is more geographically isolated from the continental U.S. and does not necessarily fit in any of these subregions . The three inhabited Pacific U.S. territories ( American Samoa , Guam and
3939-623: The Pacific Ocean from North America , and its tributary, the Snake River , water the Pacific Northwest. The Platte runs through Nebraska and was known for being a mile (2 km) wide but only a half-inch (1 cm) deep. The Rio Grande forms the border between Texas and Mexico before turning due north and splitting New Mexico in half. According to the United States Coast Guard , "The Western Rivers System consists of
4040-529: The Pacific coast . The resulting railroad connection revolutionized the settlement and economy of the American West by making the transportation of passengers and freight quicker, safer, and cheaper. The history of the American West in the late 19th and early 20th centuries has acquired a cultural mythos in the literature and cinema of the United States. The image of the cowboy , the homesteader , and westward expansion took real events and transmuted them into
4141-610: The Southeastern Conference , in 1991. On July 1, 2014, the University of Maryland departed for the Big Ten Conference . Full members Non-football members Independent Other Conference Other Conference The ACC was established on June 14, 1953, when seven members of the Southern Conference left to form their own conference. These seven universities became charter members of
ACC Athlete of the Year - Misplaced Pages Continue
4242-772: The United States Department of Education as shown on the DOE Equity in Athletics website for the 2022–23 academic year. The following table shows Atlantic Coast Conference distributions during the fiscal year ending June 2023 as reported by ProPublica using Schedule A of the Atlantic Coast Conference tax filings The Atlantic Coast Conference sponsors championship competition in thirteen men's and fifteen women's NCAA-sanctioned sports. The most recently added sports are women's gymnastics and fencing . Gymnastics
4343-545: The Virginia opossum , which occurs throughout California and coastal areas in Oregon and Washington. The North American beaver and mountain beaver live in forested areas of Washington, Oregon and Northern California. The kit fox lives throughout Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, while the gray fox occurs throughout the Western U.S. The Western United States has been populated by Native Americans since at least 11,000 years ago, when
4444-468: The 13 men's ACC sports for the 2024–25 academic year. Member-by-member sponsorship of the 15 women's ACC sports for the 2024–25 academic year. The ACC began sponsoring women's gymnastics in 2023–24. Women's varsity sports not currently sponsored by the Atlantic Coast Conference which are played by ACC schools: The ACC is considered to be one of the Power Five conferences , all of which receive automatic placement of their football champions into one of
4545-399: The 15 ACC universities in order to enrich the educational missions of member universities." To that end, the collaborative helps organize various academic initiatives, including fellowship and scholarship programs, global research initiatives, leadership conferences, and extensive study abroad programs. Funding for its operations, 90% of which is spent on direct student support, is derived from
4646-407: The 2030 season. A total of 16 matchups will be protected, with 11 retained from the 2023 model, two (Miami–Virginia Tech and NC State–Wake Forest) restored from the former divisional format, and the three new members filling the remaining three slots. All teams will play each other at least twice in the cycle (once home, once away). Each of the pre-2024 members will play three times in California during
4747-471: The ACC Bowl structure. Notre Dame is now eligible for ACC Bowl selection beginning with the ReliaQuest Bowl (previously named the Outback Bowl) and continuing through the league's bowl selections. However, Notre Dame must be within one win of the ACC available team which has the best overall record, in order to be chosen. In other words, if an ACC team were 9–3, a 7–5 Notre Dame team could not be chosen in its place. Notre Dame would have to be 8–4 to be chosen over
4848-421: The ACC and not the school. The move also left the SEC as the only one of the FBS Power Five conferences without a GOR. In July 2016, the GOR was extended through the 2035–36 school year, coinciding with the signing of a new 20-year deal with ESPN that would transform the then-current ad hoc ACC Network into a full-fledged network. The new network launched as a digital service in the 2016–17 school year and as
4949-427: The ACC on August 2, 2024, due to the fiscal year of the Pac-12 Conference , their former conference, being different from most athletic conferences. Among the major NCAA athletic conferences that sponsor NCAA Division I FBS football, including the current " power conferences ", the ACC has been regarded as having the highest academically ranked collection of members based on U.S. News & World Report and by
5050-441: The ACC's geographical footprint are California , Florida , Georgia , Indiana , Kentucky , Massachusetts , New York , North Carolina , Pennsylvania , South Carolina , Texas , and Virginia . The geographic domain of the conference is predominantly within the Southern and Northeastern United States along the US Atlantic coast, but recent conference realignment has brought it to California and Texas. It stretches from Florida in
5151-506: The ACC, Miami, and Boston College for allegedly conspiring to weaken the Big East Conference. Then-Virginia governor Mark Warner , who feared Virginia Tech being left behind in a weakened Big East, pressured the administration of the University of Virginia to lobby on behalf of their in-state foe. Eventually Virginia Tech replaced Syracuse in the expansion lineup and ACC expansion was agreed upon. Miami and Virginia Tech joined on July 1, 2004, while Boston College joined on July 1, 2005, as
SECTION 50
#17328631205685252-475: The ACC. Total revenue includes ticket sales, contributions and donations, rights and licensing, student fees, school funds and all other sources including TV income, camp income, concessions, and novelties. Total expenses includes coach and staff salaries, scholarships, buildings and grounds, maintenance, utilities and rental fees, recruiting, team travel, equipment and uniforms, conference dues, and insurance. The following table shows institutional reporting to
5353-426: The ACC: Clemson , Duke , Maryland , North Carolina , North Carolina State , South Carolina , and Wake Forest . They left partially due to the Southern Conference's ban on post-season football play that had been initiated in 1951. (Clemson and Maryland had both defied the Southern Conference's bowl rule following the 1951 season and were banned from playing other conference teams in the 1952 season.) After drafting
5454-523: The Big East announced they had reached a settlement allowing Notre Dame to join the ACC effective July 1, 2013. On November 19, 2012, the University of Maryland's Board of Regents voted to withdraw from the ACC to join the Big Ten Conference effective in 2014. The following week, the Big East's University of Louisville accepted the ACC's invitation to become a full member, replacing Maryland effective July 1, 2014. The ACC's presidents announced on April 22, 2013, that all 15 schools that would be members of
5555-508: The Big East on July 1, 2013. On September 12, 2012, Notre Dame agreed to join the ACC in all conference sports except football and men's ice hockey (as the ACC does not sponsor men's ice hockey; of all other ACC universities, only Boston College sponsors men's ice hockey) as the conference's first member in the Midwestern United States . As part of the agreement, Notre Dame committed to play five football games each season against ACC schools beginning in 2014. On March 12, 2013, Notre Dame and
5656-405: The Census definition out on the eastern edge of the Great Plains or on the Mississippi River . The survey respondents as a whole showed just how little agreement there was on the boundaries of the West. The region is split into two smaller units or divisions, by the U.S. Census Bureau: Other classifications distinguish between Southwest and Northwest . Arizona, New Mexico, West Texas , and
5757-433: The Coast Ranges lie several cultivated fertile valleys , notably the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys of California and the Willamette Valley of Oregon . Beyond the valleys lie the Sierra Nevada in the south and the Cascade Range in the north. Mount Whitney , at 14,505 feet (4,421 m) the tallest peak in the contiguous 48 states, is in the Sierra Nevada . The Cascades are also volcanic. Mount Rainier ,
5858-425: The NCAA requirement that FBS schools field at least 16 teams in NCAA-recognized varsity sports. However, the ACC itself requires sponsorship of only four sports—football, men's basketball, women's basketball, and either women's soccer or women's volleyball. All ACC members sponsor all five of the named sports except Georgia Tech, which sponsors women's volleyball but not women's soccer. Member-by-member sponsorship of
5959-428: The NCAA's Academic Progress Rate . Nine ACC institutions are members of the Association of American Universities : Cal, Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, North Carolina, Stanford, and Virginia. Syracuse was a member until 2011 but voluntarily withdrew over a dispute on how to count non-federal grants. The members of the ACC participate in the Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Consortium (ACCAC),
6060-427: The Northern Mariana Islands ). American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands are also considered part of the western U.S. by the U.S. National Park Service , the Federal Reserve Bank system, FEMA , and the USGS . The population distribution by race in the Western United States (2022): As defined by the United States Census Bureau , the Western region of the United States includes 13 states, with
6161-516: The Pacific Coast where it increases again. In fact, the greatest annual rainfall in the United States falls in the coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest . Drought is much more common in the West than the rest of the United States. The driest place recorded in the U.S. is Death Valley , California. In Western states, drought is closely associated with fire risk, and there have been a number of notable wildfires causing extensive property damage and wildlife habitat destruction . The Western United States
SECTION 60
#17328631205686262-402: The Rockies , 54 of which are over 14,000 feet (4,300 m), are found in central and western Colorado . East of the Rocky Mountains is the Great Plains, the western portions (for example, the eastern half of Colorado) of which are generally considered to be part of the western United States. The West has several long rivers that empty into the Pacific Ocean , while the eastern rivers run into
6363-429: The West and California , whites and blacks together are less than half the population because of the preference for the region by Hispanics and Asians . African and European Americans, however, continue to wield a stronger political influence because of the lower rates of citizenship and voting among Asians and Hispanics . According to 2022 estimates from the Census Bureau, the largest ancestries reported in
6464-440: The West and brought prosperity for several states, where agriculture had previously only been subsistence level. Following World War II , the West's cities experienced an economic and population boom. The population growth, mostly in the Southwest states of New Mexico , Utah , Colorado , Arizona , and Nevada , has strained water and power resources, with water diverted from agricultural uses to major population centers, such as
6565-517: The West are Mexican (24.2%), German (10.1%), English (9.5%), Irish (7.2%), Italian (3.5%), Filipino (3.4%), and Chinese (3.3%). The West also contains much of the Native American population in the U.S., particularly in the large reservations in the Mountain and Desert States . As of 2022, the West is home to 365,351 Navajo , 109,208 Apache , and 78,364 Blackfeet , as well as 276,082 people identifying as Indigenous Mexican . The largest concentrations for African-Americans in
6666-453: The West as a metaphor for the virtue of self-reliance and an American ethos. The contrast between the romanticism of culture about the West and the actuality of the history of the westward expansion has been a theme of late 20th and early 21st century scholarship about the West. Cowboy culture has become embedded in the American experience as a common cultural touchstone, and modern forms as diverse as country and western music have celebrated
6767-409: The West can be found in San Diego , Los Angeles , Oakland , Sacramento , Fresno , San Francisco , Seattle , Tacoma , Phoenix , Las Vegas , Denver , and Colorado Springs . The Western United States has a higher sex ratio (more males than females ) than any other region in the United States. Because the tide of development had not yet reached most of the West when conservation became
6868-662: The West. The ecoregions and ecology found in the Western United States are extremely varied. For instance, large areas of land are made up of everything from sand dunes in the Central Basin and Range ecoregion , which makes up much of the State of Nevada , to the ecology of the North Cascades in Washington state , which has the largest concentration of active alpine glaciers in the lower 48 . The densely forested areas found in Northern California , Oregon , Washington, Idaho , and Montana have mostly species adapted to living in temperate climates , while Southern California , Nevada , Arizona , southern Utah , and New Mexico have
6969-444: The West. Low elevations on the West Coast have warm summers and mild winters with little to no snow. The desert southwest has very hot summers and mild winters. While the mountains in the southwest receive generally large amounts of snow. The Inland Northwest has a continental climate of warm to hot summers and cold to bitterly cold winters. Annual rainfall is greater in the eastern portions, gradually tapering off until reaching
7070-456: The addition of Georgia Tech from the Metro Conference , announced on April 3, 1978, and taking effect on July 1, 1979, except in football, in which Tech would remain an independent until joining ACC football in 1983. The total number of member schools reached nine with the addition of Florida State , also formerly from the Metro Conference, on July 1, 1991, in non-football sports and July 1, 1992, in football. The additions of those schools marked
7171-450: The community of Hollywood in Los Angeles became the headquarters of the mass media such as radio and television production. California has emerged as the most populous state and one of the top 10 economies in the world. Massive late 19th–20th century population and settlement booms created two megalopolis areas of the Greater Los Angeles / Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area / Northern California regions, one of
7272-478: The conference in 2014–15 had signed a grant of media rights (GOR), effective immediately and running through the 2026–27 school year, coinciding with the duration of the conference's then-current TV deal with ESPN . This move essentially prevents the ACC from being a target for other conferences seeking to expand—under the grant, if a school leaves the conference during the contract period, all revenue derived from that school's media rights for home games would belong to
7373-517: The conference the following day, once again expanding the conference footprint like previous expansions. Because the Big East intended to hold Pitt and Syracuse to the 27-month notice period required by league bylaws, the most likely entry date into the ACC (barring negotiations) was July 1, 2014. However, in July 2012, the Big East came to an agreement with Syracuse and Pitt that allowed the two schools to leave
7474-481: The conference's history. Generally, the ACC's top athletes and teams in any particular sport in a given year are considered to be among the top collegiate competitors in the nation. Additionally, the conference enjoys extensive media coverage. With the advent of the College Football Playoff in 2014, the ACC is one of the "Power Four" conferences with a contractual tie-in to a New Year's Six bowl game in
7575-629: The contiguous Western U.S. are mule deer , white-tailed antelope squirrels , cougars , American badgers , coyotes , hawks and several species of snakes and lizards are common. While the American black bear lives throughout the U.S., the brown bears and grizzly bears are more common in the northwest and in Alaska. Along the West Coast there are several species of whales, sea otters , California sea lions , eared seals and northern elephant seals . In
7676-435: The cycle, and none will travel to California in back-to-back seasons. Additionally, this allows for each team to schedule four non-conference games. Since the 2014 season, one of the four non-conference games is against Notre Dame every two to three years, as Notre Dame plays against five ACC opponents in non-conference games each season. ACC members are also required to play at least one non-conference game each season against
7777-560: The deserts lie the Rocky Mountains . In the north, they run almost immediately east of the Cascade Range , so that the desert region is only a few miles wide by the time one reaches the Canada–US border. The Rockies are hundreds of miles wide and run uninterrupted from New Mexico to Alaska . The Rocky Mountain Region is the highest overall area of the United States, with an average elevation of above 4,000 feet (1,200 m). The tallest peaks of
7878-560: The dry, inland desert areas of states such as California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico there are some of the world's most venomous lizards, snakes and scorpions. The most notorious might be the Gila monster and Mohave rattlesnake , both found in deserts in the Southwest . The Sonoran Desert has eleven species of rattlesnakes - more than anywhere else in the world. Along the southwestern border there are jaguars and ocelots . Other mammals include
7979-585: The first Paleo-Indians arrived. Pre-Columbian trade routes to kingdoms and empires such as the Mound Builders existed in places such as Yellowstone National Park since around 1000 AD. Major settlement of the western territories developed rapidly in the 1840s, largely through the Oregon Trail and the California Gold Rush of 1849. California experienced such a rapid growth in a few short months that it
8080-450: The first conference to do so. This minimum was raised to 800 in 1964, but was ultimately struck down by a federal court in 1972. On July 1, 1971, South Carolina left the ACC to become an independent . Racial integration of all-white collegiate sports teams was high on the regional agenda in the 1950s and 1960s. Involved were issues of equality, racism, and the alumni demand for the top players needed to win high-profile games. The ACC took
8181-616: The first expansions of the conference footprint since 1953, though both schools were still located with the rest of the ACC schools in the South Atlantic States. The ACC added three members from the Big East Conference during the 2005 conference realignment . Initially, the conference targeted Boston College, Miami, and Syracuse . The expansion was controversial, as Connecticut , Rutgers , Pittsburgh , and West Virginia (and, initially, Virginia Tech) filed lawsuits against
8282-592: The first female recipient in the award's 25-year history. Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference ( ACC ) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the United States . Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina , the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s Division I . ACC football teams compete in
8383-603: The game was played in-state. In addition, Notre Dame played an ACC conference schedule and was eligible to (and ultimately did) play in the ACC Championship Game. Within the College Football Playoff , the Orange Bowl serves as the home of the ACC champion against Notre Dame or another team from the SEC or Big Ten. If the conference's champion is selected for the CFP, another ACC team will be chosen in its place. The other bowls pick ACC teams in
8484-433: The land's managers, who are required to keep land use within environmentally acceptable limits. The largest city in the region is Los Angeles , located on the West Coast . Other West Coast cities include San Diego , San Bernardino , San Jose , San Francisco , Oakland , Bakersfield , Fresno , Sacramento , Seattle , Tacoma , Anchorage , and Portland – some of which are dozens of miles inland. Prominent cities in
8585-706: The lands west of the Mississippi River were considered the West . The U.S. Census Bureau's definition of the 13 westernmost states includes the Rocky Mountains and the Great Basin to the Pacific Coast , and the mid-Pacific islands state, Hawaii. To the east of the Western United States is the Midwestern United States and the Southern United States , with Canada to the north and Mexico to
8686-422: The lead. First they started to schedule integrated teams from the north. Finally ACC schools—typically under pressure from boosters and civil rights groups—integrated their teams. With an alumni base that dominated local and state politics, society and business, the ACC flagship schools were successful in their endeavor—as Pamela Grundy argues, they had learned how to win: The ACC operated with seven members until
8787-551: The league's twelfth member and the first from the Northeast. The ACC Hall of Champions opened on March 2, 2011, next to the Greensboro Coliseum arena, making the ACC the second college sports conference to have a hall of fame after the Southern Conference . On September 17, 2011, Big East Conference members Syracuse University and the University of Pittsburgh both applied to join the ACC. The two schools were accepted into
8888-450: The majority of the desert areas located in the United States. The Mojave and the Great Basin deserts lie entirely within the Western region, along with parts of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts (the latter extends significantly into Texas, while both extend into Mexico ). Given this expansive and diverse geography it is no wonder that the region is difficult to define precisely. Sensing
8989-484: The membership to nine. Since 2000, with the widespread reorganization of the NCAA, ten additional schools have joined, and one original member (Maryland) has left to bring it to the current membership of 18 schools. The additions in recent years extended the conference's footprint into the Northeast , Midwest , and West . The ACC has 18 member institutions from 12 states. Listed in alphabetical order, these 12 states within
9090-691: The most pervasive and influential selectors, the Associated Press poll and Coaches Poll . In addition, from 1998 to 2013 the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) used a mathematical formula to match the top two teams at the end of the season. The winner of the BCS was contractually awarded the Coaches' Poll national championship and its AFCA National Championship Trophy as well as the MacArthur Trophy from
9191-627: The national average of 77.98 inhabitants/sq mi (30.11 inhabitants/km ). As of 2022, just under half of the 78.7 million residents of the West live in California . The entire Western region has also been strongly influenced by European , Hispanic or Latino , Asian and Native Americans ; it contains the largest number of minorities in the U.S. While most of the studies of racial dynamics in America such as riots in Los Angeles have been written about European and African-Americans , in many cities in
9292-433: The order set by agreements between the conference and the bowls. Beginning in 2014, Notre Dame is eligible for selection as the ACC's representative to any of its contracted bowl games. The ACC's bowl selection will no longer be bound by the rigidity of a "one-win rule" but will have a general list of criteria to emphasize regionality and quality matchups on the field. A one-win rule does apply to Notre Dame's participation in
9393-497: The sense of isolation and independence of spirit inspired by the frontiersmen on "virgin land". The advent of the automobile enabled the average American to tour the West. Western businessmen promoted Route 66 as a means to bring tourism and industry to the West. In the 1950s, representatives from all the western states built the Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center to showcase western culture and greet travelers from
9494-450: The six major bowl games. Seven of its members claim football national championships in their history, with two having won the now-defunct Bowl Championship Series (BCS) during its existence between 1998 and 2014 and one having won under the current College Football Playoff (CFP) system. Five of its members are among the top 25 of college football's all-time winningest programs. Three ACC teams, Florida State, Miami, and Clemson, are listed in
9595-451: The south to New York in the north and from California in the west to Massachusetts farthest east. When Notre Dame joined the ACC, it chose to remain a football independent . However, its football team established a special scheduling arrangement with the ACC to play a rotating selection of five ACC football teams per season. For the 2020 season , due largely to the suspension of most non-conference games by other Power Five conferences due to
9696-641: The south. The West contains several major biomes , including arid and semi-arid plateaus and plains , particularly in the American Southwest ; forested mountains , including three major ranges, the Sierra Nevada , the Cascades , and Rocky Mountains; the long coastal shoreline of the American Pacific Coast ; and the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest . The Western United States
9797-554: The sport of football. The ACC was founded on May 8, 1953, by seven universities located in the South Atlantic States , with the University of Virginia joining in early December 1953 to bring the membership to eight. The loss of South Carolina in 1971 dropped membership to seven, while the addition of Georgia Tech in 1979 for non-football sports and 1983 for football brought it back to eight, and Florida State's arrival in 1991 for non-football sports and 1992 for football increased
9898-414: The top 10 of most successful football programs since 2000. In 2005, the ACC began divisional play in football. At the time, the ACC was the only NCAA Division I conference whose divisions were not divided geographically (e.g., north–south, East/West), but rather into Atlantic and Coastal (this arrangement continues today for the sports of baseball and men's soccer). The two division leaders then competed in
9999-534: The wheat and soybeans in the U.S. and exporting more to the rest of the world. Irrigation in the Southwest allows the growth of great quantities of fruits, nuts, and vegetables as well as grain, hay, and flowers. Texas is a major cattle and sheep raising area, as well as the nation's largest producer of cotton. Washington is famous for its apples, and Idaho for its potatoes. California and Arizona are major producers of citrus crops, however, declining supplies of water, as well as urban sprawl have contributed to
10100-419: Was added for the 2023–24 school year with Clemson, North Carolina, North Carolina State, and Pitt participating. Fencing was added for the 2014–15 school year after having been absent from the conference since 1980; Boston College, Duke, North Carolina, and Notre Dame participate in that sport. Since all current ACC members (including non-football member Notre Dame) field FBS football teams, they are subject to
10201-694: Was admitted to statehood in 1850 without the normal transitory phase of becoming an official territory. One of the largest migrations in American history occurred in the 1840s as the Latter Day Saints left the Midwest to build a theocracy in Utah . Both Omaha, Nebraska and St. Louis, Missouri laid claim to the title, "Gateway to the West" during this period. Omaha , home to the Union Pacific Railroad and
#567432