Super Sunday

Rivalries, even entire leagues, come and go. But the ACC and Super Bowl Sunday live on as an item, married since an undefeated N.C. State squad led by David Thompson edged a comparably gifted Maryland team 87-85 in January 1973.

Thompson's late score, a tip of a missed shot at the buzzer, sealed the outcome in an unusual national television appearance for any college game in that pre-cable era.

The ACC contest brimmed with drama, in sharp contrast with the lackluster 14-7 Super Bowl that followed. Miami won handily despite the final score, concluding the only undefeated NFL season (17-0) since the 1967 advent of the Game Of Multimillion Dollar Commercials.

The most memorable play in Super Bowl VII came after a muffed 41-yard field goal late in the game. The 3-point try was blocked. Dolphins kicker Garo Yepremian recovered and tried to pass the ball, only to have it intercepted and run back for a touchdown. That was it for offense by Washington.

Last season the Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers shortly after Georgia Tech defeated Virginia at Atlanta. Virginia is on the road again to herald the Super Bowl, this time traveling to Pittsburgh to take on one of the ACC's newest members.

Considering its competitive pedigree, it's odd Duke has appeared prior to two fewer Super Bowls than Virginia (9), not to mention fewer than N.C. State (15), North Carolina (14), Maryland (11), Wake Forest (9), Florida State (8), and Georgia Tech (8). Those totals include the pending meeting between the Cavaliers and the homestanding Panthers.

Overall, of the ACC's original members only Clemson has appeared less often than Duke. The most successful and prolific ACC team playing in tandem with the Super Bowl remains N.C. State at 10-5.

Four of Pitt's brethren in Big East flight -- Boston College, Notre Dame, Syracuse, and Virginia Tech -- have yet to participate in a prelude encounter for football's Roman Numeral Extravaganza. BC and Virginia Tech have been in the ACC about a decade.

UVa has won four of eight previous outings on Super Bowl Sunday. Boding ill for the Cavaliers, the only other time Seattle reached the Super Bowl, the Seahawks faced, and lost to, Pittsburgh. Granted, that was the Steelers, but you get the somewhat contorted point.

Georgia Tech's victory last season was just its third in eight appearances on the big day and the first not engineered under coach Bobby Cremins.

For what it's worth, when Virginia wins on Super Bowl Sunday so do NFC teams, notching a 3-1 record. One of the losers in those years was Denver, a contestant in 2014. When the Cavs lose on the Big Day, AFC teams are 3-1, including a 1-1 record for the NFL franchise from Pittsburgh.