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Twelfth-ranked Florida State, rising through the national polls powered by a 10-game winning streak, hosts Virginia Tech on Saturday. That will be its third ACC contest of the season and its 16th overall.
Should Leonard Hamilton’s team emerge victorious before the usual modest home crowd at the Tucker Center -- two-thirds full for the Dec. 31 league opener against Wake Forest, up 2,800 from the season average – the FSU program will enter new territory.
Since joining the ACC for the 1991-92 season, Florida State has never won more than twice to open the conference schedule. Those high marks came in 2000, 2013 and now this year.
Only Louisville, in its third ACC season, has experienced a similarly unimpressive start to league play.
Remarkably, nine of the league’s 15 members (60 percent) have commenced ACC competition with five or fewer consecutive victories. That group includes the newcomers of the mid-2010s and original members such as Clemson and Wake.
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Most Wins in Row to Commence ACC Play, Current Members (ACC Tournament Not Included, Asterisk Indicates Undefeated in League) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Number | School | Season |
| 5 | Boston College | 2007 |
| 5 | Clemson | 1997 |
| 16 | Duke* | 1999 |
| 2 | Florida State | 2000, 2013, 2017 |
| 5 | Georgia Tech | 1986 |
| 2 | Louisville | 2015 |
| 13 | Miami | 2013 |
| 14 | North Carolina* | 1957, 1984, 1987 |
| 12 | NC State* | 1973, 1974 |
| 3 | Notre Dame | 2015 |
| 4 | Pittsburgh | 2014 |
| 12 | Syracuse | 2014 |
| 12 | Virginia | 1981 |
| 3 | Virginia Tech | 2007 |
| 5 | Wake Forest | 1961, 1997 |
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