ACC Bowl Grades: How Every Team Performed
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The ACC did its job this bowl season.
The ACC Champion won its bowl, the runner-up won its bowl, and the best team in the league ripped through the College Football Playoff and came within an interception of (probably) winning the national title.
There were a few rough losses and performances, but overall it was one of the better bowl seasons by any conference.
Here are our bowl grades for every ACC team.
Grading Every ACC Team’s Bowl Game Performance
Miami Bowl Grade
You play for the national championship, and win three straight CFP games to get there, and it’s an A+ bowl season no matter what.
College Football Playoff National Championship
Miami vs Indiana
Final Score: Indiana 27, Miami 21
Line: Indiana -8.5, o/u: 45.5
Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
Miami vs Ohio State
Final Score: Miami 24, Ohio State 14
Line: Ohio State -9.5, o/u: 42.5
College Football Playoff First Round
Miami at Texas A&M
Final Score: Miami 10, Texas A&M 3
Line: Texas A&M -2.5, o/u: 47.5
Grade: A+
NC State Bowl Grade
Terrific, the Wolfpack went up against a scary team and rolled without any sort of sweat.
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl
Memphis vs NC State
Final Score: NC State 31, Memphis 6
Line: NC State -5.5, o/u: 56.5
Grade: A
SMU Bowl Grade
Yeah, the Mustangs were favored, but SMU beat a strong Arizona team coming in hot.
Trust & Will Holiday Bowl
SMU vs Arizona
Final Score: SMU 24, Arizona 19
Line: SMU -2.5, o/u: 55.5
Grade: A
Wake Forest Bowl Grade
Wonderful, Wake Forest was the underdog to a five-win SEC team and won by two touchdowns.
Duke’s Mayo Bowl
Wake Forest vs Mississippi State
Final Score: Wake Forest 43, Mississippi State 29
Line: Mississippi State -3, o/u: 52.5
Grade: A
Duke Bowl Grade
The only reason it’s not higher is thatit took a minor miracle to pull it off. It was a great win for the ACC Champ, though.
Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl
Duke vs Arizona State
Final Score: Duke 42, Arizona State 39
Line: Duke -4.5, o/u: 49.5
Grade: A-
Virginia Bowl Grade
It wasn’t quite the cathartic W the program might have wanted after biffing the ACC title, but it was a strong win over a solid SEC team.
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
Missouri vs Virginia
Final Score: Virginia 13, Missouri 7
Line: Missouri -4, o/u: 43.5
Grade: A-
Georgia Tech Bowl Grade
The grade is harsh, but the team didn’t get the win. It was a great showing, though, for a full 60 minutes.
Pop-Tarts Bowl
Georgia Tech vs BYU
Final Score: BYU 25, Georgia Tech 21
Line: BYU -3.5, o/u: 55.5
Grade: B
Louisville Bowl Grade
Really, it took that much work to get by a MAC team?
Bush’s Boca Raton Bowl
Louisville vs Toledo
Final Score: Louisville 27, Toledo 22
Line: Louisville -8.5, o/u: 45.5
Grade: B
Clemson Bowl Grade
Penn State was missing even more than Clemson was, and it managed to pull off the win.
Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl
Clemson vs Penn State
Final Score: Penn State 22, Clemson 10
Line: Clemson -2.5, o/u: 47.5
Grade: C
Cal Bowl Grade
It was a tough mission to win at Hawaii, but the Bears were the Power Four team and collapsed late.
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
Cal vs Hawaii
Final Score: Hawaii 35, Cal 31
Line: Cal -3, o/u: 55.5
Grade: C+
Pitt Bowl Grade
Really, Pitt? After losing a bowl game last year to Toledo, you came up with this?!
Go Bowling Military Bowl
East Carolina vs Pitt
Final Score: East Carolina 23, Pitt 17
Line: Pitt -13.5, o/u: 51.5
Grade: D+
Related: Big 12 Bowl Grades: How Every Team Performed
This story was originally published by College Football News on Jan 21, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add College Football News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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