Orlando welcomes the Dr Pepper Atlantic Coast Conference Football Championship Game for the first time, but the league’s member schools are no strangers to the city or the storied playing field at Camping World Stadium.

“When you have one of the six oldest bowl games in the country, you tend to have some history,” said Steve Hogan, the Executive Director of Florida Citrus Sports. “And we’ve had a lot of it with ACC teams.”

In fact, it is impossible to glance at records from past Citrus, Russell Athletic or Tangerine Bowls without a number of significant games involving current ACC teams leaping off the pages.

Georgia Tech fans continue to cherish the memory of New Year’s Day 1991, when quarterback Shawn Jones and running back William Bell keyed a 45-21 Citrus Bowl rout of Nebraska that secured an unbeaten season and the national championship for Coach Bobby Ross’ Yellow Jackets. 

In December of 2003, NC State quarterback Philip Rivers capped his storied career by guiding the Wolfpack to a 56-26 romp over Kansas in the Mazda Tangerine Bowl. The game marked the NCAA-record 51st consecutive start for Rivers, who remains the ACC’s all-time leading passer with 13,484 yards.

The 1982 Tangerine Bowl marked Boston College’s first postseason trip in 40 years and pitted the Eagles and sophomore quarterback Doug Flutie against Auburn and a freshman running back by the name of Bo Jackson. 

The ACC’s affiliation with the Russell Athletic Bowl has brought a conference team to Orlando every year since 2001, when the game set up shop in The City Beautiful. A current ACC school has emerged the winner in 12 of the 15 games played here.

“You go up and down the list, and you see the close tie-ins,” Hogan said. “Because of the relationships we’ve had in the past and the relationships that we have now, you have a community that cares very much about the ACC and ACC football.”

Orlando has even hosted a number of regular-season games involving ACC teams, including Florida State’s season-opening win over Ole Miss in this year’s Camping World Kickoff.

“First and foremost, it’s very accessible,” Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said “You’re talking about Orlando, so it may be one of the most accessible cities in all of America because of Disney World and all those types of things and all the vacation spots. There’s cheap flights. There’s accessibility. There’s great hotel rooms (in which) you have all the meeting rooms and all the space and everything. Then you have a great group of people in Orlando at the game that treats you first class.”

This marks the sixth time the Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game has been played in the state of Florida. Jacksonville hosted the first three years (2005-07) and Tampa welcomed the event in 2008 and 2009.

While the site of Camping World Stadium holds nearly eight decades of football memories, the 2016 Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game is being played in a venue that is virtually brand new. Camping World Stadium underwent a $207.7 million renovation that was completed in April 2015 and has received rave reviews — and played host to numerous events in addition to football games — in the months that have followed.

“To think that you could almost totally rebuild a stadium in the time they were able to do it here is nothing short of amazing,” Hogan said. “I would say that 85 percent of the building was torn down and totally rebuilt from scratch from the ground up. To have the community support a state-of-the-art facility in a destination like Orlando has been a real blessing. That has been a real catalyst for the success we have had over the last couple of years with the many types of events that have come in.”

The stadium seats approximately 65,000, including 40,000 seats in the lower bowl. Amenities include suites on the east and west sides, as well as multiple video displays.

“We’re excited,” Hogan said. “We think it is a place the fans will enjoy with all kinds of points of service and restrooms and sight lines, plus the way this building feels open and involved. It’s got all the modern conveniences that you’d expect.”

North Carolina became the first ACC team to play a postseason game in the new-look stadium, and head coach Larry Fedora came away from last year’s Russell Athletic Bowl duly impressed. But his positive impressions went beyond the venue itself.

“Orlando is a great town,” Fedora said. “I thought the people there that put on the bowl did a tremendous job with all the accommodations and how they handled our team and what they did with our team. They were easy to work with. And you’ve got so much going on in Orlando itself that your fans and everybody that’s traveling with you, they have a wonderful time. I know my family really, really enjoyed it.”

Florida Citrus Sports and Orlando got a comparatively late start on hosting this year’s ACC Football Championship with the September site announcement of the game’s relocation. 

“As our schools, alumni and fans are fully aware, the city of Orlando, Florida Citrus Sports and Camping World Stadium know what it takes to produce a first-class college football experience,” ACC Commissioner John Swofford said. “We know they will provide a terrific setting for the 12th annual Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game.” 

Hogan noted that in addition to the Russell Athletic and Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl, Florida Citrus Sports annually produces the Florida Blue Florida Classic and will host the NFL Pro Bowl for the first time in late January. 

“With the team that we have in place, and the fact we’re so used to doing so many of these kinds of events, it really doesn’t feel like we are taking on another postseason game,” Hogan said. “It feels more like the continuation of a regular season. We feel good about it. We feel like with our staff, plus the community of volunteers here in Orlando, we are well positioned to host an ACC Championship.”

The process did include a few logistical tweaks. The Florida High School Athletic Association normally plays its football state championship games at Camping World Stadium the first Saturday in December. The FHSAA agreed to play the games on December 8-10 this year in order to accommodate the Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship.

“Orlando has been home to the Florida High School Football State Championships since 2007, and being able to keep this tradition alive and add another major sporting event is a win-win for our community,” Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said.

Hogan cited it as just one more example of Orlando’s desire to “make it work.”

“The community welcomed this with open arms,” Hogan said. “Given the longstanding partnership we’ve had with the ACC, everybody had a ‘What can we do to help’ mentality. It was all hands on deck. The high school athletic association was very generous to say, ‘This is too important of an event not to have in the community and the state,’ so they were more than happy to look at how they could adjust their schedule to free up the date. And really, that’s just been the spirit and the mentality of most everybody in town. It’s pretty cool and exciting to do this.”

Hogan and his crew have been counting the minutes until Saturday evening, when they can open the gates, showcase Camping World Stadium and add another chapter to Orlando and the ACC’s long football history.

“We can’t wait to have the fans down,” Hogan said. “I think those who have been here before and compare it will be totally floored by what they see.  And the fans who haven’t been here before are going to be treated to an experience that they expect for a game of this magnitude.”