October 8, 2005 was a critical inflection point to the ACC's football history. The league had just completed its first full growth, and the addition of a 12th team allowed the conference to split into two divisions for the first time in its history. A lucrative conference championship game was on the horizon, and the radical realignment induced by the turn of the century was on the verge of showcasing its first true national spotlight.
Boston College was the last team to join the ACC at that point, but the Eagles unquestionably arrived as the league's wild card tent pole.