And it is an incredible idea!
In case you haven't heard, UNC and WF just announced a home-and-home "non-conference" matchup against each other in 2019 and 2021. You might be asking yourself how two conference opponents can schedule each other as a non-conference game. Well, as long as they aren't on the conference schedule, they can schedule each other and count it as non-conference because it won't count against their conference record and standings. If the ACC won't move to a 9-game conference schedule, this needs to happen more to create those matchups the fans want. Let's schedule FSU, Clemson, and Louisville and see them more often than once every 6 years.
If nothing else, this shows that there are schools in the conference that do want that 9-game schedule and it leaves that possibility very much open.
Comments
When I first read this I thought it was a joke, but I like the idea.
Didn't VT and Pitt do this?
We were scheduled for Non-conference matchup before they joined the ACC. The matchup just became ACC games.
Yeah, I don't see this actually going through. Both likely just scheduled to get a good game on the schedule with the understanding that should something better come around, they both respect each other enough to get out of the way.
The fact that this is the only way they can regularly play each other, despite the fact that the schools are only maybe an hour and a half apart, makes the 8-game schedule look even dumber.
Go to 9 and let's be done with this foolishness. And I just gave a quick glance at our OOC schedule and see a bunch of ECU games that can be knocked off...
The problem is not really with the eight game schedule, and a nine game schedule would not resolve the problem. The problem is with any conference size larger then twelve teams. The short vision rush to (trying to achieve) sixteen team conferences was the problem.
The ACC sold their soul to try to get Notre Dame football in the mix, and made a number of other missteps in the conference gold rush. They did make some good moves, too, but the football will always be a watered down product for the rest of our existence, unless we slash membership in half or so.
When you step back & observe impartially, we are not really in the ACC that anyone who grew up during the Jefferson Pilot/Holly Farms days. We seldom play NC State in football, we didn't play UMd very often, and we don't play Clemson nearly as often as fans would like.
It's a fact of life in the current college sports arena, but it is a certain visual readjustment in terms of conference perspectives.
That's what my dad says. He's still not used to any teams north of Maryland being considered ACC, to say nothing of Louisville and ND.
Why can't the ACC go the way of the BIG and start getting rid of FCS games, go to 9 game conference schedule and still get quality OOC games.
Bitter Plan
what would that do to the ACC non conf record though??
imagine if all 14 teams scheduled at least one non con game with another acc team...
the ACC would automatically go 7-7 in those 14 non-con games...somehow I feel like that would come back to bite us later. I can see the narrative now
"Well the SEC went 49-7 in their non-conference games but the ACC only managed to go 42-14 so the SEC is obviously the better league"
for the casual passer-by that makes the SEC look far superior...but what isn't really factored in is the fact that both leagues would have really only lost 7 true non con games each.
maybe it's insignificant....I don't know...thoughts?