The ACC announced this today: http://www.theacc.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/060413aaa.html. The following schedule and criteria is from the official release.
- Each ACC school will play eight conference games annually, four at home and four on the road.
- Each ACC school will play three home divisional games and three on the road.
- Each ACC school will play one home cross divisional game and one road cross divisional game. When schools will play their permanent crossover opponent at home, they will play their rotating crossover opponent on the road and vice versa.
- Within each division, all teams will either play all of their primary crossover games at home or away in a given year with all of the rotating crossover opponents all played at home or away.
- Each ACC school will play all of their rotating crossover opponents twice during the 12-year rotation, once at home and once on the road, but not consecutively.
I don't like playing Boston College every season. I don't like that we don't play Louisville until 2020. A better game for television each season would have been Virginia Tech-Louisville. Let the Hoos play Boston College, a more manageable game for them and Boston College both.
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ACC derp. I'd rather they just drop the cross-division rivalries altogether. I have no reason to ever want to venture up to Chestnut Hill; even it means we pad our wins column.
Just go to 9 games and be done with it
If they do that, it causes problems for FSU, Clemson and GT. I am in favor of it but a 9 game schedule doesn't solve all the problems...at least until they go to a 13 game season.
Does all the red, orange, and "S"s in the Coastal Division schedule make anybody else's head hurt?
The only annual matchup that really provides national attention is FSU and Miami. GT and Clemson sometimes, but FSU and Miami is the best crossover game. With that being said, that leaves 6 other games that nobody really cares about. Get rid of the crossover schedule and go to 9 game schedules. Miami and FSU can play each other as an OOC game if they really want to play every year.
Boston College. Every. Damn. Year.
Agreed. This BC nonsense needs to stop. I couldn't care less about that game. Of all the Atlantic division opponents we could have, BC and Wake are the two least exciting. But at least Wake would be in driving distance so we could make a home game a la Duke.
It's like the ACC doesn't even want TV attention... Is there any chance this will change?
KENTUCKY WILDCATS, SWITCH PLACES WITH US! IT'S A WIN-WIN PROPOSITION!
Can someone explain this to me like I'm 5?
Nevermind: Apparently I thought it was more complicated than it is.
The ACC is bound and determined to make itself a basketball conference.
No word from the ivory tower on the golden domers, and what to call those games? Special-non-ACC conference games?
Or maybe the ACC should invite UConn and be done with it. That way, they can fill the void left when VT and some of the other Football Schools leave for more exciting conferences.
On the plus side, LOLUVA getting fed to Louisville every year will be fun to watch.
That's some awesome imagery right there, man. The toothed Cardinal chomping down on CavMan.
I'm asking for someone with Photoshop and a little bit of time on their hands to make this shit happen, STAT!
Or, if you prefer the simpler, more subtle route:
I don't like anything about this. Can we please switch our non-conference rival with that other Virginia school?
I realize that BC sucks at the moment, but it wasn't that long ago they were competent at football. In 2009 BC was 8-5, while noted powerhouse Louisville was 4-8 in the Big East. Football is cyclical to a large degree.
Are we that guy? Are we on DUFF duty in the ACC and no one told us?
I don't know what to think. The rivalry between Boston College hit its peak with Matt Ryan and coach Jags (remember him dancing when Ryan hit that rainbow dagger?) on the sideline, but oh, how so sweet it was when Tech destroyed them in the ACCCG. I think the rivalry lost its luster a long time ago, and it have become a sleepwalking game (see the past November overtime game, ugh).
What I want to see is more game against Clemson. That is a budding rivalry right there. I mean, Dabo owns Beamer with a 3-0 record, and I want to kick his ass just once. Clemson is a rising program and could be a national championship contender this fall if things fall the right way for them. I have tremendous respect for them.
At the same time, I think Swofford needs to step aside. While I am appreciative of his inviting Tech into the ACC with Miami, the first major conference realignment, and it took some political arm-twisting as well, I think Swofford is completely out of touch with the desire of the fans to see entertaining match-ups. If the TV rating between FSU and VT didn't convince him, I don't know what will.
Also, under Swofford's leadership, we still do not have an ACC channel. Additionally, the SEC is encroaching on the ACC's turf by having an ESPN broadcaster in Charlotte handling the majority of SEC's broadcast. Why hasn't Swofford moved swiftly to counter that? I have lost confidence in Swofford's ability to be "forward thinking" as Larry Scott of the PAC-12 and Mike Slive of the SEC. It doesn't help that Swofford was also a former UNC AD and that have pretty much fueled the "North Carolina bias" that many claim against him.
I don't know. All I know is the ACC have not done itself any favor with this crossover division rivalry and scheduling. If the ACC wants to be taken seriously as a power conference, they need to strap up their boots, and start stomping. Otherwise, the conference won't shake the "basketball only conference" label.
Ok, getting off my soapbox.
The SEC Network is based out of Charlotte because ESPNU is based out of Charlotte and a lot of the same equipment will be used. Let's get that out of the way quickly. I highly doubt the SEC placed it there for any greater purpose. Also, the ACC has said they're in the planning stages of their own network. IIRC the ACC will get a bump in payout if there's no ACC Network by a certain date (2018), so if ESPN decides the SEC and LHN are big enough headaches they'll have to pay.
It would be easier for the ACC to set up marquee matchups if anyone could consistently be great. In 2010 Clemson finished the year 6-7. FSU looks to be on the rise finally but they were in the dumper for a long stretch. Miami's staring at the abyss of the NCAA infractions committee. Other than VT (excluding last year) no team has had an extended stretch near the top of the conference. I'd also be willing to bet that if VT had a permanent matchup with FSU/Clemson that after a while fans would complain about the schedule imbalance. Why do I say that? LSU fans say similar things because their permanent SEC crossover opponent is Florida, while Alabama plays Tennessee (who is currently a flaming mess). South Carolina in 2011 won every SEC East game but lost the division in part because their crossover opponent was Arkansas, while Georgia played a weaker Auburn team. SC fans were quite bitter about that. Ultimately, it is what it is. BC is crap right now, but it used to be somewhat of a rivalry when BC had a competent coach and fielded Division 1-A teams. If VT had Louisville and the Cards sunk back into the abyss once Charlie Strong leaves, I am sure fans would be upset that they're stuck playing a bad Cards team. My solution would be to do away with the permanent rivalry games for everyone except FSU-Miami and UNC-NC State, similar to how the B1G will protect Indiana-Purdue once they realign. But there really isn't a perfect solution short of getting every conference back to 12 teams, or the top 64 teams breaking away and creating their own setup.
The ACC's problems have nothing to do with their cross-division scheduling. That's ridiculous. The ACC's problem is they don't win enough games against powerhouses when people are paying attention, especially against SEC opponents. FSU and Clemson got wiped out at home this past season after spending all year screaming for respect. Win games and everything else will sort itself out. All this whining about Swofford and the schedule makes VT fans sound like FSU fans who are convinced the league is out to ruin them. Look at everything Swofford has done recently for the conference and explain where he's failed and how he could somehow get more out of a mediocre football product.
Not much else to add here. I agree 100%
Only an ACC apologist would kiss the ringed finger of Swoffie and then lump Tech's fans in the same category as FSU fans. Poor form, sir, poor form. For that -1 for you.
A -1? I'm shaken to my core. How will I ever recover?
In the last year the ACC's seen their TV payout increase, their footprint expand, and have brought ND into the fold. They swapped out a toxic asset in Maryland for Louisville, which I believe is one of the most profitable athletic departments in the country. That doesn't seem like a bad job by a commissioner for a conference whose teams can't get their acts together. How is it Swofford's fault that the ACC is terrible in BCS games? Is he the one telling Beamer to run an ill-advised fake punt against Michigan? If blaming the schools for the ACC's woes and not Swofford makes me a Swofford apologist, then so be it. Swofford's not perfect but he's not running the ship aground.
If you don't want to be lumped in with FSU fans, then don't act like FSU fans by jumping into a full-throated whine about how VT and the ACC's problems are somehow everyone else's fault. FSU fans complain that the ACC holds them down even though they're 2-3 against Wake Forest in the last 5 years, kept Bobby Bowden on for 5 years too long and basically wasted half a decade. We mock FSU fans for doing that, so we should be better than that.
We will have to agree to disagree. You can keep holding up the shield and I'll keep shitting on it.
Stay classy. Just don't -1 me, I might lose the will to live.
The only thing I will say is, I did address at the bottom of my original post that the teams need to strap on their boot and start stomping. I said that the ACC need to win games, but let be real here, the national perception is the ACC is widely known as a successful basketball conference on par of the now dead Big East. Florida State was the king of the ACC until the last decade when Tech came into conference courtesy of Swofford's raiding the Big East and some political arm-twisting.
What I don't appreciate is being lumped into the same category as FSU fans, knowing their reputation and delirious, while offering some thought. It is not whining; it is simply offering some thoughts that run contrary to what many people want to think/believe.
Some folks who know me at McFarling's blog know I have strong opinions that often goes against the grains many, many times. I simply refuse to have the "herd mentality" where everyone follow what is popular and socially acceptable. I like to go against the grains, and you will see I do that very often.
Agreed. Swofford, throughout the realignment mess, has been the reason the ACC still exists.
Slive is the most 'speak softly and carry a big stick' commissioner,
Delaney is the most 'show me the money, it is all i care about' commissioner,
Larry Scott is the 'revolutionize the west coast, or at least bring your conference up to 2013' commissioner,
but Swofford is consistently the 'stay quiet and be the smartest guy in the room' commissioner.
Oh, and Don Bowlsby is the 'i have texas. i mean, texas has me. i hope they don't fire me' commissioner.
After seeing what Louisville has done since getting out of Conference USA a few years back, with the BCS bowl win last year and the national championship in basketball a few months ago, I think they Syracuse, Pitt, and Louisville adds were the best options we had. I thought UConn would have been a great choice, but then Edsall bolted and Calhoun retired. I think that school is trending downward, while Louisville is trending upward and we gave them an additional boost by inviting them into the conference. I'd like to see their academic standards a bit higher, but I'd say the same thing from FSU and NCST.
And just hours after I said this, from Stewart Mandel's College Football Mailbag today:
FTW
The fixed cross-division opponent is really what makes this arrangement suck. Playing only 2 cross-division games wouldn't be so bad if both were rotating. Current setup has us playing FSU, Clemson, NCSU, Syracuse & Wake once each every 6 years. We play Notre Dame once every 5 years. Think about that. We are scheduled to play Notre Dame more frequently than actual full football members of the conference. And don't get me started on ECU.
Here's a proposition, switch Miami and Clemson in their divisions. Then the crossover rivals could be the following:
VT-Miami
UVA-BC
Clemson-FSU
GT-UMD/Louisville
Duke-Wake
UNC-NCST
Pitt-Cuse
You preserve the FSU/UM game by making them in the same division, losing the chance of an FSU/UM ACC Championship (hasn't happened yet so let's stop waiting around for it) and match teams up with the natural or cultural rival. Big East Rivalries remain alive with us and Miami and Pitt/Cuse. Clemson/FSU has been a heavy hitting match so that remains. The ACC would never let it happen due to the loss of a potential FSU/UM ACC Championship, but it seems to make more sense on the surface. Maybe I'm missing something more though.
That would also preserve GT-Clemson. Really can't find any fault with this, Miami might actually even go to the ACC Championship then!
Agreed, this is a good call. Call up Swofford.
This makes a lot of sense. Therefore, it'll NEVER happen. #GOACC
Part of why FSU and Miami were split up in the first place was so that each division would have an anchor in Florida.
True. I do like getting in front of the Florida schools. Although no one outside (or, maybe, inside) Miami cares about the U anymore. I love how the Heat jumped on the Miami basketball bandwagon, I wish they'd hype the other sports (i.e. football) too.
I think one of the reasons we like this is because we all think UVA and BC are absolutely worthless.
I think they work because of their cultures. One is around all the ivy leagues, the other thinks it's an ivy league. But you could mix it up and do Pitt/BC and UVA/Cuse. Then you still have a Big East rivalry. I like the other way better though because the rivalry can stay for hoops too between Pitt and Cuse.
I think the reason this is not happening is because the ACC schools like to have games in Florida for recruiting purposes
I can't even think about this crap anymore. It's just too darn depressing. Is it August yet?
So we still get to play FSU or Clemson every year? I am ok with that.
Only assuming we play in the ACC Championship Game every year (and further assuming that only Clemson and FSU are relevant in the Atlantic).
We play Clemson in 2017, FSU in 2018, then don't see either again for at least 5 years when we play FSU in 2023, then Clemson in 2024.
We get to play BC every year, though - huzzah! /sarcasm
I was assuming we would play in the ACC champ every year, and that FSU and Clemson were the only ones remained relevant in the Atlantic.
For the southern teams it looks like they set up games in close geographical proximity. For the northern teams it looks like a coin toss and VT lost. Although Pitt-cuse is a former Big East match up. Besides the Duke-WF game, VT has the worst match-up for fan interest. Overall it is the worst match up for geographical interest.
If the matchups were based on geography I would have VT-birds, Hoos-Pitt, 'cuse-BC.
It seems to me that each team's main rival should be the cross-over opponent. You play every year and if you are both good that year, you get the added bonus of playing them in the championship game.
True, but FSU and Clemson's "main" rivals aren't even in the ACC
You know what I mean! Main ACC rival.
Anyway, a couple more articles:
http://www.bcinterruption.com/2013/6/7/4406216/correcting-the-looming-lo...
http://www.dailypress.com/sports/teel-blog/dp-teel-time-realigning-acc-d...
I posted this to Teel's article, but thought I'd add it here as well:
I would swap Duke and North Carolina with Florida State and Syracuse and drop crossover rivalries in favor of two rotating crossovers in an 8 game schedule. .
That gives these divisions:
Atlantic: Duke, Wake Forest, North Carolina, NC State, Clemson, Boston College, & Louisville.
Coastal: Florida State, Miami, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Virginia, Pittsburgh, & Syracuse.
Advantages: Maintains most of the meaningful rivalry games, North Carolina schools play each other every year, Virginia tech plays rivalries with Miami, Georgia Tech, and Virginia every year. Florida State and Miami, continue to play every year. 4-3 balance of what I would consider top 7 ACC teams (Fl St, Miami, VT, GT vs. NC, Clem, Louisville
Disadvantages: Atlantic teams loose annual games against a Florida team, hurts recruiting for those teams. Coastal deeper than Atlantic, with a stronger lower half.
Edit: one more advantage, players would be able to play all of the ACC schools at least once in their playing career if the rotation is set up correctly, with a guaranteed home game against every cross division school every 7 years.
Also one more disadvantage, we don't get to see Florida State choke against Wake every other year.