Nine conference games for ACC football?
Posted 09:20 a.m., May 9, 2008
Interesting info here from Caulton Tudor of the Raleigh News and Observer. Not sure what I think of this yet:
When the ACC spring meetings begin Sunday at Amelia Island, Fla., discussions of expanded conference scheduling won't be limited to men's basketball.
Also under review will be the possibility of going to a nine-game league format for the 12 ACC teams in football.
Under the current system, ACC teams play eight conference games. Each school in the two six-team divisions -- Atlantic and Coastal -- play the other five division members plus three from the opposite division.
Should a nine-game format be adopted, each team would play four games against teams from the opposite division.
"It's something that I think we should talk about and explore," Wake Forest athletic director Ron Wellman said Thursday. "There are some obvious pros and cons, and it's certainly not beyond the exploratory stage for now. But with the 12-game regular-season policy, there is some additional room for flexible in-conference scheduling."
A drawback, Wellman quickly acknowledged, would be the fact that teams would have five league games on the road and only four at home in certain seasons. On the plus side, Wellman said, most fans would prefer to see games against league rivals over most nonconference foes.
"I tend to favor this idea, but I'm not wedded to it by any means," he said. "There's a lot of information we need to gather from several parties, including the conference coaches, of course."
Wellman said he doubted a definitive vote on the topic would occur at Amelia Island. The league meetings will end Wednesday.
As with the suggestion to increase men's league games from 16 to 18 in basketball, it's unlikely that any such change, if passed, would actually take place for two or three more seasons.
Comments
Posted by huj on May 9 at 1:35 p.m.
I'm all for it, because an extra conference game is a hedge from scheduling another non-conference cupcake, particularly weak FCS schools.
Posted by lwilliams ( Larry Williams ) on May 9 at 1:52 p.m.
That's the strongest argument for it, huj.
Not sure this would pass muster with the coaches, though. The prospect of playing five road ACC games and four at home in a given year might keep this from gaining the support it would need to pass.
We know that, with the advent of the 12-game regular-season schedule, big-time schools are all about having seven home games because of the financial benefits that come with that seventh home game.
Let's take Clemson. The Tigers play South Carolina home one year, away the next. Would it be possible to arrange their schedule where the years they've got five ACC road games corresponds to the year the Gamecocks come to Clemson?
Also: You would think a nine-game conference schedule would all but obliterate the thought of Clemson getting home-and-home dates with powerful non-conference foes like Georgia, Alabama, et al.
Maybe I'm not thinking through this issue enough. But just off the top of my head, I can't see how Clemson would be enthusiastic about it.
LW
Post a comment