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Message: [QUOTE="Lou_C, post: 1046930, member: 3201"] That's just wrong, regarding content. And I keep hearing that. ESPN has all the ACC's home football games, not just conference games. Every ACC home game, conference or not, is an ESPN property (unless they sublease it to Raycom). Going to nine games REDUCES the sheer number of games, because that ninth game will replace some games that are home games with no return trip, or 2-for-1. So if that 9th game is Virginia vs. NC State, that's one game to ESPN, no matter where it is played. If it replaces NC State at home vs. ECU and UVA at Oregon, AT BEST it's a wash. But if it's replacing NC State and UVA both with home non-conference games, then it's a LOSS of a game. Nobody in the ACC is playing games with no return any more, so there's no way to pick up a game. The sheer number of game rights will definitely be reduced at 9 conference games, because those by nature are home and away, while more than half of the OOC games replaced will be home games. The ONLY argument is in quality of content, which is very arguable given the state of ACC football. Which might make some sense if that ninth game was replacing an FCS or low level FBS buy game. But because many teams need those games to have their necessary home games, most of what will go away are Clemson-UGA, GT-Auburn, UNC-SC, VT-Ohio State, etc. There are very few ACC conference games picked up by the 9th game that are high profile national games, at the loss of many nationally relevant OOC games. There is no raw increase in content, the only consideration is in quality of content. And I think if you played out the results, you lose more quality than you gain. On top of that, you guarantee an additional loss for half the conference, which the ACC doesn't need. Eight games allows the conference to look better in football. Eight games works perfectly and has every advantage EXCEPT the fact that the divisions mean we don't see each other as much as we have to. The answer is to get rid of divisions, or shuffle the divisions every two years. I get why teams want the ability to win a division to keep hope alive longer, so I'm fine if you rerack them every two years if necessary. I'd prefer to just ditch them though. The only other option is to realign strict North South so you can get rid of the crossover game (Big 10 route), but that has it's own understandable problems. No divisions, or pods that are mixed and matched into divisions each year, solves the only problem, which is how often we play some teams. [/QUOTE]

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