syrBossHogg
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Teel: Hokies' trip to Louisville latest reminder of ACC football's flawed schedule rotation
Often lamented but never repaired, ACC football’s flawed schedule rotation has been exposed this month like rarely before.
The good news is the league’s athletic directors, in concert with television partner ESPN, appear motivated to consider alternatives.
Indeed, sources say that before the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March, football scheduling was on the agenda for the ACC’s annual spring meetings in May. Once the health crisis abates, expect those deliberations to resume.
“I would be surprised,” a source said, “if it goes all the way back to the status quo.”
Athletic directors who oppose nine games cite lack of non-conference scheduling flexibility, especially with Notre Dame in that mix, and the every-other-year burden of playing more road than home games in the league. Proponents like the model because it retains divisions and doubles the frequency of non-crossover interdivision matchups to once every three years.
COVID-19 prompted the ACC this season to play 10 conferences games, scrap divisions and add traditional independent Notre Dame as a temporary 15th member. But a 10-game model beyond 2020 is unlikely, if only because the additional league contests would make attaining bowl eligibility more difficult.
Abandon divisions: The concept is simple. Assign each team three annual rivals and rotate the remaining 10 — five on and five off each season.
Playing one another, at minimum, once every two years is the closest you can get to the old round-robin days. Division advocates fear too many teams would be eliminated from title contention too early, similar to this season.
