Let me toss out some thoughts: I really like UVA with Cal, and I think along those lines that Stanford should play UNC or Dook annually. Incorporate that pair right into the heart of the original ACC with an annual rival that is also an Elite school.Saw this on another board I visit as a proposed scheduling system for the new ACC. It's a 4-4-4-4 system, 4 permanent opponents and 3 slates of 4 opponents that rotate after home-and-home. Each team would get to play every other in a 6-year cycle. This keeps the conference schedule at 8 games, so the teams with SEC rivals don't lose an OOC game. IT IS NOT PODS, One poster proposed a swap so that NC State gets Clemson and Wake gets FSU to keep the Textile Bowl going. Going to this system also would allow the ACC to keep from having to choose whether UVa or NCSU is UNC's second permanent opponent in 2-7-7 and the resumption of the Duke-Ga Tech. match-up which had been continuous since 1937 until this year.
UVA: VPI, Ga Tech, Cal, UNC
UNC: Carolina 3, UVA
NC St: Carolina 3, FSU
Wake: Carolina 3, Clemson
Duke: Carolina 3, Ga Tech
Ga Tech: Clemson, Duke, UVA, Stan
Clemson: Ga Tech, Miami, FSU, Wake
FSU: Clemson, Miami, NC St, SMU
VPI: UVA, Pitt, Lou, Miami
Miami: FSU, VPI, Clemson, Syracuse
Syracuse: Pitt, BC, Miami, Stan
Pitt: BC, VPI, Cuse, Lou
BC: Lou, Cuse, Pitt, Cal
Lou: Pitt, VPI, SMU, BC
Stanford: Cal, Ga Tech, SMU, Cuse
Cal: Stan, UVA, SMU, BC
SMU: Cal, Stan, FSU, Lou
Does FSU recruit enough in TX for it to be happy with small private school SMU as an annual rival? FSU boosters and fans will whine about anything, so I would make FSU all but demand to play any of the 3 from out west annually. Plus, the largest number of FSU alums outside FL are in GA, especially round Atlanta. And FSU always has recruited GA heavily. So I think FSU-GT as annual makes very good sense for both FSU and the ACC.
Clemson always has recruited NC very heavily. So I think Clemson would prefer to play either NCSU or UNC annually than to play Miami annually.
I think Miami-SMU makes a great match for TV. Keeping with being in an NFL town, I also like the idea of SMU-Pitt (and they have a classic Cotton Bowl as the basis from which to talk up a new annual game).