The main scheduling hurdle is the permanent crossover rival. Out of the 8 conference games, 6 are filled by divisional games. The 7th is the cross divisional rival, and finally the 8th spot is rotated among the remaining 6 teams in the league. The issue is that teams like Virginia Tech and Clemson only meet every six years, and it's 12 years between visits to respective campuses. However those crossover rivals preserve many of the preferred rivalries in the ACC (such as UNC/NC State, FSU/Miami, and Clemson/GT).
As I usually do, I try to keep options within realistic expectations. This time, I'm staying within the confines of two 7-team divisions. My goal here is to come up with a way to eliminate the permanent crossover, but keep most of the preferred rivalries intact. I am not trying to reinvent the wheel of dividing up football conferences. So, you will not see any suggestions of pods, sub-divisions, or no divisions.
Option #1: North/South
Since the ACC is the only conference that does not have a geographic divide, this is the one proposed most often. One would assume that the border would be somewhere in North Carolina. The issue is that there are 4 NC schools, but 4 south of NC, and 6 north of NC. So, there has to be a bit of compromise, and someone has to break away in North Carolina. I see Wake Forest as the weakest of the bunch, so they get broken off. (They also appear to be the furthest north and west in the state.)
ACC North:
-Boston College, Syracuse, Pitt, Louisville, UVA, VT, Wake Forest
ACC South:
-UNC, Duke, NC State, Clemson, GT, FSU, Miami
The drawback is that you have essentially separated the conference into the old Big East and the old ACC, with Miami being traded for UVA and Wake Forest.
Option #2: East/West
This one is a little harder to see if you're not familiar with the exact location of the ACC schools.
ACC East:
-Boston College, Miami, NC State, UVA, Syracuse, Duke, UNC
ACC West:
-Louisville, Georgia Tech, FSU, Clemson, VT, Pitt, Wake Forest
Maybe the boundaries would have to be fudged a bit, because this breaks up too many preferred rivalries.
Option #3: keep North Carolina together
If you attempt to keep all four NC schools together, then you only have room for three more schools in their division. UNC is going to want to keep the UVA rivalry, so that would also bring along VT. You could fill out that division with one of the "solo" schools such as Louisville or Boston College. But then the problem becomes that you just put FSU, Clemson, and Miami all in the same division.
ACC Coastal:
-UNC, NC State, Duke, Wake Forest, UVA, VT, Louisville
ACC Atlantic:
-FSU, Miami, Clemson, GT, Pitt, Syracuse, Boston College
The biggest hurdle is the four headed monster of North Carolina schools. I don't see how all four of them can remain together and not throw the balance of the conference off. This option creates one division in the middle of the other. FSU, Miami, Clemson, and GT will have to pass by the entire "Coastal" division to get to Pitt, Syracuse, and BC, and vice versa.
Option #4: overhauled Atlantic/Coastal
Currently it seems like the best way to even out the divisions is to separate FSU and Clemson. The only way to do that is to break up the North Carolina schools. Again, Wake Forest appears to be the easiest one to pick off.
ACC Coastal
-FSU, Miami, Virginia Tech, UVA, UNC, NC State, Duke
ACC Atlantic
-Clemson, GT, Syracuse, Pitt, Wake Forest, Louisville, Boston College
Basically, the Atlantic trades FSU and NC State to the Coastal for GT and Pitt.
Really, in this option, you have four main groups:
-the NC/VA contingent
-FSU/Miami
-Clemson/GT
-Everyone Else
NC/VA is the basis of one division, while Everyone Else is the basis of the other. Then, it's a matter of which VT rivalry you want to keep between Miami and GT. I'm erring on the side of history, and keeping VT/Miami.
Option #5: Rivalry Week
This option actually keeps the permanent crossover. Basically, everyone is paired off with their biggest rival and put in opposite divisions. In an ideal setting, all of these pairs would play each other in the final two weeks of the season.
It's much easier to see in table form.
It's much easier to see in table form.
Coastal
|
Atlantic
|
UNC
|
NC State
|
Duke
|
Wake Forest
|
Georgia Tech
|
Clemson
|
Florida State
|
Miami
|
Virginia
|
Virginia Tech
|
Syracuse
|
Pitt
|
Boston College
|
Louisville
|
BC and Louisville are interchangeable, though.
In short, this version trades FSU, Syracuse, and Boston College or Louisville for Miami, Pitt, and VT.
Overall, this looks like something that can be done, and fairly easily.
No comments:
Post a Comment