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The ACC Thread


MikeT14

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There isn't a large contingency of ACC fans in here it seems, so I thought this would make sense to have a collaborative ACC thread to discuss everything going on within it. 

What's shocking for the season so far? UNC should be 8-0 going into Notre Dame. 

The 180 degree flip VT's defense has done is incredible. What a far drop it's been from it's staple of Top 10 each season.

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Alright as you may be aware, ND football is in the ACC for 2020 due to the pandemic.

This means that ND can qualify for the ACC spot in the Orange Bowl, but I'd much rather see them in the Playoff.

Once the pandemic is over, ND will be independent again in football, but I feel that ND being able to represent the ACC should be permanent, in the wake of last year's fiasco where ND was better and higher ranked than Virginia (who we also beat last year) yet they got the Orange Bowl slot due to a technicality.

I feel if ND can't represent the ACC in the Orange Bowl, then they shouldn't be willing to represent the ACC in any other bowl. It should be all of them, or none of them. So the ACC needs desperately to acknowledge it doesn't always deserve to have a full member represent them in the Orange Bowl in years their one good team is in the playoff. Quite frankly, ND should have sit out last bowl season to protest not being able to play in the Orange Bowl (which in turn would have made Toledo the 8th MAC team in a bowl game in 2019, setting a conference record).

Many other bad things have come as a result of compromises. For instance, it is because of a compromise that the Cleveland Browns have not been to the NFL playoffs since 2002, while the Baltimore Ravens have made multiple playoff appearances in their history, including two Super Bowl wins, and don't show any signs of slowing down (ironically ND was able to beat a Louisville team led by current Ravens QB Lamar Jackson).

This also shows I am strongly for equal bowl opportunities for all teams.

This also seen in my desire for 7+win teams to be prioritized for at-large bowl slots over 6-6 teams, even if it means a 7-win Group of 5 team gets into a bowl but a 6-6 Power 5 team does not.

Like when I objected to a bowl game taking a 6-6 ACC team, Pittsburgh, in 2014 over a 7-5 Texas State team for an at-large. Texas State's conference, the Sun Belt, had three bowl bids that year and three teams with 7 wins or more that were bowl-eligible. But one of the bids went to a 6-6 South Alabama team instead, even though Texas State was playing football well before the University of South Alabama was even founded in 1963. The bowl's location in Alabama may have had something to do with it.

Nevertheless, Texas State went uninvited. This could not have happened in 2009, when the NCAA rules made it a priority to put 7-win teams in any bowl slot, including at-large, over 6-win teams, who usually only got in after all 7+-win teams were selected. This meant a team from a non-Power conference could be selected for a bowl game over a 6-6 power team if it had 7 or more wins.

The NCAA changed the rule in 2010, and several 7+win teams from outside the big conferences went uninvited to bowls between 2010 and 2014, but it hasn't happened since due to the expansion of the bowl line-up. Nevertheless, Texas State has not recovered from this snub, as 2014 remains their last winning season, and have changed coaches several times in the last 5 years. It's similar to how missing the playoffs at 10-6 in 2007 set the Cleveland Browns back for over a decade.

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I know very little about collegiate athletics, but I root for UNC in all their sports. Basketball, field hockey, you name it. So I'm thrilled to see Sam Howell and the Heels start off 3-0. Mack Brown is leading them in the right direction and their AP ranking is the highest it's been since 1997. They are expected to pulverize Florida State's defense in Week 7. But anything can happen in this game, so I hope they keep working and don't let the early-season hype go to their heads.

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Furthermore I think by the end of this decade, the ACC will add two new teams north of North Carolina to be able to divide its football divisions geographically like other FBS conferences do with their divisions.

I insist that such an expansion include Cincinnati. They and the other new member would be with Boston College, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia, and Virginia Tech in the North Division.

The South Division would compose of Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, and Wake Forest.

The NC schools would absolutely push for this, as it would guarantee a round-robin between them for the first time since the ACC was a nine-member league. It is already being restored for 2020 because of the pandemic.

Furthermore, it would allow a clean rotation of ACC schools onto Notre Dame's schedule, where the Irish would play one regional pair from each division every year, with one opponent from each pair being a home game, and the other a road game. These schools would alternate, such that at the end of an 8-year period, Notre Dame will have visited every ACC school once, and every ACC school will have come to South Bend once.

And with the NC schools being together in the same division, they would take turns playing each other on Thanksgiving weekend. This would allow each rivalry between two NC schools to be a season finale once every three years, and at a given stadium once every six years. I have a feeling ESPN will demand such a rotation.

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Meanwhile, I've proposed a reshuffling of the football divisions that can last until the next expansion:

Classic:
Clemson
Duke
Georgia Tech
North Carolina
North Carolina State
Virginia
Wake Forest

Modern:
Boston College
Florida State
Louisville
Miami
Pittsburgh
Syracuse
Virginia Tech

It would sort the 14 schools by how long they have been in the ACC. For the most part, regional rivals are together except the Virginia schools. But here are the protected crossovers:

Clemson-Miami
Duke-Syracuse
Georgia Tech-Florida State
North Carolina-Louisville
North Carolina State-Boston College
Virginia-Virginia Tech
Wake Forest-Pittsburgh

These crossovers would include the Orange Crush Bowl (Clemson VS. Miami), the Commonwealth Cup, and two matchups of schools normally known for their basketball prowess.

The Thanksgiving weekend schedule under this divisional alignment would include Boston College-Syracuse, Miami-Pittsburgh, and Virginia-Virginia Tech every year. The four NC schools would rotate among themselves on Thanksgiving weekend. The four remaining schools would play their in-state SEC opponents as they usually do.

Meanwhile when the North-South alignment is able to be adopted, the South would consist primarily of old-line ACC schools (exception: Miami), and the North would consist primarily of the 21st century expansion schools (exception: Virginia)

Edited by pf9
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I could email the commissioner of the ACC about my realignment of the fourteen current ACC football teams. I mean it's a good idea. I want the North Carolina schools to be able to play each other every year. Plus the former Big East members would be together in one division, including the five that were members of the inaugural season of Big East football. They last all played each other in 2003.

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Next week if any unranked ACC teams are playing ranked ACC teams the unranked teams should just let the ranked teams win (with the exception of Boston College at Clemson; Clemson is the one ACC school that desperately needs a loss).

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