Will The Five-Day Turnaround Impact The Florida State Vs. Boston College Outcome?

Brian: In a move straight out of the Tom O'Brien Guide to Complaining About Playing Thursday Night Games On Short Rest, Florida State's Jimbo Fisher made it abundantly clear he's not a fan of the five-day turnaround.

"I just hate the five-day turnaround. It's very tough," Fisher said. "Academically, it stresses you and physically it stresses you. (But) that's something we do, that's ESPN and that's what we're going to do."

[snip]

"You get into a routine with how and what you do the next day. How you unwind as a player and as a coach to get (the last game) out," Fisher said. "A lot of time, you're really gathering information the day, day-and-a-half before you finalize your decisions. Now those decisions have to be finalized very quickly."

This will be the first of two short turnaround for the Eagles this season. Following the Notre Dame game, BC has a six-day turnaround before the regular season finale at Miami.

Of the other ACC teams that have had to play on non-Saturday games, Miami and Maryland were given a bye week the week after their Labor Day season opener in College Park. N.C. State had to travel to Cincinnati on a Thursday night on short rest, but their previous week's opponent was South Alabama. Both Virginia and Miami had to play on five-nights rest following the Canes' 24-7 upset win over Georgia Tech and N.C. State's 28-14 loss to Virginia. 

Both Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech will be afforded an off week in advance of next Thursday's Coastal Division showdown in Atlanta. Finally, Virginia Tech again plays the following Saturday as they host North Carolina, who will be coming off a late season bye week.

So while it is true that BC and Florida State are two of the few ACC programs asked to play with a short turnaround this season, does it really matter? Will the fact that both the Eagles and Seminoles only get a five-day turnaround impact tomorrow night's outcome? Your thoughts?

 

Jeff: I think the key is that either both teams are playing on short rest ... or both teams aren't playing on short rest. You might say that the short rest favors the home team a little more, but at least BC was on the road the previous week, somewhat leveling the playing field. In the next two ACC Thursday night games, both teams will have had a full week or more to prepare. Given the difficulties of Thursday night scheduling, I think the ACC did a very good job of trying to make it as fair as possible.

While I think the scheduling is fair, I am hoping that the Eagles playing at home is advantageous for BC. We all know that BC on their best day this season will not beat Florida State on their best day this season. Florida State had an easy victory Saturday but they still did play and now have the long trip up to Boston to some cold weather. It will certainly be the coldest FSU has played in this season while BC played in the snow just Saturday. You would think that the Eagles might gain some advantage there.

Thursday night games provide big exposure for your program. Florida State is not as desperate for exposure this season as BC is but their remaining schedule doesn't have any matchups that will get spectacular ratings either. Especially considering both Miami and Florida are currently sitting at 4-4. The program has completely slipped from national attention since the Oklahoma game. Jimbo Fisher needs to be careful about complaining too much because in the long run, I think he'll find that he wants the Thursday night games just as much as every other ACC program.