New ACC Football Divisions To Drop Next Week?

by Brian Favat on Jan 26, 2012 10:30 AM EST in Conference Expansion

The Newport News Daily Press' David Teel has the story:

"First, a glance forward to next week's ACC winter meetings in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

In between poolside margaritas - on the rocks, with salt, barkeep! - league and school officials could well finalize football divisions for the 14-team alignment created by the addition of Syracuse and Pittsburgh."

As we've known for some time now, the smart money is on the ACC simply plugging Syracuse and Pittsburgh into the existing Atlantic and Coastal Divisions. Teel weighs the pros and cons of adding either Syracuse or Pittsburgh to the Coastal Division, ultimately deciding that Pitt is a logical choice for the Coastal Division, if you are a Hokies or Cavaliers fan.

"If I'm a fan of Virginia or Virginia Tech, both Coastal members, I'd prefer the Panthers in the division because a road trip to Pittsburgh every other year is easier than the hike to Syracuse. Plus, Heinz Field parking is far better for tailgating than the Carrier Dome. That said, the dome, though an eyesore, protects spectators from the elements."

Gobbler Country begs to differ, preferring the Orange in the Coastal, Pitt in the Atlantic and replacing BC with Pitt as the Hokies' permanent cross-over rival.

"Currently, the Hokies are the only team in the ACC that has to play at Boston College and at Miami (the league's North and South Pole) in the same season consistently, which they do every even-numbered year. The difference between Syracuse and Boston is about 140 miles one way."

Should the ACC add Syracuse and not Pitt to the Coastal, Teel says not to be surprised if the new inter-divisional protected rivalries become Virginia Tech-Pitt and BC-Syracuse.

But this arrangement seems extremely unnecessary. BC's preference is to continue its long-time rivalry with Syracuse (over Pitt), while I'm sure Syracuse and Pittsburgh don't want to see a 67-game football series hit the schedule once every few years (Don't Oklahoma-Nebraska Syracuse-Pittsburgh!).

If the ACC is bent on preserving the current divisional alignment, then the simplest solution is Syracuse to the Atlantic, Pitt to the Coastal, and Syracuse-Pitt added as a protected cross-over.

Poll

Which ACC expansion program do you want to see added to the Atlantic Division?

Pittsburgh

54 votes

Syracuse

187 votes

241 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

PItt in our division and Syracuse are our cross division rival

Two games closer a year closer to home and we don’t have to face VT every year.

by b0mberman on Jan 26, 2012 11:30 AM EST reply actions

Word Salad

Two games closer to home a year and we don’t have to face VT every year

by b0mberman on Jan 26, 2012 11:31 AM EST up reply actions

Tangent

I’ve never fully understood the travel distance argument. Most of the Hokies logic centers around travel distances. This isn’t the 1960s. Your football program isn’t jumping on a Greyhound to get to Pittsburgh, and last I checked it was far more expensive to fly to Greenville-Spartanburg, Blacksburg or Tallahassee than it is to fly to major East coast hubs like Boston or Miami.

With a conference that spans from Chestnut Hill to Miami Gardens, there’s a reasonable expectation that your football program is jumping on a plane 4x a year for a conference away game.

Minimizing travel distances should be a minor concern compared to preserving rivalries like BC-Syracuse and BC-Pitt.

If travel distances were a primary factor, the ACC would blow this up and go North-South or Big East-ACC.

Editor, BC Interruption

by Brian Favat on Jan 26, 2012 12:08 PM EST via mobile reply actions

Preserving BC-Syracuse and Syracuse-Pitt, not BC-Pitt.

Editor, BC Interruption

by Brian Favat on Jan 26, 2012 12:09 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

BC to Coastal, Syracuse and Pitt to Atlantic

The best scenario would be to send BC to the Coastal and place both Syracuse and Pitt to the Atlantic. BC-Syracuse and Virginia Tech-Pitt become the cross-divisional rivals.

Preserves BC-Syracuse, Syracuse-Pitt and Virginia Tech-Pitt, and puts Miami back on the annual sched. Also adds yearly games against schools more closely aligned to BC — Duke, North Carolina, Virginia and Georgia Tech.

Also replaces BC-Maryland with Pitt-Maryland.

Only casualty would be BC-Clemson imo.

Editor, BC Interruption

by Brian Favat on Jan 26, 2012 12:16 PM EST via mobile reply actions 2 recs

gotta say...

at first glance, I like it. I think Wake is a lot like BC too, but there seem to be more ""BC-like" schools in the Coastal. I’d also gladly trade away our traditional rival game v. Va Tech and pick up Syracuse instead. On the other hand, I’ve greatly enjoyed the rivalry and budding respect btw BC and Clemson.

In any alignment, I’d like to jettison an annual game v. Va Tech. I guess we can say we don’t know how they’ll be post-Beamer, but I think Beamer isn’t retiring anytime soon and I think the program is established enough now to continue to be a perennial ACC Champ contender. I think the fact BC has been the Atlantic school stuck playing Va Tech every year has definitely been a competitive disadvantage. Not trying to duck anyone, but facts are facts – they’re a tough out.

by rcmbc81 on Jan 26, 2012 12:59 PM EST reply actions

Problem is ditching Virginia Tech as permanent cross over comes at expense of the an annual Syracuse-Pitt game.

I’m not a fan of simply slotting Cuse into one division and Pitt the other, as I think there’s an opportunity to improve what we have. But if the ACC is set on keeping existing divisions in tact, Syracuse to Atlantic is best case scenario. Even if it means continuing series with VT.

Editor, BC Interruption

by Brian Favat on Jan 26, 2012 1:05 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

I don’t think Virginia Tech will maintain it’s current level of success over the next 10 years, even if Beamer is there for the next decade.

I think we’ll see London (Virginia) and Fedora (North Carolina) have a lot more success recruiting Del-Mar-Va going forward, which will erode Tech’s local recruiting advantage.

Editor, BC Interruption

by Brian Favat on Jan 26, 2012 1:08 PM EST via mobile up reply actions