Yesterday, I bemoaned the absence of the Miami Hurricanes on the Eagles' annual football schedule. There are a few things the conference could do -- adopting a 9-game conference schedule, completely redrawing the divisional lines -- to increase the frequency of BC-Miami games. But neither option is likely to be implemented anytime soon.
Another idea to get more BC-Miami games on the schedule is far less radical. What if the ACC decided to swap Boston College with Georgia Tech, sending BC to the Coastal Division and Georgia Tech to the Atlantic?
The ACC's two divisions would then look like this:
Atlantic: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, N.C. State, Wake Forest
Coastal: Boston College, Duke, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech
At first glance, this seems to be a pretty even trade. Both programs have made two ACC Championship Game appearances. Georgia Tech is 32-16 in six seasons while BC is just two games back at 30-18. This would also decrease travel costs for Atlantic Division teams, with a division that now would only span from Maryland to the Florida panhandle instead of Chestnut Hill to Tallahassee as it does today.
An unintended benefit would be evening up the ACC baseball divisions. Over the last few years, the baseball divisions have become pretty skewed towards the Coastal Division, with Miami, Georgia Tech, Virginia and North Carolina ranking among the best programs in the conference.
The 5-2-1 schedule format would likely remain to ensure a Florida State-Miami regular season matchup. With a BC-GT swap, you'd be moving both the Georgia Tech-Clemson and BC-Virginia Tech rivalries within the division. To replace these cross-divisional rivalries, you could easily establish ones between BC-Clemson and Georgia Tech-Virginia Tech.
Would BC be willing to trade in its "rivalries" with Atlantic Division opponents like Florida State, Maryland and N.C. State to play both Virginia Tech and Miami every year? Thoughts?