https://richmond.com/sports/college/teel...e6d53.html

"One proposal league athletic directors are considering is dividing the ACC’s 15 schools — traditional football independent and partial conference member Notre Dame would be included — into three geographic pods of five. Teams would play each pod rival twice, accounting for eight games.

The aim then would be, in concert with the Southeastern Conference, to add a ninth, and hopefully 10th, contest for each school, preserving the four annual ACC-SEC in-state rivalries: Clemson-South Carolina, Florida State-Florida, Georgia Tech-Georgia and Louisville-Kentucky."

I strongly advocate going to having the ACC go to a single division format in the future. With 14 schools, scheduling could be accomplished by setting 3 permanent opponents and playing the remaining 10 conference members on a 4 year cycle in which all non permanent opponents play each other once home and once away. Adding Notre Dame would only require that the number of permanent opponents be reduced to 2, and the same 4 year cycle could be used.

This, of course, would require a change in NCAA rules. However, at this point the Big 12's rule change and the AAC's waiver from the rules have both set precedent for such an approach.

This pod system is essentially a one division format. Assuming the ACC wants to hold a championship game this year, it will need an NCAA waiver. This is essentially a single division system and would be a good experiment for the format.

I like that we got hard numbers on regional travel savings at the P5 level in there.

Quote:Before delving into details, a nugget on the savings of regionalized competition. Depending on distance, charter flights for ACC football teams cost approximately $80,000-$100,000 per game. Bus trips cost about one-fifth as much, $15,000-$25,000.

The savings is $75,000/game for each football road game. I imagine the savings isn't as steep as you'd think at first blush with smaller teams who could in theory get a "regular ole private jet" instead of a chartered commercial plane. Wouldn't surprise me if it cost more than half of that $100,000/game figure to send the basketball team via charter.

Sure. VA-VT could be one of the 9th or 10th games between the North Pod and the Piedmont Pod.

I do hope the ACC, SEC, and Big 12 try and share a bubble, at least for late Fall games.

(07-15-2020 12:25 PM)orangefan Wrote:  I strongly advocate going to having the ACC go to a single division format in the future. With 14 schools, scheduling could be accomplished by setting 3 permanent opponents and playing the remaining 10 conference members on a 4 year cycle in which all non permanent opponents play each other once home and once away. Adding Notre Dame would only require that the number of permanent opponents be reduced to 2, and the same 4 year cycle could be used.

This, of course, would require a change in NCAA rules. However, at this point the Big 12's rule change and the AAC's waiver from the rules have both set precedent for such an approach.

This pod system is essentially a one division format. Assuming the ACC wants to hold a championship game this year, it will need an NCAA waiver. This is essentially a single division system and would be a good experiment for the format.

THIS ... times a huge number.

And I agree --- the Big XII and AAC's recent developments open the door for this BIGLY.

Or, just temporarily move Florida State and Clemson to the Coastal and Pitt and Virginia Tech to the Atlantic. Make sure that the North Carolina schools all play each other and Virginia schools play each other in cross-division games. Then, keep as many of the other, currently-scheduled cross-division games as possible.

So,

ATLANTIC: Boston College, Syracuse, Pitt, Louisville, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, NC State
COASTAL: Virginia, North Carolina, Duke, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Miami

Cross-division:
Wake Forest: UNC & Duke
NC State: UNC & Duke
UNC: NC State & Wake
Duke: NC State & Wake

BC: Florida State & Clemson
Syracuse: Georgia Tech & Florida State
Pitt: Miami & Georgia Tech
Louisville: Virginia & Clemson
Virginia Tech: Virginia & Miami

Virginia: Virginia Tech & Louisville
Clemson: Louisville & Boston College
Georgia Tech: Pitt & Syracuse
Florida State: Syracuse & Boston College
Miami: Pitt & Virginia Tech

This maintains most of the already scheduled ACC games, keeps all the conference rivalries in tact, and enables for division winners to play in the CCG without having to break or amend the rules.

All the ACC-SEC games stay in place. Notre Dame keeps its 6 ACC games with Pitt, Wake Forest, Duke, Georgia Tech, Clemson, and Louisville and keeps games @Navy and Arkansas and WMU. ND just needs one more game to make a 10-game schedule.

To round out their 10-game schedules:
Georgia Tech: Notre Dame & Georgia
Clemson: Notre Dame & South Carolina
Louisville: Notre Dame & Kentucky
Pitt: Notre Dame & Miami(OH)
Wake Forest: Notre Dame & Appalachian State
Duke: Notre Dame & Charlotte
Florida State: Florida & WVU (in Atlanta)
UNC: Auburn (in Atlanta) & UConn
Virginia: Georgia (in Atlanta) & UConn
Miami: UAB & Temple
NC State: Mississippi St. & Liberty
Virginia Tech: Liberty & at Middle Tennessee
Syracuse: Liberty & add Army
BC: Ohio & add UConn

That's MINIMAL disruption to the existing schedules and keeps most games within a region.

Probably the best way to do geographic pods for ACC FB including Notre Dame is this:

North: Boston College, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse
Central: Duke, NC State, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech
South: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami-FL, Wake Forest

(07-15-2020 01:21 PM)YNot Wrote:  Or, just temporarily move Florida State and Clemson to the Coastal and Pitt and Virginia Tech to the Atlantic. Make sure that the North Carolina schools all play each other and Virginia schools play each other in cross-division games. Then, keep as many of the other, currently-scheduled cross-division games as possible.

So,

ATLANTIC: Boston College, Syracuse, Pitt, Louisville, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, NC State
COASTAL: Virginia, North Carolina, Duke, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Miami

Cross-division:
Wake Forest: UNC & Duke
NC State: UNC & Duke
UNC: NC State & Wake
Duke: NC State & Wake

BC: Florida State & Clemson
Syracuse: Georgia Tech & Florida State
Pitt: Miami & Georgia Tech
Louisville: Virginia & Clemson
Virginia Tech: Virginia & Miami

Virginia: Virginia Tech & Louisville
Clemson: Louisville & Boston College
Georgia Tech: Pitt & Syracuse
Florida State: Syracuse & Boston College
Miami: Pitt & Virginia Tech

This maintains most of the already scheduled ACC games, keeps all the conference rivalries in tact, and enables for division winners to play in the CCG without having to break or amend the rules.

All the ACC-SEC games stay in place. Notre Dame keeps its 6 ACC games with Pitt, Wake Forest, Duke, Georgia Tech, Clemson, and Louisville and keeps games @Navy and Arkansas and WMU. ND just needs one more game to make a 10-game schedule.

To round out their 10-game schedules:
Georgia Tech: Notre Dame & Georgia
Clemson: Notre Dame & South Carolina
Louisville: Notre Dame & Kentucky
Pitt: Notre Dame & Miami(OH)
Wake Forest: Notre Dame & Appalachian State
Duke: Notre Dame & Charlotte
Florida State: Florida & WVU (in Atlanta)
UNC: Auburn (in Atlanta) & UConn
Virginia: Georgia (in Atlanta) & UConn
Miami: UAB & Temple
NC State: Mississippi St. & Liberty
Virginia Tech: Liberty & at Middle Tennessee
Syracuse: Liberty & add Army
BC: Ohio & add UConn

That's MINIMAL disruption to the existing schedules and keeps most games within a region.

I have a feeling that if any cross-country FB game is going to be played, it'll be ND @ USC. Although the California recruiting pool may be somewhat difficult to access this year.

(07-15-2020 12:04 PM)Hokie4Skins Wrote:  https://richmond.com/sports/college/teel...e6d53.html

"One proposal league athletic directors are considering is dividing the ACC’s 15 schools — traditional football independent and partial conference member Notre Dame would be included — into three geographic pods of five. Teams would play each pod rival twice, accounting for eight games.

The aim then would be, in concert with the Southeastern Conference, to add a ninth, and hopefully 10th, contest for each school, preserving the four annual ACC-SEC in-state rivalries: Clemson-South Carolina, Florida State-Florida, Georgia Tech-Georgia and Louisville-Kentucky."

This, or something similar, needs to be done, since this way, teams from high covid states won't have to worry about quarantining for two weeks if, say, FSU was to play Syracuse.

(07-15-2020 12:25 PM)orangefan Wrote:  I strongly advocate going to having the ACC go to a single division format in the future. With 14 schools, scheduling could be accomplished by setting 3 permanent opponents and playing the remaining 10 conference members on a 4 year cycle in which all non permanent opponents play each other once home and once away.

That is the ideal set-up, yes. Eventually, I think SEC/B1G will desire that for themselves, and so the rule will be changed. Will be good for everybody.

This is all a waste of everyone’s time. They are not going to play.

Sounds good to me - seems like a more common sense approach

(07-15-2020 09:34 PM)Dr. Isaly von Yinzer Wrote:  This is all a waste of everyone’s time. They are not going to play.

It does appear that this is a desperate attempt at salvaging some games. H&H games versus geographic pod schools...it makes sense to reduce risk by traveling less and play the nearest schools the most. The hope being that if the pandemic is being managed in one geography, then some games have a better chance of occurring.

It’s almost like ACC football leaders are trying to send a message that they’re aware of the situation and are trying to be flexible with their proposals.

(07-15-2020 09:34 PM)Dr. Isaly von Yinzer Wrote:  This is all a waste of everyone’s time. They are not going to play.

Well, doing triage in the middle of an epidemic that is overflowing ICU's in some ACC states seems like out of the football box / in the medical box thinking ... the northern pod that can play, the southern pod that won't play, and the middle pod that might play.

“What we’ve suggested is if they play conference games only plus one game — because we know the ACC and SEC like to play their rivalry games — if they went in that direction, then we’d provide an alternative,” said Gary Stokan, the CEO of Peach Bowl Inc., which operates the annual Kickoff Games.

“We’ve said we’ll match up West Virginia versus Virginia on Monday night on ESPN on Labor Day, and then the next week we’ll play the North Carolina-Auburn game that’s scheduled,” Stokan said. The Tar Heels and Tigers are are scheduled to play the third and final Kickoff Game this season on Sept. 12. Stokan’s plan lets Florida and Georgia exit to play their ACC/SEC games and gives WVU, Virginia, UNC and Auburn, who do not have an annual non-conference rivalry game, a simple “plus one” game outside of conference play.

Stokan said he believes that if the Big 12, ACC and SEC nix non-conference games and select a “plus one” model, then the Power 5 will also agree to only play Power 5 teams in their non-conference game. If that’s the outcome, there could be competition for those non-conference games, but the Kickoff Games will make it easy on WVU, Virginia, North Carolina and Auburn.



Link

https://247sports.com/college/georgia/Ar...149185473/

I'm not buying the idea that playing conference-only schools is a safer approach than other options.

Wake Forest is scheduled to play non conference App State, which is 86 miles from campus, in September. App State has had like two positive Covid tests. But it is safer to play Clemson, who's had dozens of positives?

What I do think would be a legitimate point is if schools agree to only play other schools who have had zero or very few positive tests.

(07-17-2020 08:45 AM)GTFletch Wrote:  “What we’ve suggested is if they play conference games only plus one game — because we know the ACC and SEC like to play their rivalry games — if they went in that direction, then we’d provide an alternative,” said Gary Stokan, the CEO of Peach Bowl Inc., which operates the annual Kickoff Games.

“We’ve said we’ll match up West Virginia versus Virginia on Monday night on ESPN on Labor Day, and then the next week we’ll play the North Carolina-Auburn game that’s scheduled,” Stokan said. The Tar Heels and Tigers are are scheduled to play the third and final Kickoff Game this season on Sept. 12. Stokan’s plan lets Florida and Georgia exit to play their ACC/SEC games and gives WVU, Virginia, UNC and Auburn, who do not have an annual non-conference rivalry game, a simple “plus one” game outside of conference play.

Stokan said he believes that if the Big 12, ACC and SEC nix non-conference games and select a “plus one” model, then the Power 5 will also agree to only play Power 5 teams in their non-conference game. If that’s the outcome, there could be competition for those non-conference games, but the Kickoff Games will make it easy on WVU, Virginia, North Carolina and Auburn.



Link

https://247sports.com/college/georgia/Ar...149185473/

Would imagine that UGA and FSU would definitely prefer keeping their traditional year-end in-state rivalry versus a Kick-off matchup.

For UVA and WVU, a cross-conference kickoff would be fine. Regardless of whether fans are allowed to be in person, not sure that having this game in Atlanta would make sense. The logical solution would be to play the game in either Morgantown or Charlottesville. Similarly, if Auburn versus UNC is scheduled, then it should be played in one school’s stadium.

The most logical games to play are ones where the teams can travel by bus, especially if they are within the same State.

Three Power 5 conferences are actively trying to preserve their 14 non-conference games among the ACC, Big 12 and SEC after the Big Ten and Pac-12 opted last week to cancel all non-conference games as the COVID-19 pandemic grips the country. The three Power 5 conferences are discussing several scheduling options, which could also be tweaked over the next two weeks. It's possible one or all three could move to an eight-game conference schedule with one or two non-conference games; a nine-game conference schedule with one non-conference game against a Power 5 opponent; and a 10-game, conference-only schedule.

Notre Dame is expected to be an honorary member of the ACC for the 2020 season should a fall football schedule be developed. If so, one of Notre Dame's non-conference would likely be at home against Arkansas. The Razorbacks are scheduled to travel to Notre Dame in Week 2.

"As we stand here today what I believe with our conversations with commissioner Sankey, the SEC, the Big 12 and the ACC are on the same page as far as our collective desire to be patient before making any decisions," Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek said. "You look at some of the in-state rivalries that exist, especially between the SEC and the ACC, it makes sense that Clemson should play South Carolina, Georgia should play Georgia Tech and Florida should play Florida State. Just eliminating those games because you want to play a conference only schedule, at least at this point, does not make a great deal of sense. All the options are on the table,I just want to play football this year. And I think (so do) our football team, our football staff. If that’s eight SEC games and one non-conference game or 10 SEC games, we’ll play whatever we’re able to play this year." Yurachek further stated

As those public-relations campaigns kick into high gear, so is the work behind the scenes to save non-conference games among Power 5 programs. The odd men out: FCS and Group of 5 programs.

Link

https://247sports.com/college/georgia-te...149270783/

(07-18-2020 08:59 AM)GTFletch Wrote:  Three Power 5 conferences are actively trying to preserve their 14 non-conference games among the ACC, Big 12 and SEC after the Big Ten and Pac-12 opted last week to cancel all non-conference games as the COVID-19 pandemic grips the country. The three Power 5 conferences are discussing several scheduling options, which could also be tweaked over the next two weeks. It's possible one or all three could move to an eight-game conference schedule with one or two non-conference games; a nine-game conference schedule with one non-conference game against a Power 5 opponent; and a 10-game, conference-only schedule.

Notre Dame is expected to be an honorary member of the ACC for the 2020 season should a fall football schedule be developed. If so, one of Notre Dame's non-conference would likely be at home against Arkansas. The Razorbacks are scheduled to travel to Notre Dame in Week 2.

"As we stand here today what I believe with our conversations with commissioner Sankey, the SEC, the Big 12 and the ACC are on the same page as far as our collective desire to be patient before making any decisions," Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek said. "You look at some of the in-state rivalries that exist, especially between the SEC and the ACC, it makes sense that Clemson should play South Carolina, Georgia should play Georgia Tech and Florida should play Florida State. Just eliminating those games because you want to play a conference only schedule, at least at this point, does not make a great deal of sense. All the options are on the table,I just want to play football this year. And I think (so do) our football team, our football staff. If that’s eight SEC games and one non-conference game or 10 SEC games, we’ll play whatever we’re able to play this year." Yurachek further stated

As those public-relations campaigns kick into high gear, so is the work behind the scenes to save non-conference games among Power 5 programs. The odd men out: FCS and Group of 5 programs.

Link

https://247sports.com/college/georgia-te...149270783/

Chances of playing games in the fall are decreasing every day that the spread grows...nevertheless, it’s nice that the ACC is innovating and collaborating for solutions.

Suggesting geographic pods with H&H games would minimize travel risks while providing must-see TV. The southern pod (with Clemson, FSU and Miami) will get lots on national coverage. Even the Tidewater pod should do well on the ACCN.

Including Notre Dame as a onetime member should also help create better working relationships.

Most importantly, working with the SEC and B12 should deliver long-term benefits. The ACC is serious about salvaging important rivalries.