With friends like these, who needs enemies?

Quote:The ACC football schedule released Monday has led Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson and athletic department officials to believe they’ve again drawn the short straw. That conclusion may have repercussions for Tech’s future participation in the league’s Thursday night package.

Johnson’s frustrations with the schedule were many, some of which may have been out of the league’s hands. But an open date for the second week of the season, a Thursday night game against archrival Virginia Tech with five days’ rest, an unfilled request to have an open date after the Oct. 12 BYU game and four consecutive Coastal Division games top the list.

... Bamford said that Tech will “strongly look at” booking nonconference games for the first two or three weeks of the season – which has been Johnson’s preference – in order to avoid such a situation in years to come. ...

A variety of factors, including Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech’s nonconference schedules, ESPN’s desire for Tech to play both Virginia Tech and Clemson on Thursday night and appropriate spacing for the open dates, may have made a Thursday night game where both teams had a bye week prior to the game difficult, if not impossible. Still, Johnson called it “ridiculous” to stage one of the league’s marquee games under such a circumstance.

... Another frustration was Tech’s being scheduled to play eight consecutive weeks between open dates, something that only Pitt and Virginia will also do. Tech’s two longest road trips, Miami and BYU, are also on back-to-back weeks. Further, Tech had asked for a bye after the BYU game – as it is a long trip and also because it would coincide with fall break – and didn’t get it. ...

... Also, four of Tech’s six Coastal opponents play a nonconference opponent before playing Tech and a fifth, North Carolina, has an open date. It will be the fourth time in Johnson’s six seasons that the Tar Heels will have that advantage. ...

Further, Pittsburgh’s opponent prior to playing Tech Nov. 2 is Navy, which runs an offense similar to the Jackets’.

“Just randomly by computer, I imagine,” Johnson said with sarcasm.

Even Tech’s returning to Clemson for a second consecutive road game – a request initiated by former athletic director Dan Radakovich, now at Clemson – perturbed Johnson. Bamford said that Tech pulled the request off the table after Radakovich left Tech in October. However, the ACC scheduled Tech to return to Clemson, one of six repeat-site games for 2013 intended to balance home and away schedules.

Said Johnson, “It worked out good for Dan.”

http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/college/t...ule/nWbJs/

BC has an open week before playing UNC, just saying. Not to mention the 4000 mile trip(New Mexico) without a bye. Quit bitching about the schedule and just win.

byu game is annoying, alot of the rest of it comes off as whining

Here's the thing - GT presented the ACC with a very unusual OOC schedule this year:
OOC - - - - - OOC - - - - - OOC OOC

Try fitting 8 games into those 10 slots when most everybody else has either this:
OOC OOC OOC OOC - - - - - - - - - -

or this:
OOC OOC - - - - - - - - - - OOC OOC

Yes, the 2 Thursday night games threw an additional wrench into the whole thing (ideally you'd have used your 2 byes on those, but there that week #2 problem where pretty much every other team is OOC that week)

Ultimately, I think the ACC needs to go ahead and schedule the non-Saturday games for next year NOW. Give teams time to juggle their OOC games if they need to do that. Plus, that lets them step back and look at the BYE weeks when they are not under time pressure to get it done. I suggested this on my blog - LINK.

I love how all these schools think the ACC is out to get them.

I coulnd't imagine ever hearing Paul Chryst complain about a schedule? I agree the BYU / Miami stretch is tough. But he is complaining that Pitt plays Navy the week before GT? Is he serious?

(02-28-2013 08:42 AM)WNCOrange Wrote:  I love how all these schools think the ACC is out to get them.

I'm sure that it isn't true. However, a little care in scheduling is going to help the conference by avoiding trap games. I took a quick look at Alabama's schedule for comparison. Their two toughest games of the year, at TAMU and hosting LSU, both come after a bye week. Auburn comes after an FBS opponent. A road game at Kentucky comes after a home game vs. Sun Belt. The biggest potential "trap" is going on the road to Mississippi State after the LSU game. The SEC is setting them up to go undefeated by ensuring that they have no significant traps.

The ACC has been plagued in recent years by the lack of having undefeated or one loss teams, which denies it access to the NCG. Instead, it gets a pile of 8-4 and 7-5 schools. The failure to schedule in a manner that helps schools avoid trap games may well contribute to this problem -- the best schools are taking one or two extra losses because the players aren't getting equal rest or preparation time.

(02-28-2013 09:19 AM)orangefan Wrote:  

(02-28-2013 08:42 AM)WNCOrange Wrote:  I love how all these schools think the ACC is out to get them.

I'm sure that it isn't true. However, a little care in scheduling is going to help the conference by avoiding trap games. I took a quick look at Alabama's schedule for comparison. Their two toughest games of the year, at TAMU and hosting LSU, both come after a bye week. Auburn comes after an FBS opponent. A road game at Kentucky comes after a home game vs. Sun Belt. The biggest potential "trap" is going on the road to Mississippi State after the LSU game. The SEC is setting them up to go undefeated by ensuring that they have no significant traps.

The ACC has been plagued in recent years by the lack of having undefeated or one loss teams, which denies it access to the NCG. Instead, it gets a pile of 8-4 and 7-5 schools. The failure to schedule in a manner that helps schools avoid trap games may well contribute to this problem -- the best schools are taking one or two extra losses because the players aren't getting equal rest or preparation time.

All very good points and these are things that NEED to be discussed during league meetings. A coach moaning about it publicly doesn't come across well.

(02-28-2013 08:42 AM)WNCOrange Wrote:  I love how all these schools think the ACC is out to get them.

Maybe there is something to that tho. We'll find out sooner rather than later.

When I saw the schedule for the first time, I also noticed Navy & GT back to back weeks. Pitt was screwed because we're playing on the road back to back weeks against those 1935 offense. :muttering:

The same weekend Pitt is playing Navy, Georgia Tech is playing Virginia which runs a pro style offense. Do you expect Paul Chryst Pitt to publicly piss and moan about that?

I think the ACC is out to get Pitt because GaTech gets to prep against a pro style offense a week before they play Pitt's pro syle offense.

Paul Johnson is laying the groundwork for the "it's not my fault, it's the schedule's" defense when he fails as usual to win a game of any significance.

Asking schedule makers to account for each teams offense and defensive play style when making the schedule seems really over the top to me.

(02-28-2013 10:56 AM)7fielder Wrote:  The same weekend Pitt is playing Navy, Georgia Tech is playing Virginia which runs a pro style offense. Do you expect Paul Chryst Pitt to publicly piss and moan about that?

I think the ACC is out to get Pitt because GaTech gets to prep against a pro style offense a week before they play Pitt's pro syle offense.

GOOD ONE! :clap2:

(02-28-2013 10:56 AM)7fielder Wrote:  The same weekend Pitt is playing Navy, Georgia Tech is playing Virginia which runs a pro style offense. Do you expect Paul Chryst Pitt to publicly piss and moan about that?

I think the ACC is out to get Pitt because GaTech gets to prep against a pro style offense a week before they play Pitt's pro syle offense.

This. CPJ never whined this bad at Navy. It might be dawning on him that his offense can't work on a week in week out basis at the top level.

(02-28-2013 11:34 AM)WNCOrange Wrote:  Asking schedule makers to account for each teams offense and defensive play style when making the schedule seems really over the top to me.

I have to agree. There are some legit concerns but I don't count that as one of them.

(02-28-2013 12:44 PM)vandiver49 Wrote:  This. CPJ never whined this bad at Navy. It might be dawning on him that his offense can't work on a week in week out basis at the top level with his current recruiting performance.

FTFY.

UNC getting a bye before GT nearly every year is a WTF. Well over 4,000 miles of road trip in one block is a WTF. Having the two marquee ACC games we play be forced to a Thursday is a WTF. Pitt getting Navy (a much slower, much less capable version of GT's spread option) to cut their teeth on could be fluke but it still WTFish. And well over a quarter of college football runs the pro set ... so it isn't unique enough to have an impact like the spread option does. Having GT play back to back years at Clemson to fix the ACC's error in forcing GT to play back to back years at VT, even after GT withdrew that request when the AD left to (tahdah!) Clemson ... is triple WTF.

All those things, and the reaction is "lol Navy week before". Oooooooookayyyyyyyy.

(02-28-2013 02:54 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  

(02-28-2013 12:44 PM)vandiver49 Wrote:  This. CPJ never whined this bad at Navy. It might be dawning on him that his offense can't work on a week in week out basis at the top level with his current recruiting performance.

FTFY.

UNC getting a bye before GT nearly every year is a WTF. Well over 4,000 miles of road trip in one block is a WTF. Having the two marquee ACC games we play be forced to a Thursday is a WTF. Pitt getting Navy (a much slower, much less capable version of GT's spread option) to cut their teeth on could be fluke but it still WTFish. And well over a quarter of college football runs the pro set ... so it isn't unique enough to have an impact like the spread option does. Having GT play back to back years at Clemson to fix the ACC's error in forcing GT to play back to back years at VT, even after GT withdrew that request when the AD left to (tahdah!) Clemson ... is triple WTF.

All those things, and the reaction is "lol Navy week before". Oooooooookayyyyyyyy.

GTS,

I highlighted Navy b/c I felt it was petty and WTF. All of the other sked concerns are legit IMO. GTech has a crap home slate every other year and it needed to be fixed. GT v VT and GT v Clemson are match-ups that ESPN felt they could exploit due to their popularity. It sucks but no one wants to see Clemson v NCSU or VT v Wake on Thursday.

You can lay all these issues at Swafford's feet if you want (and you'd be justified in doing so) I just want CPJ and the GT ADept to keep in mind that bitching like this won't change a thing and that going to the B1G won't be a solution either. Solve the problem the way FSU, GT and Clemson did with getting Louisville to replace UMD. Lean on Swafford and his UNC hubris in private.

clemson/nc state is on thursday too.