Monday through Friday each week, we compile the best links on ACC football from around the web.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Should the ACC Stay at a Nine-Game Conference Football Schedule? (BC Interruption)
When Syracuse and Pittsburgh join the ACC in 2013, the conference will officially adopt a nine-game conference schedule in football. Teams will play six games within the division, one permanent cross-divisional opponent yearly and the rest twice over a six year period. The conference’s Athletic Directors agreed to the move to a nine-game schedule as part of the ACC’s recent round of realignment…
Big 12 Expansion: Notre Dame’s Best Fit is ACC (SB Nation Dallas)
Though expansion talks have died down for now while the new college football playoff system is implemented and the details are ironed out, they’re always on the back burner. Earlier in the summer, there were rumors essentially predicting the demise of the ACC. Florida State, Clemson, Miami, and Georgia Tech had all been linked to the Big 12, with Florida State and Clemson’s interested rumored to be the heaviest…
Penn St. Nittany Lions head coach Bill O’Brien has been making the round this morning on the radio. The biggest question anyone’s had for him is whether or not he’s heard from other coaches interested in recruiting his players. Yes, he has, and he’s heard from someone you were hoping he’d hear from: Doug Marrone…
Duke Football Suffers Another Preseason Setback (Wilmington Star News)
Duke football coach David Cutcliffe proclaimed Monday at the ACC’s Football Kickoff media event that his team has what it takes to qualify for a bowl this season. But with a month still to go before the first game and a few days away from the start of fall camp, the Blue Devils’ 2012 campaign is already off to a rocky start…
Q&A With UNC Coach Larry Fedora (ACC Sports Journal)
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be running Q&As compiled from the many interviews we conducted at the ACC Kickoff. We begin with a man who attracted a great deal of media interest in Greensboro, first-year UNC coach Larry Fedora. Fedora was so enthusiastic – and at times, so loud – that at one point Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson looked across the room and quipped “I think Larry’s holding a revival over there”…
Frank Beamer’s Hokies Have Familiar Feel with Strong Defense, Questions on Offense (SB Nation)
Frank Beamer is the elder statesman of the ACC, having been the leader of the Virginia Tech Hokies for more than twice as long as the second-longest tenured head coach in the conference. The coach is very comfortable with the makeup of his 2012 squad, which resembles many Tech teams of the past that have featured excellent defenses alongside somewhat questionable offenses…
While Virginia Tech’s Logan Thomas may be preparing for the possible addition of some new formation looks, and Virginia’s Michael Rocco could be looking to keep his starting job with the threat of an immediately eligible Phillip Sims added to the mix, the most profound change for a quarterback in the ACC in August will take place a little South of the Commonwealth…
Today’s Featured Music Clip:
John,
Just a tad frustrated with the slowness of :
1. Orange bowl partnership with ACC and….
2. Determination whether Notre Dame is all in, partial or all out
–certainly Swofford and then Littlebridge caused hope with comments recently
3. 9 game schedule and what it does to a joint conference grouping with another conference
Any idea on time tables and outcomes?
I completely agree on all counts. Answering each question:
1. The Orange Bowl partnership will likely be decided upon by September, regardless of who that partner may be. Discussions have been ongoing for awhile, but even with plenty of time left to make a final call, they’ll want this solidified before speculation starts to run too wild.
2. There’s definitely been some good signs for a greater Notre Dame-ACC partnership lately, but I highly doubt they’ll be joining up as a full member. That said, the possibility of a partial membership and/or Orange Bowl deal is at 50 percent or greater at this point. Don’t be shocked if we have to wait for the conclusion of the 2012 season for a decision there, though. Both sides just want to make sure they have an accurate picture of their potentially lucrative partner before making it official.
3. The nine-game schedule will definitely be implemented for the 2013 season, and I’d contend it will be given at least three seasons to play out. That said, with the loud opposition to the setup and potential for a conference partnership (possibly with the SEC), I’d say it’ll be gone sooner rather than later. As the B1G/Pac-12 deal’s disintegration showed, any more than eight league games is a real detriment to these types of scheduling agreements.