ACC Regional Divisions If There Is a Season

[poconopanther]

Today on the Packer and Durham show they talked about a interview that Bronco Mendenhall did that adressed a pod type schedule for this bizarre year -again providing there is a season I am thinking about three five team pods which would include the 14 league teams and ND broken down regionally with each team playing the other four teams in the pod twice for an eight game schedule. The team with the best record would draw a bye and then play the winner of the other two divisions for the ACC title in Charlotte. The most likely divisions would put Pitt in with ND, BC, Syracuse, and either Virginia or Virginia Tech . I know coaches wouldn’t like to play a team twice but in this type of year eight games would be better than none. Perhaps each team could be allowed a tuneup game with a local team. Again wishful thinking for some type of season. The virus will decide.

 

[Pitt20-20]

Season could start in October.
I'll take it.

 

[poconopanther]

Season could start in October.
I'll take it.

for this year Virginia would be an easier draw to play twice than Va.Tech .

 

[Burgh15]

Here are some highlights from the ACC "pod" proposal:

https://richmond.com/sports/college...cle_51d6d164-4deb-518e-831a-2012ff6e6d53.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.

My takeaway from this is even in a pandemic year when football is in serious doubt, ACC-SEC rivals are looking to make the games happen yet Pitt can't regularly play WVU or Penn State.

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.

Multiply that savings times a few road games and you’re talking real money, especially when athletic departments are slashing salaries, furloughing staff and eliminating positions. Spending $200,000 less on football travel might save a job or two.

Down the line I wonder if there will ever be any conference changes to reflect regional alignments. In the grand scheme with football money, the savings for football wouldn't be much. However, if you factor in all athletics, playing in a regional conference would add up. Also, athletic departments are hurting now and one bad year can result in long-term change.

My favorite realignment was from David Jones of PennLive. He revamped all of the Power 5 schools into regionalze conferences and had Pitt in the Northeast Conference with two divisions:

North: Boston College, Rutgers, Syracuse, Penn State, Pitt, West Virginia
Atlantic: Maryland, Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Duke, NC State, Wake Forest

Bring in Cincinnati and that's not a bad conference with your two top rivals and another good one with Syracuse.

Such is the allure of pods. There are innumerable ways to arrange them, but here are three to spark debate.

None, by the way, is ideal. The North Carolina and/or Virginia schools have to be separated, and balance would prove elusive. But ideal left town months ago.

Remember, teams in different pods can play one another, but probably not twice.

OPTION ONE

Pod A: Miami, Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Duke.

Pod B: Virginia Tech, Virginia, Clemson, N.C. State, Wake Forest.

Pod C: Syracuse, Boston College, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Notre Dame.

OPTION TWO

Pod A: Miami, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Virginia Tech.

Pod B: North Carolina, N.C. State, Duke, Wake Forest, Virginia.

Pod C: Syracuse, Boston College, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Notre Dame.

OPTION THREE

Pod A: Miami, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Louisville.

Pod B: North Carolina, N.C. State, Duke, Wake Forest, Virginia.

Pod C: Syracuse, Boston College, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech.

Option 1 is probably best in terms of balance, but Option 3 is my favorite for Pitt with both Notre Dame and Syracuse in the pod.