FRIDAYS, TURKEY AND ORANGES

There's been some chatter today about the new ESPN deal with the ACC, and ATL pointed out how Friday night Football games are now built into the contract. There's a few points to make based on this specific update.

First, the section in question, emphasis mine:

Per the extension, ESPN has the right to televise three Friday ACC football contests annually which will include a standing commitment from Boston College and Syracuse to each host one game as well as an afternoon or evening game on Thanksgiving Friday.

A few points to note:

• Newton (the city/neighborhood) despised us having Thursday night games. That's what built around the many year gaps between the home games. Getting involved in Friday may be a way around some of those issues will simultaneously providing a national spotlight. I'm calling this a win.
• Friday nights, however, are still weekdays when it comes to out of towners and alums. It may be easier to play hooky on a Friday afternoon for local tailgaters, but season ticket holders are likely going to lose at least one ticket - and it may be a good one, since it's a national game. Downside.
• Three overall games on Fridays, and BC and Syracuse each get to host one annually, you say? Would anyone be surprised if Syracuse hosted BC and/or vice versa for one of those legs that are built into the yearly schedule?

and finally...

• Several teams, as we know, have non-ACC finishing games the week of Thanksgiving. Two teams that don't? BC and Syracuse. And each one has to get a Friday game every season? Writing on the wall?

HOW TO: SCHEDULE A SUPERCONFERENCE

At Least the Logo is Easy to Fix This Time

Ah, conference expansion actually happening. This is fun - more fun than watching our football team, anyway. With the news that Pitt and Syracuse are officially on their way to the ACC (one of those schools ending an eight year dance, the other a new addition to strengthen the basketball even more), we can actually start talking practicalities.

I know the obvious conclusion here is to start shuffling the now 14-team league into two even divisions and start figuring out how you build an eight (or nine) game conference schedule into a 12 game season, while jockeying for a conference championship. Have fun with this one - I think it's just useless exercise; the inevitability of the "Superconference" of 16-teams is pretty clear at this point. It's also a heckuva lot more fun to consider.

2014 is the magic date. In addition to aligning quite nicely with the 27-month waiting period that Syracuse and Pitt will follow before bolting, it's also incredibly important to note that the 2014 regular season will be the first in which the BCS re-applies metrics to determine which conferences get the automatic bids. By that point, teams 15 and 16 will likely be identified, and the ACC will have to figure out how to handle the 12+ACCCG schedule.

The ACC has a chance to do something impressive with 16 teams, leaning on the NFL as a guide...but making a conference playoff, allowing non-conference flexibility and maintaining the value of the regular season while it is at it. The key is in a divisional model of four teams and capsuled schedules. Here's how it'd work:

North: BC, Pitt, Cuse, Maryland

Central: Virginia, Virginia Tech, UNC, Duke

Mideast: Wake, NC State, Team 15, Team 16

South: Clemson, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Miami

Now, how to build out the capsule:

• You play everyone in your division and every school from a second division. That's seven games, and in a three year capsule, that gives you every team in the conference. 
• Each team then adds an eighth conference game with either a primary or secondary rival - in the result you play your primary rivals division in the capsule, you pick up the secondary to fill in that slot. 
• Each team is allotted three OOC slots and one bye week to work into the schedule - the weekend after Thanksgiving (week 13) would be a non-conference game weekend specifically for things like Florida State-Florida; Clemson-USCe; Pitt-WVU; BC-UMass (<---that's going to happen, just deal with it).

Which leaves us with one game left to schedule...and the big idea...Week 12 (the second to last game of the season) would be reserved for a "Flex" opponent. Ultimately, this Showdown week is the first week of a two-leg ACC playoffs. The winners of each division would be ranked, and then matched up at home stadiums in a final four. In that ninth conference game, not only would the division winners be matched - so would every one else in their division with the respective-placed team, filling out every one's schedule. While the winners of the final four games would face each other in a neutral site location two weeks later, this would find a way to not add a week to the schedule to make it happen.

Let's map that out with a real life scenario:

In 2014, BC has USC at home, Army at Yankee Stadium, UNH at home and what had been a non-conference game with Syracuse. Labor Day weekend that year is exceptionally early, so the season wouldn't get going until the weekend after the holiday. With dates already determined for some of those games, we can start drawing stuff in, and I'll take the liberty of giving BC the bye date the week before Yankee Stadium. The pain of UNH over Thanksgiving is not intentional, just the fault of not having UMass in existence yet.

Week 1: 

Week 2: vs. USC

Week 3: 

Week 4: 

Week 5:

Week 6:

Week 7:

Week 8:

Week 9: BYE

Week 10: @ Army (Yankee Stadium)

Week 11:  

Week 12: SHOWDOWN WEEK

Week 13: vs. UNH

Week 14: ACCCG

We need to fill in games against division opponents, so let's try that:

Week 1: @ Syracuse

Week 2: vs. USC

Week 3: 

Week 4: 

Week 5:

Week 6:

Week 7:

Week 8: @ Pitt

Week 9: BYE

Week 10: @ Army (Yankee Stadium)

Week 11: vs. Maryland 

Week 12: SHOWDOWN WEEK

Week 13: vs. UNH

Week 14: ACCCG

Next, an alternating division, so let's try that - intentionally with a conflict on BC's primary rival, Virginia Tech.

Week 1: @ Syracuse

Week 2: vs. USC

Week 3: @ UVA

Week 4: vs. Duke

Week 5: 

Week 6: vs. UNC

Week 7: @ Virginia Tech

Week 8: @ Pitt

Week 9: BYE

Week 10: @ Army (Yankee Stadium)

Week 11: vs. Maryland 

Week 12: SHOWDOWN WEEK

Week 13: vs. UNH

Week 14: ACCCG

Finally, we need to slot the secondary rival into the situation. Let's go with Clemson, and a home game for the Eagles since they went two away-one home with the division.

Week 1: @ Syracuse

Week 2: vs. USC

Week 3: @ UVA

Week 4: vs. Duke

Week 5: vs. Clemson

Week 6: vs. UNC

Week 7: @ Virginia Tech

Week 8: @ Pitt

Week 9: BYE

Week 10: @ Army (Yankee Stadium)

Week 11: vs. Maryland 

Week 12: SHOWDOWN WEEK

Week 13: vs. UNH

Week 14: ACCCG

Let's say BC still sucks in 2014, and after ten games is looking at a 5-5 record, 4-4 in conference to finish third in the division ahead of Syracuse. Maryland, winning the division at 8-2, 7-1, gets the two seed and matches up with number three Florida State. The entire South Division would match up - so BC gets a field trip to Georgia Tech for its week 12 match. Rematches would be allowed in the Showdown week, so BC could have seen Clemson a second time that season. 

The ACCCG would pit the winner of the 2-3 (Maryland/Florida State) against the winner of the 1-4 (Virginia Tech/Wake Forest) in a neutral site in Week 14. 

This is all feasible, it really is - teams would either have six or seven home games (depending on Showdown Week), and smart ADs could easily plan out how to face that potential of hosting a game. I thought about putting a flex bye week/non-conference opponent in Week 11, giving operations an extra week to plan home games as needed. Could be a good solution for certain schools that have neighbors that hate them.

I'll make jokes about who teams 15 and 16 are, but until then, this model still works. Sure, you may have to invent some rivalries (although ensuring that team 15 always plays Florida State isn't a bad idea), but I think this is a pretty airtight solution.