ACC to drop divisions for football starting in 2023
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — The Atlantic Coast Conference is going forward with a plan to change its football scheduling model, with the biggest change being the elimination of divisions.
The new plan, adopted by the league's athletic directors and faculty athletic representatives on Tuesday, will be what the league calls a 3-5-5 model and goes into effect with the 2023 season.
All 14 of the ACC's football members will have three permanent scheduling partners and play those schools each year. They'll face the other 10 schools once every two years; five one year, five the next. It means that every ACC team will play all conference opponents home and away at least once every four years.
"The future ACC football scheduling model provides significant enhancements for our schools and conference, with the most important being our student-athletes having the opportunity to play every school both home and away over a four-year period," ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said.
The scheduling change ends the quirk that some ACC schools can go years without facing another school from the league. For example, Miami hasn't played Wake Forest since 2013 even though both have been ACC members that entire time.
The ACC is keeping its championship game. Instead of pitting division champions, the top two teams based on conference winning percentage will make the title game.
SCHEDULING PARTNERS
The ACC announced the three other schools that teams will face each year starting in 2023.
Boston College: Miami, Pitt, Syracuse.
Clemson: Florida State, Georgia Tech, N.C. State.
Duke: North Carolina, N.C. State, Wake Forest.
Florida State: Clemson, Miami, Syracuse.
Georgia Tech: Clemson, Louisville, Wake Forest.
Louisville: Georgia Tech, Miami, Virginia.
Miami: Boston College, Florida State, Louisville.
North Carolina: Duke, N.C. State, Virginia.
N.C. State: Clemson, Duke, North Carolina.
Pitt: Boston College, Syracuse, Virginia Tech.
Syracuse: Boston College, Florida State, Pitt.
Virginia: Louisville, North Carolina, Virginia Tech.
Virginia Tech: Pitt, Virginia, Wake Forest.
Wake Forest: Duke, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech.
