Jason Staples broke the news Monday that the ACC is likely to shake up the divisions with the departure of Maryland and the arrival of Louisville. Instead of the Cardinals taking Maryland's spot in the Atlantic, Louisville would join the Coastal and Georgia Tech would move to the Atlantic. As a BC fan in Atlanta, I love the idea, but that is not the big news. Because Georgia Tech and Clemson are now cross-division rivals, having them in the same division would require adjustments for everyone. Staples speculates that Clemson would now face Virginia Tech annually. If that happens and the other "rivalries" stay the same, that leaves BC facing Louisville or Virginia annually.
While we do have some history with Virginia Tech, I wouldn't shed a tear over dropping them from our schedule. Since we joined the conference, the Hokies have been the most consistent program and hurt our win-loss record. Even if they fade a bit as Beamer ages, I still think it will be a tough game for any BC team. Plus the location is hardly inviting for any of our fans.
Louisville as a annual opponent won't excite the old-timers at Alumni, but it is not a bad game or rivalry for us. They are good now, but based on the historical strengths of each program, we should be able to compete with them. Making trips to Louisville also benefits our recruiting in Cincinnati and southwest Ohio. And although it is a "southern" school, geographically the game would be a nice road trip for our fans in Ohio and Indiana.
Virginia probably excites more people and is near a huge alumni base, but I don't think it will happen. My prediction is that the two more established ACC schools in UVA and Georgia Tech will ask to be paired together and let the newbies in BC and Louisville have each other.
This does confirm that my idea of a "Big East" and "ACC" divisional mix is dead, but getting rid of the Hokies is a nice compromise.
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7 comments:
This ia s a bad deal for BC.
First, playing GT every year is awful. GT runs THE most boring offense in the ACC. GT does not draw fans at home and will not draw any fans at BC either. (nor will BC)
I would have preferred L'Ville in our Div, or trading BC for Duke if GT is joining the Atlantic Div.
So ATL, what is the reason for the change? More integration btw North and South. Sounds like a 'bone' to appease CLEM and FSU (who greatly prefer playing GT to L'ville every year)
BC is now in the more southern of the two branches (FSU, CLEM, GT, NCSU, WAKE) If you don't view MIA as southern (because they aren't), then BC is now in the Deep South Division - FSU, CLEM, GT. Bah.
The other divsion would be a mini BE reunion: MIA, VT, Pitt, L'Ville.
I like GaTech. Work may give me an excuse to be in Arlanta when BC plays there; Blacksburg never does
I'm with Blist - Boston - Atlanta is better than Boston - Blacksburg - with no offense to Blacksburg.
If the Fenway Group had any interest in promoting this situation (what do they do again?) they would work for BC - GT to be played with Red Sox - Braves, if that was ever possible. Not sure about inter league play rules.
Also, BC grads are more city people, I believe - and would travel to Atlanta - an easy flight from Boston and other major cities.
Whether we play Louisville or UVA annually is not a big deal to me. Both possibilities have good points.
I don't mind losing VTech, but if we're going to open the divisions discussion, why not do a semi-permanent crossover rivalry.
FSU-Miami and UNC-UVA are locked every year plus one cross division game. The rest of the teams rotate 2 cross division games every year. This would bring Pitt and Miami to campus more frequently.
Would prefer UVA. Don't like them at all and any opportunity to beat them at any sport sparks my interest.
there's likely more conference defections coming down the road. fsu and clemson are the big targets. probably depends on how much md. can get away with paying for leaving. a smaller fee means trouble.
Are you kidding ATL? How would playing Louisville or UVA be better than VT? We actually do have a rivalry with VT (just ask them) and it's not as one-sided as you think. We were one of the worst teams in football and still went to OT against them this year. What kind of history do we have with Louisville? Have we ever played them? Is there anything in common between the two schools? I'd much rather play someone decent every year who we actually have a history of memorable games with. Ridiculous to not want to play good teams for fear it will hurt our record. Such a loser mentality. BC VT is a game on the schedule I actually look forward to every year.
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