from ESPN
The ACC's athletic directors did not reach a decision Friday concerning the league's future conference-scheduling requirements, a source told ESPN.
The ADs held a conference call Friday morning to discuss whether to remain at eight conference games but play two non-ACC Power 5 teams or go to nine league games with one non-ACC Power 5 school.
ACC teams currently play eight league games. Notre Dame is also required to play an average of five ACC teams annually.
A new scheduling format is required by 2019 because the ACC Network will be launching that year. ESPN's new deal with the ACC requires the ACC to either expand the league schedule to nine games and play at least one nonconference Power 5 opponent or remain at eight ACC games and play at least two nonconference Power 5 opponents.
The nine conference games plan would affect Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Louisville the most. The four ACC schools have annual rivalries against SEC opponents (Clemson-South Carolina, FSU-Florida, Georgia Tech-Georgia and Louisville-Kentucky), meaning that in the season when they had Notre Dame on their schedule, 11 of their 12 games would already be determined, so they could only add one nonleague game.
The Big 12, Pac-12 and Big Ten, starting this year, all have nine conference games. The SEC has eight league games.
Last month, ESPN spoke to the ACC's coaches, and only Miami's Mark Richt favored a nine-game league schedule, while Syracuse coach Dino Babers said he preferred eight, but he wasn't against nine games.
Because of their SEC rivalry games, Clemson's Dabo Swinney, Florida State's Jimbo Fisher and Georgia Tech's Paul Johnson were predictably the most vocally opposed to nine conference games.
"I like the [nonconference] flexibility to go play Georgia, Texas and Notre Dame," Swinney said. "That's one of the ways we built our program. With nine conference games, there's not enough flexibility."
Johnson said nine conference games "might be good for TV, but it's not good for football."
Richt, the former Georgia coach who is in his first year at Miami, was blunt about his preference.
"If I'm at Georgia, I'd want eight conference games," Richt said. "If I'm at Florida State, I'd want eight. At Miami, I want nine league games."
The ACC's athletic directors did not reach a decision Friday concerning the league's future conference-scheduling requirements, a source told ESPN.
The ADs held a conference call Friday morning to discuss whether to remain at eight conference games but play two non-ACC Power 5 teams or go to nine league games with one non-ACC Power 5 school.
ACC teams currently play eight league games. Notre Dame is also required to play an average of five ACC teams annually.
A new scheduling format is required by 2019 because the ACC Network will be launching that year. ESPN's new deal with the ACC requires the ACC to either expand the league schedule to nine games and play at least one nonconference Power 5 opponent or remain at eight ACC games and play at least two nonconference Power 5 opponents.
The nine conference games plan would affect Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Louisville the most. The four ACC schools have annual rivalries against SEC opponents (Clemson-South Carolina, FSU-Florida, Georgia Tech-Georgia and Louisville-Kentucky), meaning that in the season when they had Notre Dame on their schedule, 11 of their 12 games would already be determined, so they could only add one nonleague game.
The Big 12, Pac-12 and Big Ten, starting this year, all have nine conference games. The SEC has eight league games.
Last month, ESPN spoke to the ACC's coaches, and only Miami's Mark Richt favored a nine-game league schedule, while Syracuse coach Dino Babers said he preferred eight, but he wasn't against nine games.
Because of their SEC rivalry games, Clemson's Dabo Swinney, Florida State's Jimbo Fisher and Georgia Tech's Paul Johnson were predictably the most vocally opposed to nine conference games.
"I like the [nonconference] flexibility to go play Georgia, Texas and Notre Dame," Swinney said. "That's one of the ways we built our program. With nine conference games, there's not enough flexibility."
Johnson said nine conference games "might be good for TV, but it's not good for football."
Richt, the former Georgia coach who is in his first year at Miami, was blunt about his preference.
"If I'm at Georgia, I'd want eight conference games," Richt said. "If I'm at Florida State, I'd want eight. At Miami, I want nine league games."
