New ACC schedule creates new rivalries, ends old
Those who are thinking of graduating in the next two years should try and remember this weekend’s game, as it is the last time Tech will face Wake Forest on the gridiron for a while. And the close loss to the Seminoles? It was the last shot at breaking their undefeated streak against the Jackets until at least the 2006-2007 season.
The ACC recently released a new scheduling system for the next two seasons that incorporates the additions of Miami and Virginia Tech into the conference.
With consideration given to traditional rivalries, new inter-conference showdowns and the ever-important issue of filling stadiums, the new schedule brings some key additions and losses to the Jackets’ yearly lineup.
Next year will bring a potent home schedule to Grant Field. Miami, Virginia Tech and Virginia will all come to town, as will perennial ACC basement-dweller Duke. With both Miami and Virginia Tech almost permanent fixtures in the top 10, the games will pose great challenges for Tech. Tech will face the aforementioned teams on the road the following season.
The price for the home schedule is the loss of the Wake Forest and FSU games. The ACC tried to pair off teams for football into traditional rivalries. Miami will face Florida State at home next year to kick off the season for the ACC. North Carolina and N.C. State will play each other. The consequence of the move is that games like Tech rivalries with Wake and FSU do not get priority.
“I am upset that we are losing the great FSU rivalry; however, I am very happy that we are playing Miami and Virginia Tech,” said Andrew Howard, a fourth year Computer Science major.
In basketball, each team in the 11-member conference will play two conference rivals four times each, in home-and-home series. Tech will play each of the other teams home-and-home one season and once the following season. Tech’s rival games are against Clemson and Wake Forest.
The basketball schedule is not as affected by the addition of another team because the length of the season can accommodate another three conference games.
Since the ACC is the nation’s premier college basketball conference, more conference games will increase the quality of basketball the fans at the Coliseum will get to see.
The postseason tournaments will be affected as well. All 11 teams will play in the tournament, with the top five teams getting byes into the quarterfinal round and the remaining six teams playing in the first round.
Women’s basketball will play 14 league games. Tech will play four ACC teams twice and six ACC teams once. Final decisions on who will play the men’s team home-and-home, and who the women will play twice, will be released January.
Tech baseball will play a 30-game ACC schedule, with a three-game series against each conference rival.
Athletic Director Dave Braine said, “The concepts in football and basketball are good.” Braine acknowledged that games against Wake and FSU will be missed.
“We are very fortunate in men’s and women’s basketball,” he said. Braine added that Tech fared better than the other four schools in football because it does not have to face the powerhouse trio of Florida State, Miami and Virginia Tech in one season.
When asked as to whether the addition of another team to the ACC to make a 12-team ACC would affect the new schedule, Braine said that he “personally wants to add another team” and believes that expansion was meant to make a 12 member conference. However, any team added now would not become a member until after the 2004-2005 season.
The student body’s reactions to the decision have been positive as well.
“I’m excited to be playing big teams like Miami and Virginia Tech. If we can’t beat one Florida team, we’ll beat another,” said Jonathan Layer, a third year Management major. He also said he was looking forward to tailgating in Miami in 2005.
