You are a moron if you think that ND couldn't have scheduled higher ranked teams than Duke, Vatech, Ncstate and Syracuse. ND could have easily sched home and away games with Miami, Flstate and Clemson without joining the ACC.
How about a 15 team ACC?
- Thread starter WAR PAINT
- Start date
I guess if we tried hard enough and were willing to play six home and six away we could schedule nothing but Top 20 level teams. Are you proposing that we do that? If so, I think a letter to Swarbrick is in order.
Most years ND scheduled the lower tiered ACC teams (usually 3-4 each year). Now they rotate in the higher tiered ACC teams. So if anything their ACC SOS has improved with the new arrangement.
I would like to see the stats that back up the idea that ND would schedule lower tiered ACC teams (usually 3-4) most years before the new arrangement. I realize that not all of the ACC teams on ND's past schedules are the conference's upper tier, but 3-4 lower tier a year? That seems high. That conference has been so up & down over the years that it'd be difficult to go just by name recognition. i don't know if u can find 3-4 "lower tier" ACC teams for that particular year on any past ND schedules. Certainly not "most years".
So why weren't they doing it beforehand?
They didn't schedule 3-4 in most years. One or two mostly. It is accurate that it was mostly lower level ACC schools. Here are some examples:
2012-Miami, Pittsburgh, Boston College, Wake Forest.
2011-Wake Forest, Maryland, Boston College
2010-Boston College
2009-Boston College
2008-North Carolina
2007-Georgia Tech, Duke
2006-Georgia Tech, North Carolina
Last edited:
'05-no ACC teams
'06-ga tech was 7-1 in the ACC (1st in their division) & unc 2-6 in the ACC (5th in their division)
'07-ga tech (4-4) 3rd in division, bc (6-2) 1st in division & duke (0-8) 6th in division
'08-unc (4-4), 3rd in division, bc (5-3), 1st in division
'09-bc (5-3) 2nd in division
'10-bc (4-4) 4th in division, Miami 5-3) 2nd in division
'11-wake-(5-3), 2nd in division, Maryland (1-7), 6th in division & bc (3-5), 5th in division
'12-Miami (5-3), 3rd in division, bc (1-7), 6th in division & wake (3-5), 4th in division
'13-Pitt (5-3) 5th in division
'14-cuse (1-7), 6th in division, unc (4-4), 3rd in division, fsu (8-0), 1st in division, lville (5-3), 3rd in division
'15-ga tech (1-7) 7th, Clem (8-0), 1st, Pitt (6-2), 2nd, wake (1-7) 6th & bc (0-8) 7th
The last 10 years ND has never played 3-4 lower tier ACC teams in a season, not even close. Out of the 10 years, only 5 times has ND played 4 ACC teams. Of those years, each time ND played a team that won their division w/ the exception of wake coming in 2nd in '11. They've played teams that won their division 5 out of the 10 years and have played teams that have come in 2nd or 3rd in their division 9 times w/ some other 4th place finishes where those teams were in the middle of the ACC pack. There is only one year that ND plays more than two teams that finished 5th place or worse in their divisions and that year they also played teams that came in 1st & 2nd in their divisions. So trying to make the argument that ND will play a more formidable ACC schedule now w/ the new format is based on the idea that we've "mostly scheduled 3-4 lower tier ACC teams", which is a false premise. I'm not buying it. It'll be much of the same as far as ND's ACC schedule goes. Some good to great ACC teams and some middle of the road to bad ACC teams. Same as its always been.
'06-ga tech was 7-1 in the ACC (1st in their division) & unc 2-6 in the ACC (5th in their division)
'07-ga tech (4-4) 3rd in division, bc (6-2) 1st in division & duke (0-8) 6th in division
'08-unc (4-4), 3rd in division, bc (5-3), 1st in division
'09-bc (5-3) 2nd in division
'10-bc (4-4) 4th in division, Miami 5-3) 2nd in division
'11-wake-(5-3), 2nd in division, Maryland (1-7), 6th in division & bc (3-5), 5th in division
'12-Miami (5-3), 3rd in division, bc (1-7), 6th in division & wake (3-5), 4th in division
'13-Pitt (5-3) 5th in division
'14-cuse (1-7), 6th in division, unc (4-4), 3rd in division, fsu (8-0), 1st in division, lville (5-3), 3rd in division
'15-ga tech (1-7) 7th, Clem (8-0), 1st, Pitt (6-2), 2nd, wake (1-7) 6th & bc (0-8) 7th
The last 10 years ND has never played 3-4 lower tier ACC teams in a season, not even close. Out of the 10 years, only 5 times has ND played 4 ACC teams. Of those years, each time ND played a team that won their division w/ the exception of wake coming in 2nd in '11. They've played teams that won their division 5 out of the 10 years and have played teams that have come in 2nd or 3rd in their division 9 times w/ some other 4th place finishes where those teams were in the middle of the ACC pack. There is only one year that ND plays more than two teams that finished 5th place or worse in their divisions and that year they also played teams that came in 1st & 2nd in their divisions. So trying to make the argument that ND will play a more formidable ACC schedule now w/ the new format is based on the idea that we've "mostly scheduled 3-4 lower tier ACC teams", which is a false premise. I'm not buying it. It'll be much of the same as far as ND's ACC schedule goes. Some good to great ACC teams and some middle of the road to bad ACC teams. Same as its always been.
And that's how it's supposed to work. We are not going to have years where we play FSU, Clemson, Miami and UNC in the same year, and we're not going to play Syracuse, Virginia, Wake & BC in the same year. But, as your post showed clearly, it's a crap shoot. Because there were years where Virginia, Wake and BC were in the top tier of the ACC, and it wasn't very long ago at all.
The other thing you have to look at is the ACC is on the rise. By that I mean it is on the way to not being so top heavy. The reason I say that is because of the Coaching Changes in the last few years. Let's look at it:
Bobby Petrino - Louisville
Dino Babers - Syracuse
Pat Narduzzi - Pitt
Justin Fuente - Virginia Tech
Mark Richt - Miami
Bronco Mendenhall - Virginia
Each of those coaches is a massive coaching upgrade over their predecessors. It may take a couple of years but the ACC is on the way to having 5 or 6 ranked teams in most given years.
SOS is an ever changing number. As in weekly. Funny how people see a schedule and get all nuts like its a game of twenty years ago that hadn't been played yet. Notre Dame vs. Miami is nothing. Yet people are like OMG this will be a huge game. Nebraska vs. Oklahoma if it happened is not from the 70's...and so on and so on.
SOS in week 1 is upside down compared to SOS come thanksgiving.
The newly announced ACC network is forcing the "basketball first" schools to own up to their responsibilities with regard to football instead of all of us waiting for it organically happen. Last week we learned that in order to get the network, the conference had to go to 9 games.. But ESPN gave them the option to stay at 8 but then each member had to play two other P5 schools each year. For some schools that have annual rivalries with the SEC (FSU, CU, GT and UL) they clearly preferred the 8+2 choice. No decision has been made yet but it is doubtful they will go to a 9 game conference schedule if those 4 are against it. But putting it all together, the ACC is finally stepping up. CU plays Auburn this year and they have a series with the Aggies in a few years. VT has Tenn this year; UNC has UGA. Pitt plays PSU 4 straight years followed by WVU for 4 straight years. FSU has Ole Miss this year, Bama next year, and we are working on finalizing a game with WVU in 2019 (we have ND in 2018).
So, the conference is changing because the desire to have a network is making it happen. It's a different world these days.
So, the conference is changing because the desire to have a network is making it happen. It's a different world these days.
ACC Football sucks in every way imaginable. The only two decent teams playing football are Clemson and FSU, both of whom have sold their soul to the devil long ago. They represent most everything wrong in sports and ND has hurt themselves by the association.
ND needs to take a good bath and move on!
ND needs to take a good bath and move on!
Thanks for the insight Argusman! We get it, you hate the ACC. Go back to sleep now!
Hmmm, it's been a while since you trotted out that screen name. Did that one get banned previously?
I'm still trying to figure out why you wouldn't just add a 16th team instead of monkeying around with making 15 work.
I will go out on limb and say Jack Swarbrick is better at putting together the best possible schedule for Notre Dame than anyone on this board.
