The Atlantic Coast Conference’s new scheduling mannequin seems to be just like the Big East revisited for Boston College.
The new mannequin, which was introduced on Tuesday and shall be carried out in 2023, relies on a 3-5-5 construction for the 14 applications that eliminates the Atlantic and Coastal divisions. Each group can have three major opponents and face the ten different groups twice in a four-year cycle, as soon as at dwelling and as soon as on the street.
Blake James will assume the duties of athletic director at BC on July 1, however he spent the final 9 soccer seasons in the identical capability at Miami. James believes the realignment away from divisional play is a forward-thinking idea.
“For the long term well being for ACC football this will prove to be a real win,” stated James. “It will assist develop a higher understanding and appreciation for all of the totally different faculties within the ACC and hopefully drive some rivalries that perhaps are less than the extent of others within the convention.
“For the student athletes it’s a win because you see different campuses and for the fans to see a lot of different teams.”
BC has been grouped with Miami, Syracuse and Pittsburgh, 4 applications that fashioned the nucleus of the Big East soccer convention on the flip of the century. Regional rivalries make for excellent theater on the sector and good field workplace for the ACC Network.
“I think it is great and obviously Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Miami are three schools we have a long history with and they have all had great teams over time,” stated James. “When you have a look at it, there are rivalries throughout the convention that had been protected and supported by way of this course of.
“I don’t know all the ins and outs that have gotten us this far but I do know rivalries was a big part of that.”
BC presently performs within the Atlantic Division with perennial powers Clemson and Florida State, whereas its everlasting crossover opponent is Virginia Tech. The Eagles and the Hokies had been scheduled to play yearly due to their previous affiliation within the Big East.
The ACC was compelled to restructure in 2020 because of the ongoing world pandemic. The member faculties agreed to get rid of the divisions and play a 10-game convention schedule with one non-league opponent. The Jeff Hafley period at The Heights started with a street win in opposition to Duke on Sept. 19.
“We got the chance to see what it would look like,” stated James. “I would say there was a lot of conversation of going to that model before (2020) and evaluate what would make the most sense for us. But obviously the year of COVID and the pandemic, we felt that was what would work best and it worked out well. I would say it (2020) was in conversation as that group moved this forward to the vote today.”
BC was adversely impacted by the pandemic altered schedule as a result of the Eagles needed to play Clemson at Memorial Stadium (a.okay.a. Death Valley) three years in a row (2019-2021). The identical factor occurred with Syracuse, which is BC’s rivalry week opponent.
The wild card within the equation is Notre Dame, which is a member of the ACC in all sports activities however soccer (Independent) and males’s and ladies’s ice hockey (Big 10). BC performs at Notre Dame Stadium on Nov. 19 earlier than closing out the season at dwelling in opposition to Syracuse.
The Fighting Irish have yearly scheduled 5 ACC groups. Notre Dame soccer formally joined the ACC for one season in 2020, when the Irish misplaced to Clemson 34-10 within the championship recreation. No. 5 Notre Dame beat No. 3 Clemson 47-40 within the common season.
“The role of Notre Dame doesn’t change at this point,” stated James.
Source: www.bostonherald.com