ACC considers move to eliminate divisions
AMELIA ISLAND — As coaches, athletic directors and ACC officials gather for the league’s annual spring meetings this week to discuss myriad topics, one idea quickly gaining traction is the elimination of the divisional format in football.
It’s been broached many times over the years, but one that’s picked up steam after the NCAA Football Oversight Committee began reviewing a recommendation to remove the requirements to host a championship game. That provides flexibility for leagues to determine how to determine their conference champion.
The most popular idea is eliminating divisions, something the ACC did on a one-year basis during the 2020 season due to the COVID19 pandemic.
“We’re closer to the end than to the beginning on that,” Miami athletics director Dan Radakovich said of the process. “But we need to talk a little bit to our TV partners to see what they think and run it through the car wash one more time.
“It’s not urgent to be able to get done right now from a timing perspective because even if we decided to move this forward for 2023, there’s time to be able to get it and get it done [right].”
A vote isn’t expected to happen this week, but something could occur in the coming months.
If the league moves forward, one proposal is to go with a 3-5 scheduling format with each team facing three permanent conference opponents and a rotation of five schools every four years.
“That got a lot of thumbs up around the room,” Radakovich said.
The new rotation would allow the two best teams to meet in the conference championship game, like when No. 3 Clemson and No. 2 Notre Dame faced off in the ACC Championship in 2020. Those matchups are ideal for the conference when it comes to the postseason, and both teams earned spots in the College Football Playoff semifinals that season.
Florida State coach Mike Norvell experienced it from both sides in 2020 and 2021. He understands the positives and negatives surrounding such a decision.
“At my last institution, we went three straight years winning the division championship,” Norvell said. “Those were still things pointed to and celebrated, but on the flip side, getting the best two teams in the championship game is a great showcase for a conference.
“Anytime we make a change, I want to know that the change will make an impact. I’m very open to that next step, but I don’t want just to jump in and say, ‘Yes, let’s change’ and not get the desired result that’s necessary.”
FSU AD Michael Alford understands that desire to have the best teams representing the league, but he also offers caution when jumping at the idea. He wants to make sure everyone does their due diligence when making a decision.
“How do we move the conference forward, especially in the sport of football? What do we do?” Alford said. “There are pros and cons on both sides and we’re just making sure that we’re doing the right thing by the conference right now.
“If we eliminate divisions, how do we win the conference? If we keep divisions, we need to schedule better to ensure that the student-athlete experience is getting a bunch of different teams and getting to play in many different markets.”
Discussions moved along enough as to which permanent opponents might be considered.
Alford said FSU must keep its annual games with Miami and Clemson, but his third permanent opponent could be a wild card.
“I’m looking at it as what’s best for the conference: How do we grow a brand?” Alford said. “And I will get selfish, too, and say, ‘How do I grow my brand? Where can I play more often that gets me in a major TV market?’
“What I like to do personally is expand our brand to different markets. That’s better for the league. The more often we can get the marquee teams traditionally on television numbers, whether we’re having a good year, or bad year, into those new markets.