AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. – The ACC is moving closer to adopting a new football schedule format that would eliminate divisional divisions and give teams the opportunity to play together more often, starting in 2023.
Although no vote has been made to officially change the format, commissioner Jim Phillips and numerous athletic directors have discussed a 3-5-5 scheduling model in which league teams will play against each other. three permanent competitors, then rotate the rest over a two-year period (five one year, the next five).
Earlier this week, the NCAA Football Oversight Committee recommended that conventions no longer require divisions to host a conference championship game. The Division I Council will vote later this month, when it is expected to be adopted.
Phillips has repeatedly said that conferences should have the power to determine their conference champion, and he has been in favor of passing mandatory legislation for that to happen. Phillips discussed the new schedule format with ADs and coaches in league-wide meetings to get their feedback.
“I think two things will drive this: One, is the opportunity for our student athletes to compete in every school in the ACC over a four-year period,” Phillips said. “That’s not the case right now. The other part of it is, I’ve always felt that it’s a local decision about how you handle your conference. You see that in many conferences that they want to. dictate what the championship structure looks like, and will eventually lead to an extended soccer playoff.
“You want your two strongest teams to have a chance to play at the end of the year for a lot of reasons. So that’s why we’re giving… you might think a little bit longer, but really not. We’re really on the right track. But again, wanted to make sure we talked to everyone to see, are we missing something here?”
When Phillips became commissioner, he said he wanted to reevaluate everything inside the ACC, and that includes the scheduling format.
Miami Athletic director Dan Radakovich said he believes the tournament is “closer to the end than it started.”
“We needed to talk a little bit with our TV partners and see what they thought and run it through the car wash again,” said Radakovich. “It’s not urgent to get it done now because even if we decide to go forward to 2023, there’s still time to get it done. We want to think hard about it and make sure we’re on track. do it right.”
There’s also a recognition that there will be trade-offs that programs must make when it comes to the long-term opponents each team is assigned to – and that’s an area still under discussion.
The coaches disagreed in favor of eliminating the split. Some, including Pitt Coach Pat Narduzzi, like having the opportunity to play for a championship. Coaches have had a chance to give feedback, but ultimately it’s up to AD to vote on what happens.
“You would never come up with a model that all 14 schools would be happy with” Wake Forest Coach Dave Clawson said. “We played NC State 105 years in a row, and if you use that model and they’re not one of those [annual rivals]that may change. “
Maximizing more engaging games across the league is another area where the ACC sees room for growth without divisions, so there have been extensive discussions with ESPN about what that means. that goes for television and especially primetime games.
In addition to changing its own schedule model, Phillips said now is the time to “consider” alternative models for governing all college football. The biggest revenue-generating sport on every campus has been hit hard by all the recent changes to college athletics – from name, image and image rights to transfer portals.
Just last week, Ohio State Athletic director Gene Smith has proposed 10 FBS conferences and Notre Dame activities within the framework of the College Football Leaguewhile all other sports still follow the NCAA model.
Phillips is open to hearing more about that idea, in addition to exploring others.
“If we’re going to do something, now is the time to do it,” Phillips said. “When you’re reorganizing a structure like the NCAA, what are you doing with football? Does it need to be governed separately? Do you need to have a governance structure? Those are the questions we ask ourselves. should ask yourself.
“You can keep going the way you’ve been, or you try to do something different. What’s the most sustainable? What are the chances of football moving forward? Football has had a slow – has its own championship, has everything it takes to host the second most watched sporting event in the United States.
“So there’s an opportunity to look at what that could be, if you’re going to do the NCAA rework and all that the NCAA cares about. Maybe there’s some parallelism that can have some interactions, but yes there’s some sort of parallelism.” some ability independent of it.”
Phillips also seems to be open to discussing the potential of paying football players directly as school employees.
In 2014, Phillips was the sporting director at Northwest when a group of footballers, led by midfielder Kain Colter, try to unite. At the time, Phillips opposed the attempt, which ultimately failed when the National Labor Relations Board identified the athletes as non-employees.
On Wednesday, Phillips looked less certain about that designation.
“We all have a responsibility to go in the direction that college football is going,” Phillips said, noting that there are some suggestions that the current compensation is over the limit of Play soccer.
“Experience is tied to education and degree completion and academia. Interests are what we’re fighting for – to find some common ground about what we feel is a good fit and what will bring We’re into a different category than college sports.”
