ACC spring meetings will come to a close in Amelia Island, Florida, on Thursday. Since the meetings commenced on Monday, a variety of topics have been and are being discussed, including:
- Scheduling. The Raleigh News & Observer reported Tuesday that NC State basketball coach Mark Gottfried supports the idea of a 20-game conference schedule and believes such a system could be put in place “pretty soon.” Under that format, each team would play six of its league opponents twice (home-and-home) and the other eight opponents once. With the current 18-game schedule, each team plays four conference opponents twice and the other 10 once.
- Replay. According to the Orlando Sentinel, ACC football coaches voted in favor of a centralized replay system. Specifically, the conference is considering adding a centralized crew to remotely handle replays for league games.
- Satellite Camps. Despite staying unified against satellite camps in the past, putting in place a rule that camps can’t be held outside of a 50-mile radius of campus, the league is now allowing its coaches to work satellite camps. Per ESPN, the only coaching staffs that will not attend satellite camps this year are Clemson, Duke and North Carolina. Dabo Swinney and David Cutcliffe have publicly expressed concerns regarding the potential involvement of third parties in recruiting.
- TV Situation. Leading up to this week, Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich and Virginia Tech AD Whit Babcock haven’t exactly hidden their desires for an ACC channel to launch in the near future. ACC commissioner John Swofford regularly states that while the league wants to keep up with evolving technologies, he is pleased with having ESPN as a TV partner and, regardless of what the next step may be, doesn’t want to rush into anything prematurely. Swofford is expected to provide an update on that topic on Thursday, but so far, no news.
- North Carolina House Bill 2. In an interview with the ACC Digital Network, Swofford was asked whether or not a controversial law in North Carolina (known as House Bill 2) would affect current or future conference championships being held in that state. Some view the law as discriminatory toward the LGBT community, and the NBA has announced that it will remove the 2017 All-Star game out of Charlotte if the law isn’t repealed. For now, the ACC is taking a softer stance — similar to the NCAA — in saying it expects potential host sites to demonstrate a discrimination-free environment. For more on the law and Swofford’s comments, hear what ACC contributor David Glenn had to say about it on his radio show earlier this week.