One of the more popular topics in ACC circles over the past few months has been the future format of conference scheduling. On Monday, which marked the first day of the conference’s spring meetings, the league’s athletic directors voted in favor of keeping an eight-game conference schedule moving forward. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Brett McMurphy.
In addition to maintaining the eight-game conference schedule, the ACC will also require each of its member schools to play at least one nonconference Power 5 opponent per year, starting in 2017. Notre Dame, which squares off with four ACC teams this fall before facing six in 2015 and playing five per year starting in 2016, would also qualify as a nonconference Power 5 opponent, but according to McMurphy, the league has not determined if it considers independent schools BYU and Army to fit in the same category.
N.C. State and Wake Forest are the only ACC schools whose 2014 nonconference schedules would come into question under the new format, although the Demon Deacons do play Army this fall.
The SEC adopted the same format just weeks ago. While the Big XII and Pac-12 are already playing nine-game conference schedules, the Big Ten will also move from eight to nine in 2016.