After 2 Pac-12 teams' arrival, Jim Phillips unveils ACC scheduling model for seven years; the 17-team league retains exciting rivalries

The new ACC scheduling model for football was unveiled on Monday after adding two Pac-12 teams, Cal and Stanford, alongside SMU from the American Athletic Conference. The new model will be in place for the next seven college football seasons and will seek to incorporate the new members adequately.

The Atlantic Coast Conference was fazed by the challenge of instituting a model of scheduling that works for everyone after adding members from the West Coast. However, commissioner Jim Phillip and his team have done well to ensure this. The new ACC scheduling model will cut across the period of financial concession offered by the new members.

Despite adding three new programs to its football roster, the ACC will continue playing eight conference games without divisions. Over the next seven seasons, all 17 teams will face each other at least twice, with one matchup at home and the other on the road.

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Traveling to play the two Pac-12 teams in California

The major concern during the realignment process of adding the two Pac-12 programs was the cost and stress of traveling to California on the West Coast, where Cal and Stanford are both based. However, the scheduling model has strategically addressed the coast-to-coast problem.

The 14 current conference members will only play in California three times through the seven-year course of the new ACC scheduling model. Notably, none of the teams will make a trip to the Golden State in two consecutive seasons till the model elapses in 2030.

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The new ACC scheduling model comes with protected rivalries

The new ACC scheduling model to be adopted in 2024 features 16 protected rivalry matchups. However, the number of protected rivalries in the scheduling differs for every team. This rivalry protection also includes that of the new members.

A few schools had three rivalry games protected in the new model, while most teams had two. Clemson, currently working toward an exit from the conference, had one rivalry game protected. Georgia Tech and Louisville, on the other hand, had none.

Out of the 16 protected games, 11 have been preserved from the current model. Miami-Virginia Tech and NC State-Wake Forest have been reintroduced from the previous divisional format. There will be matchups between new members of the league: Cal, Stanford and SMU.

The 16 protected rivalry matchups are:

• Boston College vs. Syracuse

• Boston College vs. Pitt
• Syracuse vs. Pitt
• North Carolina vs. Virginia
• North Carolina vs. Duke
• North Carolina vs. NC State
• NC State vs. Wake Forest
• NC State vs. Duke
• Duke vs. Wake Forest
• Virginia Tech vs. Virginia,
• Florida State vs. Clemson
• Miami vs. Florida State
• Miami vs. Virginia Tech
• Stanford vs. Cal
• Stanford vs. SMU
• Cal vs. SMU

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