Clemson football: 3 things the ACC must do outside of expansion
Three things the ACC must do outside of expanding and how they affect Clemson football
2. Move to a 9-game conference schedule
Upon getting rid of divisions, it also make a lot of sense for the conference to go to a 9-game schedule model rather than keeping with the 8-game schedule.
Why? The answer is two-fold.
- Every other conference is trending in that direction
- The CFB Playoff– whether it expands or not– is going to take that 9th game into account
The Big Ten, PAC-12 and Big 12 (assuming it doesn’t dissolve) are already playing 9-game conference schedules.
The SEC is reportedly going to move to a 9-game conference schedule according to a report from Andy Staples and that means the conference is going to have a built-in strength of schedule booster each season, as if it didn’t already.
If the ACC sticks with an 8-game model, it’s going to get left behind simply when you look at basic content generation and the money that comes along with it.
In my opinion– for better or for worse– we’re about to move away from those FCS-scheduled games or the ‘give me’ wins in the non-conference each year.
We’ll still see Clemson football schedule aggressively in the non-conference, but I think we’re going to see less from The Citadel, Furman and S.C. State in the near future.