Hey All,
With the college football world still reeling over the conference realignment saga, the 2023 season draws ever closer with football camps in full swing. Let's take a look at the ACC and hit the highlights of the schedules of the Group of Five schools and the few Independents that are left. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
ACC
The ACC has 14 teams with no divisions
Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia,Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Top Non Conference Games
9/2- North Carolina v. South Carolina: The Gamecocks have had the best of their northern brethren lately including a 38-21 win the last time they met in the Duke's Mayo Bowl at the end of the 2021 season. The Tar Heels need to grab a win here and wash away the way they stumbled down the stretch last year turning a promising 9-1 start into a 9-5 finish. The Tar Heels return 17 starters including QB Drake May. He had an impressive rookie campaign, throwing for 4,321 yards, rushing for 937 more and being responsible for 45 touchdowns. May could shred the inexperienced SoCar defense to get the Heels off on the right foot in 2023.
9/3- Florida State v. LSU: Last year at the Superdome, the Tigers were left stunned after their PAT to send the game to overtime was blocked to give FSU a 24-23 win. The Tigers won't be taking the 'Noles lightly this year. The Bayou Bengals have playofff aspirations. However, 'Noles HC Mike Norvell has squad that had a breakout year last year and are one of the favorites this year to claim the ACC crown with a boatload of talent back on both sides of the ball. They also hold little history in their favor as the Garnet and Gold are 8-2 lifetime v. LSU.
9/9- Texas A&M at Miami: Last season the Hurricanes went to Kyle Field and were beaten, 17-9 despite outgaining the Aggies by almost 130 yards and holding the ball for almost 35 minutes. The 'Canes have to finish drives in order to beat Texas A&M. If Miami can turn last year's field goals into this year's TDs then it will be time to party in South Beach for the kids form Coal Gables.
9/9- Purdue at Virginia Tech: HC Brent Pry had a pretty tough first year in Blacksburg. The Hokies struggled to a 3-8 mark with their last game canceled due to a shooting at rival Virginia's campus that claimed the life of three Cavaliers players. VaTech will have a tough time with Old Dominion in week one and might need a win over the Boilermakers to keep their bowl hopes alive. Pry's squad will have an experience advantage as the Boilermakers will still be trying to find their way with their new HC Ryan Walters. Look for VaTech to win this one and be at least 1-1 to start the season.
11/25- Florida State at Florida: If Florida State plays as expected this rivalry game will be a way for the 'Noles to jockey for positioning the CFP standings heading into the ACC title game.
Intriguing Non Conference Games
9/2- Virginia v. Tennessee: This game in Nashville will be a stepping stone win for the Volunteers, but it means so much more for the Cavaliers. After the mass shooting that ended the lives of three Cavalier players last November, just getting on the field and honoring the memory of those fallen players by just playing the game is more important than a win or a loss.
9/23- Army at Syracuse: This will be the first meeting between these schools since 1996. Army came into that game 9-0 and was beaten, 42-17. 'Cuse QB Donovan McNabb led the Orangemen to victory at the Carrier Dome that day. HC Dino Babers is back with an Orange squad that started last year, 6-0. They then went 0-6 to finish the regular season before beating Minnesota, 28-20 in the Pinstripe Bowl to finish up at 7-6. Meanwhile, the Black Knights of the Hudson are coining off a 6-6 season. that included a a win over Navy in 2 OT. Army will be breaking in a new QB and that could be the deciding factor in this game.
Top Conference Games
9/23- Florida State at Clemson: This game will be for the early inside track to the ACC title game. The Seminoles have lost seven straight to the Tigers and will need a huge effort to pull off the road upset. In their last 54 games at Death Valley, Clemson is 52-2.
9/23- North Carolina at Pitt: These two have split their last four meetings and even the information guru himself, Phil Steele has the two squads tied for third behind Clemson and FSU in his preseason ACC rankings. UNC's experience edge against Pitt's defense could be the difference in the game. However, expect HC Pat Narduzzi's Panthers to play the Tar Heels tough.
10/14: Louisville at Pitt: If the Cardinals go into Pitt and pull the upset, they have one of the easiest paths to the ACC title game. Why? Because the Cardinals will not play Clemson or Florida State this year.
11/2- Wake Forest at Duke: The Blue Devils are coming off a 9-4 2022 season that included a 30-13 pasting of UCF in the Military Bowl. This year's Blue Devils return a lot of experience, but they also face a tougher schedule. A win in this Thursday night clash with the Demon Deacons is essential to their bowl hopes. Wake Forest HC Dave Clawson loves his slow mesh offense but will it be enough to get the win?
11/18- North Carolina at Clemson: For the Tigers. this the last hurdle before playing the ACC title game. For the Tar Heels, this game could be anything from trying to just pull an upset to salvage their season to fighting for their own place in the ACC championship.
The ND Factor
The Fighting Irish's loose affiliation with ACC football continues with this slate of games
9/9 at NC State
9/30 at Duke
10/7 at Louisville
10/28 Pitt
11/4 at Clemson
11/18 Wake Forest
How did ND end up playing four road games? I'm sure some investigation will be made by the NCAA to ensure the Fighting Irish get to flip one of these games to South Bend. Remember that no game played by an ACC team against ND counts the ACC standings. However ND's overall record and ranking factors into ACC bowl game tie-ins and assignments.
ACC Scheduling Observations
...A baker's dozen; 13 out of the 14 ACC teams will play an FCS team this year.
..Keystone State is Key; How Pitt fares against UNC, Florida State and Louisville will shape the ACC race. Oh and they also play ND so the Panthers can affect the national picture as well.
...ACC and the Six; Notre Dame's halfway affiliation with the ACC is truly 50%. Half of ND's schedule, a full six games, are against ACC opponents.
...Miami Twice; The Miami Hurricanes will host Miami (OH) Redhawks on 9/1.
...Charlottesville 500; When Virginia host James Madison in their home opener on 9/9, it will be the 500th game played at Scott Stadium by the Cavaliers.
...Freshman accolades; Notre Dame and Pitt will square off again this year in a series that dates back to 1909. The only tie game between the two occurred in 1911. This scoreless tie is memorable for who played in the game. A freshman end named Knute Rockne played for ND. According to Volume XLV of The Notre Dame Scholastic, Rockne was praised, "Although one of the lightest men on the squad- he weighs but 156 pounds- no opponent was too fierce nor any interference too strong to deter his smashing plunges."
...They used to be together; Miami will play at Temple on 9/23. The two schools haven't faced each other since they were Big East Conference foes back in 2003.
...21/124; It consists of only 21 games going into this year, but the Syracuse-Army series dates back to 1899. That first game, won by Army, 12-6 occurred when William McKinley was president. It also was played seven years before the forward pass was legalized.
...Feeling echos of yesteryear; Seeing that Boston College is playing Holy Cross, Army and Uconn harkens back to the days when I would read the schedules of the Eastern Independents in Street & Smith's Football Yearbook.
Editor's Note: I love this old magazine cover, but I have to dispute Street & Smith's claim to be most complete and informative when they still have the Pac 8 listed. The Pac 10 was going into its' second year when this issue hit the news stands in 1979.
Group of Five and Independents
The Group of Five conferences are the AAC, C-USA, MAC, Mountain West and the Sunbelt. There are still four independent schools left. They are Notre Dame, Army, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Notre Dame
ND's ACC portion of the schedule has already been listed, but the non ACC portion of their schedule is pretty interesting. The Fighting Irish open the season on 8/26 v Navy in Ireland as part of the ongoing Shamrock Series of games held on then Emerald Isle. The Irish also face two teams for the first time ever this year in Tennessee St. on 9/2 and Central Michigan on 9/16. Tennessee St marks ND's first ever game against an FCS school. Which then leaves USC as the only FBS school to never have played an FCS school. ND will also host TheeeOSU on 9/23 and and USC 10/14. The Sons of Rockne went winless against these two last year. ND finishes up the season on the west coast at Stanford on 11/25. Full ND Slate
Top Out of Conference Group of Five Games
9/2- Sam Houston State at BYU: Welcome to the FBS SHSU. Here's your door prize. You get to travel to Provo to take on a Cougar squad looking to make their mark in their first non conference game as members of the Big XII. Good Luck.
9/2- Boise State at Washington: This game should be known as the Chris Petersen Bowl. Last time these two met, the Dawgs trounced the Broncos, 38-7 in the 2109 Las Vegas Bowl. This year's clash features a pair of teams that have expectations of winning their respective conferences. A BSU upset would send a few shockwaves across the nation and considerably weaken the narrative that the Pac 12's final season features some very strong teams. Oh, and it would give the Mountain West Conference some great publicity too.
9/2- Appalachian State at North Carolina: Can these two replicate last year's 63-61 thriller? Probably not, but the Mountaineers from the Sunbelt will give the Tar Heels another tough game and may walk out of Chapel Hill with the win.
9/2- Coastal Carolina at UCLA: The Sunbelt makes an appearance in the Golden State when the Chanticleers come to the Rose Bowl. CCU has a new HC in Tim Beck but they have a lot of talent returning against a UCLA squad that has routinely played down to their competition in the Chip Kelly era. However, the big question about this game is will Coastal have more fans in the stands than UCLA?
9/16- UTEP at Arizona: Expectations are high for the Miners to have a breakout season under HC Dana Dimel. What better way for the Miners to live up to those expectations than to upset the Wildcats? It likely won't happen, but if UTEP plays UofA tough, watch out C-USA! The Miners could be contenders.
Fun Fact: Arizona and UTEP were conference foes in the Border Conference from 1935-62.
9/16- San Jose State at Toledo: The Spartans, a MWC contender, hits the road to take on the MAC conference favorite Toledo Rockets. A win for the Rockets gives the MAC a chance to dream of a New Year's Six Bowl berth.
Fun Fact: SJSU and Toledo have met only once before in the inaugural California Bowl back in 1981. The game was held in that garden spot of California, Fresno. The Spartans lost that day 27-25. Their HC was Jack Elway. I hear his kid used to be a pretty good football player.
9/23- UTSA at Tennessee: The Roadrunners can be a dangerous opponent for the Volunteers. UT takes on UTSA after they play their first SEC conference game at Florida on 9/16. Hmmmmm
Top Conference Games Group of Five Games
10/14- Ohio at Northern Illinois: This one will have implications for both divisions of the MAC as the Huskies from the West are hosting the Bobcats from the East. Winner stays win the inside track for the MAC Championship Game, the loser needs help.
11/4- Marshall at Appalachian State: This will be the game that decides the East Division in the Sun Belt. The Thundering Herd has won two of their three matchups with he Mountaineers since App State joined the league. The largest margin of victory has been 10 points, so expect this one to be a close one. It will also be played in a beautiful setting at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, NC.
11/4- Western Kentucky at UTEP: C-USA sits at nine teams in one division this year. This game could be an elimination game or just the first game of two between the squads that many pundits believe are the top teams in the league. This is a down year for the C-USA with losing six teams and adding four lesser squads. I think this really will be the first of a two game set between these teams.
11/25- Air Force at Boise State: The MWC has eliminated divisions this year so the top two teams will play in league title game. This game is similar to the WKU-UTEP game above, however. the chances of these two meeting again in The MWC Championship Game are not as good. A victory is worth much more here.
The Important Conference Game Not Played
The American Athletic Conference lost three teams to the Big 12 in Cincinnati, UCF and Houston. They replaced those three with six teams. Charlotte Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB and UTSA were added to make this a 14 team league. This year there will be no divisions and the top two teams will play in the league title game. Which brings this intrepid reporter to the point. A 14 team league means that that many teams wont face each other this year. UTSA and SMU will not play each other. They are arguably the top two teams in this new look AAC.
Group of Five Scheduling Observations
...Back at it again; SMU and Rice have not faced each other since 2012. Now they are back in the same league again and face off on 11/4. There is no truth to the rumor that this game will be added into their old Southwest Conference records.
...They could do it; UConn could notch their first wining season since 2010. Jim Mora's squad was a game away form that last year when they dropped the Myrtle Beach Bowl to Marshall last season.
...LBJ was President; Rice opens at Texas on 9/2. The Fightin' White Owls haven't beaten the Longhorns in Austin since 1965. Rice only won two games that year, but one this one was epic as they took down the #5 ranked Longhorns, 20-17 on a 34-yard FG with :43 left on the clock.
...1-11 blues; UMAss has gone 1-11 in each of the last three full seasons they played. In the pandemic year of 2022, they went 0-4. Ouch.
...Not the first time; When SDSU hosts UCLA on 9/9 it will mark the continuation of a series that dates back to 1922. How long ago was that? Well, UCLA was still just the Southern Branch of the University of California and were known as the Cubs, while SDSU was known as San Diego State Teachers College and had no official nickname. They were called the Professors or Staters by various local publications at the time.
...Do they get air miles?; In case you wanted to know, the Air Force Academy Football teams takes commercial charter flights to games.
...The 106 year circle; Appalachian State plays at Wyoming on 9/23. It will be the farthest trip west for the Mountaineers since 1917. That year they ventured out west to play... Wyoming. Wow.
...Menu idea; If Wisconsin tailgaters fail to have some form of a Buffalo wing cheese dip on the menu for their game v. the Buffalo Bulls on 9/2, it's a cryin' shame.
...Has to happen; Whoever loses the game between the Kent State Golden Flashes and the UCF Golden Knights on 8/31 should have to drop the word Golden from their nickname for the rest of the season.
...Pac 12 East?; No, this isn't about more realignment. When Florida International takes on Jacksonville State in C-USA play on 10/25 it will be a meeting former Pac 12 HCs. FIU's HC is former Colorado headman Mike Macintyre, while former Arizona HC Rich Rodriguez will walk the sidelines for Jacksonville State.
Until next time folks remember, games aren't won on paper. However, the paper makes the games more fun.
-The Commissioner
