Looking ahead, which ACC schools are challenging themselves with their non-conference schedule?
Since we’re on the subject of scheduling I figured I’d take a look at what ACC schools have in store for themselves in upcoming years. Fortunately, there is a fantastic website, FBSschedules.com, that appears to keep up with the schedules of every team in the country as news comes out.
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I realize this might not be completely up to date, and that future schedules are constantly changing (some games listed here might have been canceled and news just hasn’t broken yet; some that are listed have probably a .01% chance of actually being played). Anyway, I think this is a fairly accurate look at what each team’s non-conference games will look like in upcoming years.
Boston College
- 2013: at USC, Army, Stony Brook
- 2014: at UMass, USC, Army (at Yankee Stadium), Rhode Island
- 2015: Army, Buffalo, Notre Dame
- 2016: UMass, Buffalo, at Notre Dame
- 2018: UMass, at Notre Dame
- 2019: Notre Dame
- 2013: Georgia, Kent State, The Citadel, at South Carolina
- 2014: at Georgia, Coastal Carolina, Central Michigan, South Carolina
- 2015: at South Carolina, Wofford
- 2016: South Carolina, South Carolina State
- 2013: Navy, at Memphis
- 2014: Elon, Kansas, Tulane
- 2015: Northwestern, at Army, N.C. Central, at Tulane
- 2016: at Northwestern, Army, at Louisville
- 2017: Baylor, at Army, Northwestern
- 2018: at Baylor, Army, N.C. Central, at Northwestern
- 2019: Tulane
- 2013: Wofford, Nevada, at Florida
- 2014: The Citadel, Florida
- 2015: Texas State, Chattanooga, at Florida
- 2016: Florida
- 2013: at BYU, Georgia, Elon
- 2014: at Georgia, at Tulane, Wofford
- 2015: Georgia Southern, Georgia, Tulane
- 2016: at Georgia, Vanderbilt
- 2017: at Ole Miss, Georgia
- 2018: Ole Miss, at Georgia, Tulane
- 2019: at Alabama, Georgia, at Tulane
- 2020: Alabama, at Georgia
- 2021: Georgia, at South Carolina
- 2022: South Carolina
- 2013: Temple, at Connecticut, West Virginia (in Baltimore)
- 2014: at Temple, West Virginia
- 2015: Bowling Green, at West Virginia
- 2016: at West Virginia
- 2017: at Texas, West Virginia
- 2018: Texas, at Bowling Green
- 2019: Bowling Green
- 2013: Florida Atlantic, Florida, at South Florida
- 2014: Florida A&M, Memphis, at Nebraska
- 2015: at Toledo, Nebraska, at Memphis, Cincinnati
- 2016: Toledo, Florida A&M, at Notre Dame, Florida Atlantic
- 2017: Notre Dame
- 2018: at Rutgers
- 2019: Rutgers
- 2020: at Michigan State
- 2021: Michigan State
- 2013: Central Michigan, East Carolina, Richmond
- 2014: at Central Michigan, at South Florida, Presbyterian
- 2015: at South Alabama
- 2016: at East Carolina
- 2017: at LSU
- 2020: LSU
- 2013: at South Carolina, Minnesota, at East Carolina
- 2014: at Minnesota
- 2015: at Ohio State
- 2017: Ohio State
Virginia
- 2013: at Penn State, VMI, Ball State, Texas-San Antonio
- 2014: UCLA, Richmond, Kent State, at Texas-San Antonio
- 2015: at UCLA, William & Mary
- 2016: at Connecticut, Richmond
- 2017: Connecticut, Stanford
- 2018: at Stanford
Virginia Tech
- 2013: vs. Alabama in Atlanta, vs. Marshall, vs. Western Carolina
- 2014: vs. William and Mary, at Ohio State, vs. Western Michigan
- 2015: vs. Furman, vs. Ohio State, vs. East Carolina
- 2016: vs. Wisconsin, vs. Liberty, at East Carolina
- 2017: at Wisconsin, vs. East Carolina
- 2018: at East Carolina
Wake Forest
- 2013: at Army, Rice, at Vanderbilt
- 2014: Army, Northern Illinois, at Rice, at Vanderbilt
- 2015: at Army, Vanderbilt, at Notre Dame, Indiana
- 2016: Indiana
With college football going to a four-team playoff in 2014 and strength of schedule being something the selection committee will take in to account, having a strong non-conference slate will be important for teams wanting to make that field.
I did a little exercise yesterday ranking the league’s non-conference opponents on a scale of 0 to 5. Five points were awarded for top-10 caliber teams, while four were given out for teams that could be in the Top 25. It’s tough to tell so far down the line how other teams will fare, but based on their current status, here are the teams in the 4-to-5-point range for every ACC team, starting with next year:
- Boston College (6 through 2019): at USC (2013), USC (2014), Notre Dame (2015), at Notre Dame (2015), at Notre Dame (2018), Notre Dame (2019)
- Clemson (6 through 2016): Georgia (2013), at South Carolina (2013), at Georgia (2014), South Carolina (2014), at South Carolina (2015), South Carolina (2016)
- Duke (3 through 2018): Louisville (2016), Baylor (2017), at Baylor (2018) — admittedly these are generous rankings
- Florida State (4 through 2016): at Florida (2013), Florida (2014), at Florida (2015), Florida (2016)
- Georgia Tech (13 through 2022): Georgia (2013), at Georgia (2014), Georgia (2015), at Georgia (2016), Georgia (2017), at Georgia (2018), at Alabama (2019), Georgia (2019), Alabama (2020), at Georgia (2020), Georgia (2021), at South Carolina (2021), South Carolina (2022)
- Maryland (6 through 2018) vs. West Virginia (2013), West Virginia (2014), at West Virginia (2015), at Texas (2017), West Virginia (2017), Texas (2018)
- Miami (7 through 2021): Florida (2013), at Nebraska (2014), Nebraska (2015), at Notre Dame (2016), Notre Dame (2017), at Michigan State (2020), Michigan State (2021)
- North Carolina (3 through 2017): at South Carolina (2013), at Ohio State (2015), Ohio State (2017)
- N.C. State (2 through 2020): at LSU (2017), LSU (2020)
- Virginia (2 through 2018): Stanford, (2017), at Stanford (2018)
- Virginia Tech (5 through 2017): vs. Alabama (2013), at Ohio State (2014), vs. Ohio State (2015), vs. Wisconsin (2016), at Wisconsin (2017)
- Wake Forest (1 through 2015): at Notre Dame (2015)
What does that tell us? Well, it seems to be a lot tougher to schedule when you have a rival that’s not within the league. There’s a reason Clemson is dropping non-conference games against Oklahoma State and Ole Miss. With a nine-game conference schedule leaving only three non-conference spots, and one of those taken up by South Carolina every year, the Tigers have a tough enough road as it is. Next year and 2014 will be particularly challenging, with Georgia and South Carolina both on the schedule.
Florida State, which plays Florida every year, and Georgia Tech, which plays Georgia every year, are in the same boat. The Yellow Jackets recently canceled series with BYU and Auburn. Looking down the line, it’d be shocking if those games after 2020 against Alabama and South Carolina will still be played.
Seven teams — Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Miami and Virginia Tech — have at least one marquee non-conference opponent on the schedule per year for the foreseeable future, although the extra conference game might throw a wrench in some of those plans.
Five — Duke, North Carolina, N.C. State, Virginia and Wake Forest — fall short of that standard.
Nothing is certain in future scheduling, or for the games that are planned to even be played down the line, but it’ll be interesting to see how schools react with fewer out of conference slots available but higher stakes when it comes to strength of schedule in the playoff selection.
Hopefully, the addition of a ninth league game doesn’t mean fewer inter-region non-conference games between major conference teams (you know, the ones people actually want to watch). But I’m fearful that it means many teams will go the opposite route, especially if the commissioners are serious about raising the bowl eligibility standard to seven wins sometime in the future.
July 28, 2012 - 9:20 AM
Andy, very interesting. With a committee doing the selecting for the four team playoff, I wonder exactly how strong a factor SOS will be. At least with the BCS it is a factor in the computer rankings. Not saying I prefer the BCS, but I do prefer that some sort of SOS metric be employed in selecting those four teams.
Where are the Hoos remarks. By the way what is a WaHoo?
A Wahoo is a person whose team wins the Commenwealth Cup in football so rarely that they yell “Wa-hoo!” whenever it happens.
I will be totally surprised to see Wis. or Ohio State in B-burg. Need to be the 9th team in the SEC. I know this will not happen, but in America, you can always dream.
Damn right! I’ll be yelling more than that if UVA ever beats Tech in football again. At least score a touchdown this year. Geez
FSU, GT, and Clemson automatically have a decent to good OOC opponent every year because of their rivalry games. Meanwhile VTs “rival” is a pitiful UVA team in the ACC. I wonder if those 3 schools would upgrade their schedule if they weren’t required to play those rivalry games?
Jerry, good point. Too bad WVU is no longer an annual rival. I know there are reasons and good ones, IMHO. I will say UVa will continue to show gradual improvement under London but of course they are in the ACC. That raises the question of how does a team develop a “rivalry” with an OOC team? Geography and traditions are big and outside of WVU and many of the teams in the ACC (the north carolina schools and maryland)I cannot think of any other team that would be a natural. With all due respect to Marshall and ECU, they just don’t play at or near the same level. USC (South Carolina, thank you) might be a fit but probably not. Now with the 9 game conference schedule, I just don’t think we’ll ever return to having an annual OOC game with anyone, unfortunately.
If VT’s fan want an upgrade in rivalry, why don’t we schedule one against West, by God, Virginia or even Tennessee? Are Tennessee that scared of us? I know we beat them bad when Loudmouth Lane Kiffin was coaching them.
I believe that Virginia won’t be down that long and this season is going to decide how well they have improve since they hired London.
I always felt that Texas A&M would be a good rival game for VT. The schools are so similar it is uncanny. I’ve spent a lot of time in East Texas and Oklahoma and a lot of people there like watching VT football so even one of the OK schools would be a good rivalry. Yes they are a long way away but that hasn’t hurt ND and USC. The problem with creating a good rivalry out of Blacksburg is that no one wants to take that initial leap of faith. Hokie fans are living in the past and think Duke, Wake, Maryland and UVA are quality opponents.
I’m glad NewUVAFan has a sense of humor. At least someone here does.
Trevor, when was UVA ever up? Their #1 rating in the Tiki ere (if I remeber right) was such an anomoly it was national news. I don’t recall UVA as being high on the list of all-time great programs.
I expect they will remain what they are – a good school that plays football rather than a football school.
I can’t find it in an article but the google link to an espn blog says th any confirms?at fuller chose the hokies today…
Any confirmation?
I can’t remember VT ever beating a Top 5 team. Perhaps one day…
Btw, UVa has a much tougher OOC schedule than Tech this year. Do the almighty Tech fans really dispute that?
Billy, silly Billy. Let’s go back through the last five years and compare. How many FCS teams per year have you guys scheduled to pad Mike London’s W-L schedule? Get over it, typical hoo fan. You guys seem to schedule 2 FCS teams PLUS one of the worst ten FBS teams every year, in a futile attempt to convince your neck tie and khaki shorts crowd to attend games.
Bring something strong, to at least make it interesting. You’ve got nothing but weak bleep bleep right now.
Billy… how’s the view from that glass house?
VT is 2-26 all time vs top-5 teams.
UVA is 1-20 all time vs top-5 teams.
Still want to ramble on about top-5 nonsense?
Who cares Bobby. UVA can play the toughest schedule in the country and they’re still going to stink and VT will still whip them
hokie24 – your stats are wrong…did you make them up? UVA isn’t pretending to be a national contender like Tech…Billy is right, your schedule this year is pathetic.
Jim, if my stats are wrong, it’s because the numbers at http://www.cfbtrivia.com are wrong.
So what are the right stats?
How about this article…says Tech is 1-27 versus Top 5 teams (1-19 with Frank as HC)…
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/917677-virginia-tech-football-8-reasons-why-the-hokies-receive-no-national-respect#/articles/917677-virginia-tech-football-8-reasons-why-the-hokies-receive-no-national-respect
I don’t know why it says that, Jim. My guess is that whoever is gathering the stats is using data from different polls (AP, ESPN, Coaches, etc).
cfbtrivia.com uses AP Poll rankings. cfbtrivia.com also lists all of the games that make up the data. that website says we-re 2-26 all time against top 5 (wins were against #2 Miami in 03, #5 WVU in 04).
hokiesports.com says that VT is 1-22 all time against top 5. It appears to me that hokiesports is using the Coaches’ Poll rankings. They list WVU as #6 when we played them in 2004… so that’s probably the difference.
6 of one, half a dozen of the other. 2-26 and 1-22 aren’t very different. Neither is spectacular.
They both also aren’t much different than UVA’s 1-20. That was the whole point, was that UVA has no room to talk about records against top 5 teams.
You’re probably arguing about the difference between at-the-time rankings (1 AP top-5 win… Miami in 2003) and end-of-year rankings (2 AP top-5 wins… Miami in 2003 and WVU in 2005).
All-time stats will always be skewed against Tech, because let’s face it, VT wasn’t very good at football until the mid 90s. Beamer-era stats will always be skewed against Tech, because of course they stunk at the beginning of his tenure. Once the NCAA sanctions from the Dooley era finished and he was able to build things up, VT got much better. If you want to talk about VT stats that reflect whether Beamer is a good coach or whether VT is a good program today, start in the mid-90s.
Since 1993, VT is 2-9 against the end-of-year AP top 5. Five of those losses were to that year’s national champion and three more were to the end-of-year #2 (including undefeated Auburn in 2005 which probably should have been #1). That really isn’t a bad record. Everybody has more top-5 losses than wins (e.g. undisputed great program Alabama is 4-21 against the end-of-year AP top-5 over the same timeframe). It’s especially understandable when so many of those top-5 games were against the eventual national champions.
Cool stats, hokiegrad.
The ones I was looking at were AP at gametime, and Coaches’ poll at game time. I figured that out after I made my post.
Either way, the post I was replying to was a UVA fan talking about how he couldn’t remember VT ever beating a top-5. I was just refreshing his memory that UVA isn’t blazing a trail against top-5 teams either.