It will require careful consideration and I am not suggesting
that pods couldn't work. However, it may depend on whether the ACC goes 4 regional pods (which could place UVA and UNC in different pods) or continue with the zipper model (which could making tougher to preserve more of the rivalries). If the ACC goes with regional pods, then they could look like this:
Pod A: BC, Syracuse, Pitt, Notre Dame
Pod B: L'ville, UVA, VT, WVU
Pod C: Duke, Wake, UNC, NC State
Pod D: Clemson, GT, FSU, Miami
Does the ACC pair A with B (preserve Backyard Brawl) and C with D (preserve the Textile Bowl) while end the "South's Oldest Rivalry" as annual game? Does the ACC pair A with D and B with C (preserve the South's Oldest Rivalry)? If the Backyard Brawl and Textile Bowl could be played as OOC games as an excuse to justify preserving the South's Oldest Rivalry, then that same argument could be used to justify making the South's Oldest Rivalry an OOC game too.
If the ACC goes with the zipper model, then the most fair way to do it is to make sure each region is somehow represented in the 4 pods. However, that could force school to decide which rivalry they want to preserve. UVA could be placed in a position where it has to decide whether it wants to maintain its rivalry with VT or UNC as an annual conference game. I realize there is a scenario where UVA could continue to play both as conference games, but I didn't want to use a NC school as an example because an obvious response is "What makes the 4 NC schools so special?" and I don't feel that path is fruitful for this discussion because I believe every school has important rivalries that should at least be respected by the other schools and their fanbases.
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In response to this post by HOO86)
Posted: 05/03/2016 at 3:51PM