I know someone already posted on this topic in a previous thread but I felt that the subject matter was so intricate that it deserved its own dedicated thread. While I'm not sure when the ACC will reconvene to discuss scheduling logistics, I think there's a strong chance it will get announced sometime later this Fall. In the meantime, I thought it might be helpful to take a quick peek at a few scheduling layouts that could help mitigate some of our upcoming travel burdens in the new-look ACC. Below is a hypothetical scheduling model that I believe would best serve Stanford in both odd and even years:
RED = Conference Matchup
GREEN = OOC Matchup
EVEN
WEEK 1___-___@ ACC__(Neutral Site @ Cowboys Stadium)
WEEK 2___-___@ ACC
WEEK 3___-___OOC
WEEK 4___-___OOC
WEEK 5___-___@ OOC
WEEK 6___-___ACC
WEEK 7___-___@ ND
WEEK 8___-___** BYE **
WEEK 9___-___ACC
WEEK 10___-___@ ACC
WEEK 11___-___ACC
WEEK 12___-___@ CAL
WEEK 13___-___SMU
ODD
WEEK 1___-___@ ACC__(Neutral Site @ Cowboys Stadium)
WEEK 2___-___@ OOC
WEEK 3___-___OOC
WEEK 4___-___OOC
WEEK 5___-___@ SMU
WEEK 6___-___** BYE **
WEEK 7___-___ACC
WEEK 8___-___@ ACC
WEEK 9___-___ACC
WEEK 10___-__ACC
WEEK 11___-___@ ACC
WEEK 12___-___CAL
WEEK 13___-___ND
Comments:
* There are already rumors that Dallas will be used to host conference games to help alleviate East Coast travel for the Bay Area teams. I think the best way to do this would be to set up an annual Cotton Bowl Kickoff Classic double-header, featuring Cal & Stanford on separate days in Week 1. For example, Cal could open their season on a Saturday against North Carolina at Cowboys Stadium and Stanford could take on Clemson two days later (Labor Day) at the same stadium. The venue could help create added exposure for some of the conference's top teams and limit the travel for everyone involved. The other benefit of this setup is that it helps guarantee Stanford plays no more than two conference road games east of Dallas in a given year. The Notre Dame game, of course, adds to that travel burden. But even that can be alleviated by scheduling a more regionally focused OOC slate. All in all, we'd be looking at 1 Dallas Trip, 1 South Bend Trip, and 2 East Coast trips in our most travel-heavy year (even years), which really isn't all that bad.
* Starting every season with two road games may seem daunting in one regard but it helps knock out the away games early before students return to campus. It also creates opportunities for our students to actually attend these away games by scheduling them early enough in the season that they overlap with the end of summer break. In doing so, we would host 6/10 games at home to close out the season in even years and 7/10 games at home in odd years. It's a win-win.
* I like the idea of ND + SMU alternating as our season closers. It guarantees we finish each season on the Farm and ensures that our away games at those schools take place at a point on the calendar where the weather is much more hospitable (late September/early October vs. late November/early December).
* Initially, I was very concerned with the viability of balancing out a cross-country slate of conference games. But two things changed my mind. First, the ACC only plays 8 conference games. That's a massive advantage in that it allows us to schedule an additional West Coast game to help balance out the rest of the schedule. The Notre Dame game is technically our 9th conference game, even though both schools have already gone on the record in saying that the series will continue as an OOC matchup moving forward. In any case, we now get 3 OOC games as opposed to the usual Notre Dame + 2 OOC game slate that we've been dealing with in the Pac-12. That's a huge win. Secondly, the ability to utilize our away games at Cal & SMU (in addition to a neutral site season opener in Dallas) would go a long way towards minimizing the travel burden as much as possible.
* There's no question that our travel miles logged in the ACC will be significantly greater than what it was in the Pac-12. But with the help of some creative scheduling, it's more than doable. I've never been more optimistic that this whole thing is going to work out just fine.
_
RED = Conference Matchup
GREEN = OOC Matchup
EVEN
WEEK 1___-___@ ACC__(Neutral Site @ Cowboys Stadium)
WEEK 2___-___@ ACC
WEEK 3___-___OOC
WEEK 4___-___OOC
WEEK 5___-___@ OOC
WEEK 6___-___ACC
WEEK 7___-___@ ND
WEEK 8___-___** BYE **
WEEK 9___-___ACC
WEEK 10___-___@ ACC
WEEK 11___-___ACC
WEEK 12___-___@ CAL
WEEK 13___-___SMU
ODD
WEEK 1___-___@ ACC__(Neutral Site @ Cowboys Stadium)
WEEK 2___-___@ OOC
WEEK 3___-___OOC
WEEK 4___-___OOC
WEEK 5___-___@ SMU
WEEK 6___-___** BYE **
WEEK 7___-___ACC
WEEK 8___-___@ ACC
WEEK 9___-___ACC
WEEK 10___-__ACC
WEEK 11___-___@ ACC
WEEK 12___-___CAL
WEEK 13___-___ND
Comments:
* There are already rumors that Dallas will be used to host conference games to help alleviate East Coast travel for the Bay Area teams. I think the best way to do this would be to set up an annual Cotton Bowl Kickoff Classic double-header, featuring Cal & Stanford on separate days in Week 1. For example, Cal could open their season on a Saturday against North Carolina at Cowboys Stadium and Stanford could take on Clemson two days later (Labor Day) at the same stadium. The venue could help create added exposure for some of the conference's top teams and limit the travel for everyone involved. The other benefit of this setup is that it helps guarantee Stanford plays no more than two conference road games east of Dallas in a given year. The Notre Dame game, of course, adds to that travel burden. But even that can be alleviated by scheduling a more regionally focused OOC slate. All in all, we'd be looking at 1 Dallas Trip, 1 South Bend Trip, and 2 East Coast trips in our most travel-heavy year (even years), which really isn't all that bad.
* Starting every season with two road games may seem daunting in one regard but it helps knock out the away games early before students return to campus. It also creates opportunities for our students to actually attend these away games by scheduling them early enough in the season that they overlap with the end of summer break. In doing so, we would host 6/10 games at home to close out the season in even years and 7/10 games at home in odd years. It's a win-win.
* I like the idea of ND + SMU alternating as our season closers. It guarantees we finish each season on the Farm and ensures that our away games at those schools take place at a point on the calendar where the weather is much more hospitable (late September/early October vs. late November/early December).
* Initially, I was very concerned with the viability of balancing out a cross-country slate of conference games. But two things changed my mind. First, the ACC only plays 8 conference games. That's a massive advantage in that it allows us to schedule an additional West Coast game to help balance out the rest of the schedule. The Notre Dame game is technically our 9th conference game, even though both schools have already gone on the record in saying that the series will continue as an OOC matchup moving forward. In any case, we now get 3 OOC games as opposed to the usual Notre Dame + 2 OOC game slate that we've been dealing with in the Pac-12. That's a huge win. Secondly, the ability to utilize our away games at Cal & SMU (in addition to a neutral site season opener in Dallas) would go a long way towards minimizing the travel burden as much as possible.
* There's no question that our travel miles logged in the ACC will be significantly greater than what it was in the Pac-12. But with the help of some creative scheduling, it's more than doable. I've never been more optimistic that this whole thing is going to work out just fine.
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