Notes and FAQs about the making of the 2022 ACC Football Schedule:
What are some key parameters that must be considered when building the ACC schedule?
Per the ACC Manual:
- Effective as of the 2018 season, no conference team shall play more than one conference game in a given season with its opponent having an uneven open date placement the preceding week.
- No more than two conference road games may be scheduled consecutively (weeks) by the conference office. A school may have a non-conference away game as a third consecutive game, although the conference office will avoid as much as possible.
- No more than three home conference games may be scheduled consecutively (weeks) by the conference office. A school may have a non-conference home game as a fourth consecutive game, although the conference office will avoid that as much as possible.
- Best efforts will be made by the conference office to accommodate one special scheduling request for one weekend per year (e.g. away or open on Fall Break, religious holiday) for each institution. No more than three total special scheduling requests may be submitted annually per institution. Each school scheduling request must be rank-ordered in terms of priority. No school scheduling requests can impact conference game on-field football equity issues other than home week/away week/open date requests.
- For Thursday night games, the conference shall make best efforts for both schools to have at least seven days between games prior to a Thursday night game. If both schools do not have such rest, then both schools must have the same amount of rest (e.g. a short week game, unless waived by a school). For short week games, the conference shall make best efforts for both teams to be at home the previous week. If this is not possible, the team that is the visitor in the Thursday night short week game shall be at home the week before and the conference will make best efforts for the team which will be home on the Thursday night short week game to have traveled the previous week.
How successful was the ACC in granting school scheduling requests for 2022?
The conference received 35 school requests and was able to accommodate 24. While the ACC does not guarantee that it will deliver on any school request, the conference does make its best effort. There are restrictions on what can and cannot be requested. For example, a school cannot request an open date prior to playing a particular conference opponent. But it can say, “I want my open date in week eight,” and just leave it at that. Or it can say, “I want my open date this weekend because it is our institution’s fall break.”
Besides school requests, what are some other factors that must be considered when building a schedule?
Venue availability is always a factor. NC State has two weeks every October in which it has to play on the road or be open because of the presence of the North Carolina State Fair. Some ACC schools play in shared-use venues – Miami and Pittsburgh are two examples. That creates more times and certain dates when the venue is unavailable.
Non-Saturday games remain a key element of the ACC schedule. Week one includes a Sunday night and Monday night game, and there are more than 10 more games currently scheduled for Thursday or Friday. How challenging is it from a scheduling standpoint to ensure each school receives exposure in these primetime, non-Saturday windows?
The ACC attempts to schedule each school in at least one non-Saturday appearance. There are some institutional hardships related to hosting either Thursday or Friday night games, which the league accommodates. For example, Boston College, from a Chestnut Hill policy perspective, is able to host Friday night but not Thursday night games. North Carolina has a hospital directly across the street from Kenan Stadium, and people have medical appointments there on weeknights, so its ability to host Thursdays or Fridays other than fall break is very limited. Florida State has classrooms attached to its football stadium. If it is a Thursday or Friday and classes are in session, institutions such as this one don't have the ability to host a non-Saturday in those windows.
As has been the case in recent years, ACC remains the only conference to play games five consecutive days (Thursday- Monday) in week one of the 2022 season, and intriguing matchups – both conference and non-conference – kick off the schedule.
When the ACC Network was launched, it was part of the league’s strategy to have more compelling games – both conference and non-conference – in week one. It is a great week for Thursday and Friday night games because they are not “short rest” games. The league also has its traditional Labor Day Monday night game (Clemson at Georgia Tech this season), which has been unique to the ACC for years. That is a valuable exposure opportunity for whoever plays in that game.
What is the background of the Florida State versus LSU game in the Superdome on Labor Day Sunday night?
Sunday night is an important and valuable television window, and the ACC partners with ESPN to fill that date. Last year, Notre Dame played at Florida State was on Sunday night. Moving FSU-LSU from Saturday to Sunday was a coordinated effort among the two schools, ESPN and the two conferences.
While each ACC institution controls its non-conference schedule, how far in advance is the schedule set in terms of conference opponents? And how are those matchups determined?
The ACC has a 12-year rotation among conference opponents, which currently runs through the 2024 season. Each team faces the six other teams in its division, plus one permanent partner and one rotating opponent, for a total of eight conference games. The ACC also plays an average of five games annually against Notre Dame with the current agreement set to run through the 2035 season.
After all of the adjustments that had to be made during the pandemic year of 2020, are things back on track in terms of scheduling?
Yes. The 2022 schedule looks exactly the same as if COVID never happened. We are back on the 12-year rotation, as we were for the 2021 schedule.
Why does the ACC continue with divisional play?
Per NCAA rules, conferences must either play their championship game between division winners or between the top two teams in the conference standings following full round-robin, regular-season competition among all members of the conference. The NCAA waived those parameters in 2020 due to the pandemic, but the latter is not currently possible for the ACC during a “normal” year.
How does the ACC determine where to place the open date on each team’s schedule?
Games are scheduled, not open dates. An open date exists due to the absence of a game. Games are scheduled so that as many open dates as possible fall weeks six through eight. Open dates occurring before non-conference opponents helps the ACC accommodate its scheduling parameter limiting open date placement before conference games. No consideration is given to any particular non-conference team that may be affected.
How much input do the ACC member schools have in building their schedules?
The ACC takes the previously mentioned schedule requests into consideration where feasible. Confirming home date venue availability is their only input during the schedule development process. Final schedules are not submitted to schools for their review, but every effort is made to be as fair and equitable as possible.
How heavily does the ACC look at computer-driven data when building a schedule?
While we do use computer models to guide us as to what may be possible, we rely on the human element quite a bit in building our football schedule. We review hundreds of different scheduling combinations to try to find the best one that accomplishes as many of our goals and objectives as possible.
Can fans expect to learn kickoff times for the first three weekends again this spring?
Barring any unforeseen issues, game times for the first three weekends, as well as the league’s non-Saturday games, should be finalized and released in mid-to-late May.
After the first three weeks, how are kickoff times determined for the remaining Saturday games and how far in advance is that information available?
Kickoff times are determined by our television partners in consultation with the league office. Kickoff times are generally set 12 days in advance. On four occasions, ESPN can exercise its contractual option to wait until six days in advance of the game to set the kickoff time. This allows for ACC games to be best positioned in the available TV windows.