+9
And so winds down the wait for the 2012 ACC football schedule.
After much wailing and gnashing by the masses, the ACC has finally released its 2012 football schedule. It was delayed for almost two weeks by the need to fill up the Florida St. Seminoles schedule, which had been cratered by the West Virginia Mountaineers' move to the Big 12, and to give the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets room to play the Virginia Tech Hokies on Labor Day. FSU and GT are now playing schools you've never heard of*, and we're all set.
Here's a link to the complete schedule in PDF form.
The big Techie Convention conference opener is indeed on, set for Sept. 3 in Blacksburg. Other key dates include Clemson-Auburn on Sept. 1, N.C. State-Tennessee on Aug. 31, Florida State-Clemson on Sept. 22, Florida State-Virginia Tech on Nov. 8, and Virginia Tech-Miami on Nov. 1.
The conference is also touting its 10 games against preseason top 25 opponents, plus 18 games against the 2011 Sagarin top 50. That includes annual ACC-SEC meetups like FSU-Florida, Georgia Tech-Georgia, and South Carolina-Clemson, along with Virginia-TCU, Miami-Kansas State, and Miami-Notre Dame.
BOSTON COLLEGE
CLEMSON
DUKE
FLORIDA STATE
GEORGIA TECH
MARYLAND
MIAMI
NORTH CAROLINA
NC STATE
VIRGINIA
VIRGINIA TECH
WAKE FOREST
* This is a lie. Presbyterian, playing the Jackets this year, may not even enter the season with an actual schedule, and may only roam the ACC country side seeking games as mercenaries. The Blue Hose seem to play every ACC team once every three years or so.
Head right here to browse SB Nation's many fine ACC football blogs.
A day and an hour have been appointed: the 2012 ACC football schedule will be released at 2 p.m. ET on Monday. Thus ends the year's second long wait for a conference schedule, though the Big 12's delay sure seemed more pronounced. Still up, among power conferences: the Big East, which had been planning to release later anyway, but still likely has plenty of work left to do while (reportedly) bringing in the Temple Owls to cover for the Boise St. Broncos and replacing the West Virginia Mountaineers.
To catch us all up: the Florida St. Seminoles switched WVU on their schedule with Savannah State, and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets made room for a Labor Day date with the Virginia Tech Hokies by calling up Presbyterian, Georgia Tech blog From The Rumble Seat reports.
We'll have the full slate dialed up here just as soon as it's announced.
First we were waiting on the Florida St. Seminoles to patch their schedule back together after the West Virginia Mountaineers added a conference game by joining the Big 12. FSU scheduled Savannah State, and the ACC schedule was JUST SECONDS AWAY. Then we were waiting on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to find a guaranteed win for after their Labor Day game against the Virginia Tech Hokies. That has now happened, so expect the schedule pronto.
The Jackets won't reveal yet the FCS opponent they've brought on. Most are looking for the schedule to arrive sometime around lunch time, though that hasn't been publicly declared.
There's also the small, yet significant, chance that the entire deal could be delayed when it's discovered the Boston College Eagles have masterminded the entire delay in an attempt to make college football season begin in December, which would give BC a dramatic home field advantage. It's a very small chance.
Not only will the ACC schedule not come out Thursday, thanks in part to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets' efforts to make room for a Labor Day date with the Virginia Tech Hokies, it reportedly won't come out this week at all. Tomahawk Nation reports it won't be until next week, which makes sense, as nobody likes to unveil things on a Friday unless they're bad.
GT reportedly wants to slide Middle Tennessee to later in the schedule and instead have a FCS foe in Week 2. Mock them only gently for their schedule concerns, as they do take on the Georgia Bulldogs and BYU Cougars outside of ACC action. The ACC wants a decent game on Labor Day, according to their brand new tradition, which explains why the conference is willing to give the Jackets a little extra time to make it work.
Until this week, it was presumed that once the Florida St. Seminoles got their schedule lined up, the ACC would be good to go. FSU settled for a home game against Savannah State, and that was supposed to be that.
Good! The Florida St. Seminoles have found a replacement, no matter how satisfactory, for the West Virginia Mountaineers, and the ACC can go ahead and release its 2012 football AW NOO NOT THIS AGAIN:
With Florida State having finalized its non-conference schedule Wednesday, the league now needs [Georgia] Tech to complete its non-conference slate in order to release the schedule.
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets want to play the Virginia Tech Hokies on Labor Day, but don't want to follow it with a game against an opponent that they might lose to if hampered by a short week, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. This means the Jackets would like to find another time to play Middle Tennessee, the team they have lined up after VPI, and instead play a FCS team.
There has also been chatter about the Jackets having a chance at a game against the Oklahoma Sooners right around that time, but that ship's done sailed and FOCUS. Let's just find Georgia Tech an FCS team to play one game with and we can be on our way.
The Florida St. Seminoles have finally patched up the schedule gap left by the West Virginia Mountaineers, who had to drop and out-of-conference game after leaving the Big East for the Big 12. In place of WVU: mighty Savannah State, and now we see why FSU was complaining about losing potential millions due to the Mountaineers' cancellation.
The Tigers are a FCS school, meaning the Noles will need seven wins to become bowl eligible, as Murray State's already on the slate. It's not a marquee game by any means, but it's a game. Savannah State has a football team.
With that out of the way, it would appear the ACC's schedule roadblock has been cleared. There's no official word from the conference on when the 2012 schedule will be released, but one official confirmed last week that FSU's situation was indeed the only real hindrance in the way.
Not only does the entire ACC have to wait on Florida State to find a suitable replacement opponent after having lost its West Virginia game, FSU doesn't see any way it'll be able to make up all that lost revenue.
Also, there's this:
"Seven home games is something every business in town counts on, from hotels to restaurants," [Elliott Finebloom, assistant athletic director] said. "People think it's about the athletic department wanting to make more money, but we have a responsibility to area businesses who count on seven home games."
The ACC's football schedule has been delayed darn near into March. This may make many fans mad. If it extends too far, ACC fans could develop a case of what's known as "the March madness." Could you imagine ACC fans getting into something like that!
The conference says it's doing all it can. The issue, an ACC official confirms, is that canceled date between the Florida St. Seminoles and West Virginia Mountaineers. The conference wants to make sure FSU has plenty of time to replace WVU with another quality opponent, which could take "a couple weeks."
The official responded to the popular belief that FSU could simply play one of the many Big East teams now in need of a game, saying that these things aren't just plug-and-play. But a game against a Big East team "very well could happen."
The official did not respond to the damaging rumor that the Colbert Report is joining the ACC this season.
Now that the West Virginia Mountaineers have finally been released by the Big East and entered into the Big 12, the ACC can go ahead and release its 2012 football schedule at any moment, yes? Since the major hangup was believed to be that WVU game against the Florida St. Seminoles, there should be no further obstructions, and OH NO BIG DOWNER BLOCK QUOTE STATEMENT:
We at the Atlantic Coast Conference realize that there's tremendous anticipation for the release of the 2012 ACC Football schedule. The conference office and member institutions are equally in anticipation and are taking steps to expedite finding appropriate solutions. As has been documented, there are a number of unusual circumstances beyond the control of the ACC and its member schools that have directly impacted a number of our school's nonconference schedules, which in turn affects the development and completion of the overall schedule. Please know that all parties are working diligently and we appreciate everyone's continued patience.
Thinking this is all just code for Coach K losin' it over who knows what. Others are theorizing this means The Colbert Report is joining the ACC. It intends to air late at night, which will pose a problem for N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien, who panics if he's not sawing logs well before 9:30 p.m.
The schedule isn't expected to feature the Syracuse Orange or Pittsburgh Panthers, so it's hard to guess what we're all waiting on if not The Colbert Report. Answer the question, Mr. Swofford.
2012 ACC Football Schedule: Highlights, Strength Of Schedule And More
by Jason Kirk
The 2012 ACC football schedule has now joined us. Virginia Tech's the bull in the ring, Miami's running a gauntlet, and even Florida State fans approve.Continue reading »
Feb 28 9:00a