Notre Dame's status as a full-time football member means the ACC gets a share of ND's NBC TV revenueGETTY IMAGES
The ACC's decision to play an 11-game schedule and include Notre Dame as a full-time football member this season is a "Grand Master maneuver in more ways than one" by ACC Commissioner John Swofford, according to Pat Forde of SI.com. Swofford is set to retire at the end of the '20-21 athletic season, and this "would be quite a final flourish." The ACC has "forced the ultimate bachelor into a full season (at least) of a committed relationship." Forde wrote it is a "win-win arrangement: the ACC getting a share of Notre Dame’s prodigious NBC TV revenue and all the accompanying eyeballs on its teams; the Irish getting a full schedule after losing games against USC, Stanford and Wisconsin." The "second genius maneuver: Swofford & Co., beating the SEC on the scheduling news and simultaneously putting the onus of canceling the traditional ACC-SEC rivalry games on that league." By announcing a "desire to play one non-conference game but not identifying the opponent beyond saying it had to be played in their home state, the ACC basically threw 100 gallons of paint around the corner and made the SEC stand in it" (SI.com, 7/29).
NOTHING PERSONAL: ACC Network’s Mark Packer said there is "a lot of gamesmanship going on here.” It was an "incredibly shrewd move by the ACC and John Swofford, and that would be an understatement because the league got in front of the parade yesterday while the SEC and the Big 12 now try to figure out what they’re going to do.” The ACC "put everybody on notice" (“Packer and Durham,” ACC Network, 7/30). ESPN's Andrea Adelson said through these last couple of weeks as the Big 12, the ACC and the SEC have "taken their time to try to figure out what to do, I think there was this sense that they would maybe be working in concert with each other, that they would try and keep some of those marquee non-conference games that all three of them share" ("The Paul Finebaum Show," ESPN Radio, 7/29).
BIG 12 DECISION SHOULD COME SOON: In Dallas, Chuck Carlton writes Big 12 presidents "probably will be making a call about what their football schedule will look like on Monday." By then, "a lot of the decisions about the upcoming football season might already have been made." The conference "almost assuredly will have to move off its 12-game, full regular season preference." Carlton: "Much may depend on the SEC. If the SEC allows a plus-one concept, the Big 12 probably wouldn’t want to cancel several high-profile games" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 7/30). YAHOO SPORTS' Pete Thamel wrote in the next week, "some direction is expected from the Big 12 and SEC that should chart the short-term course for college football." For now, the "only strategy unifying college sports is waiting and hoping." The "most realistic source of optimism comes from a simple place -- testing" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 7/29).
HASTY DECISION? USA TODAY's Dan Wolken writes with the ACC's decision, it "appears college sports has realized it can’t kick the can down the road much farther." The SEC and the Big 12 in the coming days are "expected to formalize their new schedules as well, meaning there will be a consensus -- at least on paper, anyway -- for a season that begins roughly on time, plays almost a full season and will provide the novelty of conference games almost exclusively across the board." Wolken: "Maybe it will work out perfectly. But it begs a question: What’s the rush?" College football has "one chance to get this right." It "might be able to start, but the goal should be to finish." Wolken concludes, "If logic were driving these decisions rather than money, all of college football would be pressing the pause button right now and aiming for a shorter season of eight or nine games that starts in October" (USA TODAY, 7/30).
SPRING STILL UNLIKELY: ESPN.com's Adelson & Dinich write a spring college football season is "more likely than a couple of weeks ago, but it's still viewed as a last resort by many." A spring season "raises a new batch of questions regarding player safety," including the NFL Draft and "uncertainty about the state of the virus and a vaccine by the new year." Duke coach David Cutcliffe on Friday said spring football will only be an option "when it's the only option left" (ESPN.com, 7/29).
