I know Notre Dame is required to play 5 ACC teams per season and must play every ACC team once during a three year period. However I still have a few questions:

#1. Does the agreement specify home-and-away rotation? In other words, would UofL get Notre Dame at home during the 2017-2019 cycle since they play @Notre Dame during the 2014-2016 cycle?

#2. Who specifies game location? Could Notre Dame demand that the @UofL game be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy instead of PJCS (Papa John's Cardinal Stadium) in Louisville? Can UofL require the game to be @PJCS?

I know UofL made at least one attempt to schedule Notre Dame in football while we were in the Big East (Jurich offered a home-home-neutral), but the only counter offer we got was an open invitation to play one-and-done games @ND.

(04-20-2013 12:32 PM)UofLgrad07 Wrote:  I know Notre Dame is required to play 5 ACC teams per season and must play every ACC team once during a three year period. However I still have a few questions:

#1. Does the agreement specify home-and-away rotation? In other words, would UofL get Notre Dame at home during the 2017-2019 cycle since they play @Notre Dame during the 2014-2016 cycle?

#2. Who specifies game location? Could Notre Dame demand that the @UofL game be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy instead of PJCS (Papa John's Cardinal Stadium) in Louisville? Can UofL require the game to be @PJCS?

I know UofL made at least one attempt to schedule Notre Dame in football while we were in the Big East (Jurich offered a home-home-neutral), but the only counter offer we got was an open invitation to play one-and-done games @ND.

1. You can make the assumption that L'ville will get a home game the next cycle.

2. Game location is decided between the schools and the ACC. Syracuse is the only one playing on a neutral field this go around but that was already planned. I would best most teams would want ND at their home stadium. Although Duke and Wake can make a lot more $$ if they hosted in a larger stadium.

(04-19-2013 04:06 PM)KnightChris Wrote:  

(04-19-2013 02:39 PM)westmc9th Wrote:  Should be this afternoon around 4, schedule all set. Syracuse the lucky winner with getting ND twice in this cycle.

We're only the lucky winner if we get back in line for a home game after 2016 (so we'd host ND again in 2022, this time in the Dome). If the ACC says, "oh, 'Cuse got ND twice already, so they don't get another home game until 2026," then that kind of stinks since neither game is in the Carrier Dome, and both were on the books before the scheduling agreement.

If the former scenario comes to fruition, then hopefully it will silence some of the local critics that have complained incessantly about the Metlife deal. Our obligations to play @ ND are apparently gone (with the exception of taking our once every six years spot in the ACC rotation). A "2 neutral/2 away" deal is now just 2 neutral. If we get right back in our proper place in line for a game @ the Carrier Dome, then we essentially traded 1 Dome game for 2 neutral and a mountain of cash. I'm sure some of the more curmudgeonly members of our fanbase will still find a reason to whine, but the reasons are dwindling.

I was always a fan of playing a big-named team in the Meadowlands to kick the season off. In a perfect world, we would play PSU either in a nautral game every year in the Meadowlands, or PSU every other year, as a neutral game in the Meadowlands, and some other top tier team (i.e. Michigan, Texas, Ohio State, Alabama, and so on) in the meadowlands when we aren't playing PSU.

I could also live with two 3 way season-opening deals between PSU, Pitt, WVU, and SU where:

YEAR ONE (week one)
PSU v. SU (Meadowlands, neutral)
PITT v. WVU (@ Pitt)

YEAR TWO (week one)
WVU v. SU (@ WVU)
Pitt v. PSU (@PSU)

YEAR THREE (week one)
PSU v. SU (meadowlands, neutral)
Pitt v. WVU (@ WVU)

YEAR FOUR (week one)
WVU v. SU (@ SU)
Pitt v. PSU (@ Pitt)

Every 4 year span, that would give:

PITT
1 home game and 1 away game against PSU
1 home game and 1 away game against WVU
and 2 home games and 2 away games against SU (in conference)

PSU
1 home game and 1 away game against Pitt
and 2 neutral games against SU (in NYC)

WVU
1 home game and 1 away game against Pitt
1 hoem gaem and 1 away game against SU

SU
1 home game and 1 away game against WVU
2 neutral games against PSU (in NYC)
1 home game and 1 away game against Pitt (in conference)
1 home game and 1 away game against BC (in conference)

Throw in a ND once every 3 years, a rotation between Rutgers and Uconn (or Temple in Pitt's case) during the other two years and a Big XII and/or a SEC team (assuming that the ACC starts a challenge with at least one of the conferences, which I think that they will), and an 8 game ACC schedule, and we (both Pitt and SU) have a complete schedule that maintains regional rivalries and provides top tier competition, but won't make going to a bowl next to impossible. Assuming that the ACC doesn't start a rivalry series to both the SEC and the Big XII, then both SU and Pitt could use the game to make their scheduel easier (fcs or MAC team) or harder (B1G team) as needed.

It would also make traveling MUCH easier for SU bc the first week would be a routine and the last two weeks (Pitt and BC) are also set in stone, so they are also a routine.

(04-20-2013 04:18 PM)nzmorange Wrote:  I was always a fan of playing a big-named team in the Meadowlands to kick the season off. In a perfect world, we would play PSU either in a nautral game every year in the Meadowlands, or PSU every other year, as a neutral game in the Meadowlands, and some other top tier team (i.e. Michigan, Texas, Ohio State, Alabama, and so on) in the meadowlands when we aren't playing PSU.

I could also live with two 3 way season-opening deals between PSU, Pitt, WVU, and SU where:

YEAR ONE (week one)
PSU v. SU (Meadowlands, neutral)
PITT v. WVU (@ Pitt)

YEAR TWO (week one)
WVU v. SU (@ WVU)
Pitt v. PSU (@PSU)

YEAR THREE (week one)
PSU v. SU (meadowlands, neutral)
Pitt v. WVU (@ WVU)

YEAR FOUR (week one)
WVU v. SU (@ SU)
Pitt v. PSU (@ Pitt)

Every 4 year span, that would give:

PITT
1 home game and 1 away game against PSU
1 home game and 1 away game against WVU
and 2 home games and 2 away games against SU (in conference)

PSU
1 home game and 1 away game against Pitt
and 2 neutral games against SU (in NYC)

WVU
1 home game and 1 away game against Pitt
1 hoem gaem and 1 away game against SU

SU
1 home game and 1 away game against WVU
2 neutral games against PSU (in NYC)
1 home game and 1 away game against Pitt (in conference)
1 home game and 1 away game against BC (in conference)

Throw in a ND once every 3 years, a rotation between Rutgers and Uconn (or Temple in Pitt's case) during the other two years and a Big XII and/or a SEC team (assuming that the ACC starts a challenge with at least one of the conferences, which I think that they will), and an 8 game ACC schedule, and we (both Pitt and SU) have a complete schedule that maintains regional rivalries and provides top tier competition, but won't make going to a bowl next to impossible. Assuming that the ACC doesn't start a rivalry series to both the SEC and the Big XII, then both SU and Pitt could use the game to make their scheduel easier (fcs or MAC team) or harder (B1G team) as needed.

It would also make traveling MUCH easier for SU bc the first week would be a routine and the last two weeks (Pitt and BC) are also set in stone, so they are also a routine.

+1. I like it!

(04-20-2013 07:23 PM)KnightChris Wrote:  

(04-20-2013 04:18 PM)nzmorange Wrote:  I was always a fan of playing a big-named team in the Meadowlands to kick the season off. In a perfect world, we would play PSU either in a nautral game every year in the Meadowlands, or PSU every other year, as a neutral game in the Meadowlands, and some other top tier team (i.e. Michigan, Texas, Ohio State, Alabama, and so on) in the meadowlands when we aren't playing PSU.

While I never thought playing USC or Notre Dame in the Meadowlands (as opposed to the Dome) was a big deal, and I certainly wouldn't be opposed to playing Michigan, Texas, Ohio State, et al there, I think Penn State is a different case. Penn State has been playing Syracuse @ Syracuse for 90 years. With the exception of the 1990's, they've played in Syracuse every decade since the 1920's. That's a rivalry with close to a century of on-campus tradition. I don't mind the current 1-1-1 series, but I'd be opposed to making the series a solely neutral site affair. The rest of your proposal sounds great though.

Concerning Penn State:
I sympathize with your point of view, but where you see it as "a rivalry with close to a century of on-campus tradition," I see it as one of the northeast's best rivalries, and SU v. PSU is SU v. PSU, regardless of where it's played.

Playing a top tier team in a rivalry game in NYC every other year is one heck of a way to start the season. It also keeps the game out of Syracuse 3/4 years without having to play an "away" game for 2/4 of those years.* I know that wanting to stay out of Syracuse sounds weird, but opening weekend is is the NY state fair, so attendance is always weak, which means that SU normally has to choose between having to start the season off fighting an uphill battle with a game on the road and losing revenue by filling one of its home game slots with a "tumble weed game."** I would say try to have our cake and eat it too by kicking off the season at the Meadowlands and hosting PSU later in the season, but I don't think that's a viable option. The only teams that make economic sense for the Meadowlands are elite teams, and having to play an elite team on neutral footing, PSU, AND an ACC schedule every year is a lot to ask, expecially give that we still haven't fully recovered from GROB.

I like the idea of playing in the Meadowlands because it makes a lot of money (I think the Meadowlands currently pays out $5 million/game), builds a NYC buzz, which is good for recruiting (athletic and academic), gives SU fans in the city more of a chance to stay connected to the school (good for donations and retaining our fan base) and a chance to build/build upon a SU football tradition, it creates excitement during the off season, and, as mentioned earlier, it gives us somewhere to be during opening weekend.

Anyway, I can see your logic, and your view is certainly very reasonable, but I don't think it's the best course of action.

*Playing WVU @SU during opening weekend isn't too bad because they are a big-enough name/rival to get a decent local turnout and they travel well, so between the local turnout and WVU traveling, the house should be fairly full. However, they aren't as close as PSU and they don't travel as well as PSU, so, unlike a game against PSU, there isn't a danger of playing an away game at home. If we play PSU during opening weekend, there is a very good chance that the SU fans will be at the fair, and PSU fans will make the drive in especially high numbers because not only will they "get to go to the game, but [they] will also get a chance to go to the NY State fair," which "makes the drive all that much more worthwhile."
**I know you, and all the other Syracuse fans, already know about the NY state fair. It was more directed at the fans of other schools.

(04-19-2013 09:09 PM)TerryD Wrote:  So, is Ragu shocked, surprised and... happy that was he wrong about the ND/ACC games rotation? :)

I wasn't wrong about anything. I said IF this doesn't change with PItt/Cuse then they would be backing out already. And I specifically said that hopefully this changes soon.

Obviously you didn't go to ND or you would be able to read.