RE: Divisions are done in 2023!
Shall we take a look at the basketball rival setup?
*Basketball*
Boston College: Syracuse, ND
Clemson: Florida State, Georgia Tech
Duke: North Carolina, Wake Forest
Florida State: Clemson, Miami
Georgia Tech: Clemson, ND
Louisville: Pitt, Virginia
Miami: Florida State, VT
North Carolina: Duke, NC State
NC State: Duke, WF
Pitt: Syracuse, Louisville
Syracuse: Boston College, Pitt
Virginia: Louisville, Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech: Virginia, Miami
Wake Forest: Duke, NCSU
Assuming the Basketball rivalry setup reflects the true rivals each team wants to play, except for Louisville which inherited UMCP’s rivals, most people including myself thought the fooball permanent rivals would be similar to the basketball rivals.
Now let’s see the football side again.
*Football*
Boston College: Miami, Pitt, Syracuse
Clemson: Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State
Duke: North Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest
Florida State: Clemson, Miami, Syracuse
Georgia Tech: Clemson, Louisville, Wake Forest
Louisville: Georgia Tech, Miami, Virginia
Miami: Boston College, Florida State, Louisville
North Carolina: Duke, NC State, Virginia
NC State: Clemson, Duke, North Carolina
Pitt: Boston College, Syracuse, Virginia Tech
Syracuse: Boston College, Florida State, Pitt
Virginia: Louisville, North Carolina, Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech: Pitt, Virginia, Wake Forest
Wake Forest: Duke, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech
My thoughts are below:
Boston College: BC got what it wants. Cuse is the basketball rival. Pitt is the other NE team and BC wants Miami for history and Florida exposure
Clemson: Clemson got what it wants. FSU and GT are already basketball rivals. NC State is a good third rival for them.
Duke: UNC and WF are already basketball rivals. For the third rivals, I think Duke must have chosen NC State over GT because both NC State and GT, facing mighty Clemson every year, probably wanted to have Duke for the balance of schedule (and of course for history)
Florida State: Clemson and Miami are already basketball rivals. I think FSU wanted someone easier for the third rival. BC and Louisville got Miami. GT and NC state probably didn’t want to have Clemson and FSU on their schedule every year. VT sadly prefers a soft schedule. Still not sure why FSU didn’t get Wake or UVa. Maybe FSU does want to play in the state of New York or the league pushed Florida schools to take one of NE schools.
Georgia Tech: Clemson is a basketball rival. Facing Clemson every year, I guess GT didn’t want to have FSU or Miami as a permanenr rival. Other than Clemson and FSU, it doesn’t look like GT has any real rival. UNC, Duke, and NC State are playing themshelves. VT chose Pitt over GT (for history I guess) and UVa chose Louisvile over GT (for travelling fans I guess). Or maybe the league asked VT and UVa to take Pitt and Louisville for a better integration.
Louisville: Louisville’s rivals were hard to predict as Louisville didn’t have much history with the rest of ACC teams. BC-Cuse-Pitt play each other but didn’t pick Louisville. However, Louisville fans must travell well. I think Miami chose Louisville over Pitt and UVa chose Louisville over WF. GT-Louiville might be the last remaining teams to be paired.
Miami: Florida State is already any basketball rival and an obvious choice. I am not sure if Miami dropped VT because Miami doesn’t want to play both FSU and VT every year anymore, or VT dropped Miami to have an easier schedule, or both. BC, Cuse, Pitt, and Louisville probably wanted to play Miami. Not sure exactly why but Miami chose BC (I guess a better destination?) and Louisivlle (better travelling fans?). Maybe the ACC was involved here.
North Carolina: UNC got what it wants...as always
NC State: I think NC State dropped Wake here as opposed Wake dropping NC State because my understanding is Wake likes NC schools and the fact that NCSU’s fans filling up Wake’s stadium. From NCSU’s perspective, Clemson& Duke combo is probably more artracitve than WF&Duke or Clemson&WF.
Syracuse: Cuse almost got what it wants. Boston College and Pitt are already basketball rivals. I think Cuse would prefer Miami to FSU but it seems like Miami chose BC and Louisville over Cuse. FSU is still a second best option for Cuse for recuiting
Pitt: Cuse is a basketabll rival. Pitt has better recruiting ground than BC and Cuse and therefore a recruiting potential seems to be a less factor for Pitt. Instead, Pitt went for histrocal rivals. Cuse is histrocally a rival while Louisville is not. Pitt has probably preferred Miami over VT but Miami chose Louisville and BC instead. VT would be a reasonable fall back option for Pitt.
Virginia: North Carolina and Virginia Tech are obvious picks. Sticking to Louisville is a puzzling choice. The other options would be WF and GT. I think WF chose VT over UVa. And I guess UVa chose Louisville over GT for better travelling fans.
Virginia Tech: Virginia is an obvious pick. As for Miami, I suspect VT backed out to have an easy schedule. But it might have been Miami dropping VT. Wake is a reasonable choice given VT wants to play in the state of North Carolina and Wake is the only available NC school. For the third rival, VT’s choice would be Pitt, Louisville or GT. FSU is too strong and BC and Cuse already got what they want. Louisville isn’t good for recruiting and VT won’t need Louisville’s travelling fans as much. GT would be good for recruiting but I guess VT chose Pitt over GT for Big East history.
Wake Forest: Duke is a basketball rival. The other basketball rival, NCSU, chose Clemson and Duke over Wake. Then WF’s next choices would be Lousville, GT, VT and UVa. VT is geographically close and their fans will travel to WF. No need to have two Virginia schools for recuriting reason, so UVa is out. For the third rival, either Louisville preferred GT and UVa over Wake, or Wake preferred GT over Louisville for recruiting and history.
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