The Atlantic Coast Conference athletic directors voted to remain with eight conference football games. The schools are also required to play at least one non-conference game against either Notre Dame or another Power Five opponent. This status quo option came at the 11th hour after some concessions from ESPN. This is a win for the Wake Forest football program.
#BREAKING: #ACC ADs vote to continue playing an eight-game league schedule with at least one Power Five nonconference game. #ACCFootball pic.twitter.com/XAU2d7EIP4
— ACC Football (@theACCfootball) October 5, 2016
The two other options that were considered were a nine-game conference schedule with one additional non-conference game against a Power Five opponent, as well as an eight-game conference schedule, with teams being required to face at least two additional Power Five opponents. That would have required Wake Forest to play at least ten games per season against Power Five opponents, which means that the program would have had a much more difficult time playing in bowl games. This gives Wake Forest a much greater opportunity to stick with its current scheduling strategy, which gives Wake Forest a very legitimate chance of going at least 3-1 in non-conference games.
Every year Wake Forest will play the other six teams in the Atlantic Division, Duke, and a rotating team from the Coastal Division. Wake Forest currently has at least one qualifying non-conference school scheduled through the 2027 season. What are your thoughts on this decision?
