The Confidential

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Archive for the tag “Football”

Due Process, Penn State, Blah Blah Blah

The Confidential has seen an argument in various places that Penn State was somehow deprived of due process.  For example, Tony Barnhart of CBS Sports has this nice article about how he is comfortable with the penalties imposed on Penn State, but not the due process.  Please note that the Confidential writes from the perspective of a licensed, practicing attorney, but is not the product of substantial research.  Nevertheless, a quick bit of research confirmed that it seems highly unlikely that there was a due process violation here.

First, what is due process anyway?  The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides as follows in Section 1: “No State shall . . . deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”  The concept of “due process” has emerged over the decades to involve two components: substantive due process and procedural due process.  Procedural due process generally requires that, “when the state or federal government acts in such a way that denies a citizen of a life, liberty, or property interest, the person must first be given notice and the opportunity to be heard.”  See e.g. http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/procedural_due_process.  Substantive due process generally “prohibits the government from infringing on fundamental constitutional liberties.”  http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Substantive+Due+Process.

Setting aside these meanings, the question is whether the NCAA is somehow equivalent to a government.  Some courts have answered that question with a “no.”  See NCAA Due Process, Its Past and Its Future, Christopher V. Carlyle, Entertainment and Sports Lawyer, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Spring 1994).  In fact, no less than the United States Supreme Court ruled that the NCAA was not a state actor subject to the 14th amendment in National Collegiate Athletics Association v. Tarkanian, 488 U.S. 179; 109 S. Ct. 454; 102 L. Ed. 2d 469 (1988).  Later, when Nevada tried to legislate a due process requirement into Nevada state law, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the legislation violated two separate provisions of the United States constitution: the Commerce Clause and the Contract Clause.   National Collegiate Athletics Association v. Miller, 10 F.3d 633 (9th Cir. 1993).  In other words, it is unclear how Penn State could argue that the NCAA is required to afford them due process as a matter of law.  The NCAA is a private entity, not a state actor.

Second, even if the NCAA were somehow a state actor, the protests at issue surround the procedural tactics chosen by the NCAA, such as not taking sufficient time after reviewing the Freeh report to decide the sanctions and not conducting its own investigation.  There is no suggestion that Penn State has been deprived of substantive due process.  This is a procedural due process issue.

The problem for Penn State is that, as noted above, procedural due process only requires notice and the opportunity to be heard.  It is beyond dispute that the NCAA provided notice to Penn State in the form of a letter on November 17, 2011.  NCAA letter to PSU.  In this letter, the NCAA:

  • Provides notice to Penn State that it deems the Sandusky matter and its sequellae to be a lack of institutional control
  • Sets forth that the matter violated several NCAA provisions in its Bylaws and Constitution
  • Lists several questions
  • Gives Penn State until December 16, 2011, to respond.

Under the circumstances, it certainly appears that Penn State was given “notice” and an “opportunity to be heard.”  It does not appear, however, that Penn State ever took advantage of that notice/opportunity.  That does not equate to a deprivation of procedural due process.  It is up to the party claiming such a deprivation to exercise its rights once it is given notice and the opportunity to be heard.  Due process does not guarantee that you must be heard, after all.  As such, the Confidential is perplexed by the suggestion that Penn State was somehow deprived of due process.

Do you disagree?  Feel free to share some law supporting your argument.  The Confidential is opinionated, but on an issue like this, there may be a colorable argument that someone with more time to research this issue can come up with.  If so, the Confidential is free to change its opinion!

Penn State and ACC Football

While the Penn State situation impacts all of college football, it may have a direct impact on ACC football.  Quite obviously, there is the proximity of many schools.  But the ACC’s recent expansion to include Syracuse and Pittsburgh may result in adding the two main beneficiaries in the Penn State decline that is inevitably to occur in the upcoming decade.

Interestingly, while the Florida State fans may dismiss the addition of Pittsburgh and Syracuse from a football standpoint, both schools have had substantial football moments.  Beginning in 1978, look at the records:

  • 1976: Pittsburgh 12-0, Penn State 7-5, Syracuse 3-8 = 22-13
  • 1977: Penn State 11-1, Pitt 9-2-1, Syracuse 6-5 = 26-8-1
  • 1978: Penn State 11-1, Pitt 8-4, Syracuse 3-8 = 22-13
  • 1979: Pitt 11-1; Penn State 8-4, Syracuse 7-5 = 26-10
  • 1980: Pitt 11-1; Penn State 10-2, Syracuse 5-6 = 26-9
  • 1981: Pitt 11-1, Penn State 10-2, Syracuse 4-6-1 = 25-9-1
  • 1982: Penn State 11-1, Pitt 9-3, Syracuse 2-9 = 22-13
  • 1983: Pitt 8-3-1, Penn State 8-4-1, Syracuse 6-5 = 22-12-2
  • 1984: Syracuse 6-5, Penn State 6-5, Pitt 3-7-1 = 15-17-1
  • 1985: Penn State 11-1, Syracuse 7-5, Pitt 5-5-1 = 23-11-1
  • 1986: Penn State 12-0, Pitt 5-5-1, Syracuse 5-6 = 22-11-1
  • 1987: Syracuse 11-0-1, Penn State 8-4, Pitt 8-4 = 27-8-1
  • 1988: Syracuse 10-2, Pitt 8-4, Penn State 5-6 = 23-12
  • 1989: Penn State 8-3-1, Pitt 8-3-1, Syracuse 8-4 = 24-10-2
  • 1990: Penn State 9-3, Syracuse 7-4-2, Pitt 3-7-1 = 19-14-3
  • 1991: Penn State 11-2, Syracuse 10-2, Pitt 6-5 = 27-9
  • 1992: Syracuse 10-2, Penn State 7-5, Pitt 3-9 = 20-16
  • 1993: Penn State 10-2,  Syracuse 6-4-1, Pitt 3-8 = 19-14-1
  • 1994: Penn State 12-0, Syracuse 7-4, Pitt 3-8 = 22-12
  • 1995: Penn State 9-3, Syracuse 9-3, Pitt 2-9 = 20-15
  • 1996: Penn State 11-2, Syracuse 9-3, Pitt 4-7 = 24-12
  • 1997: Penn State 9-3, Syracuse 9-4, Pitt 6-6 = 24-13
  • 1998: Penn State 9-3, Syracuse 8-4, Pitt 2-9 = 19-16
  • 1999: Penn State 10-3, Syracuse 7-5, Pitt 5-6 = 22-13
  • 2000: Pitt 7-5, Syracuse 6-5, Penn State 5-7 = 18-17
  • 2001: Syracuse 10-3, Pitt 7-5, Penn State 5-6 = 22-12
  • 2002: Pitt 9-4, Penn State 9-4, Syracuse 4-8 = 22-16
  • 2003: Pitt 8-5, Syracuse 6-6, Penn State 3-9 = 17-20
  • 2004: Pitt 8-4, Syracuse 6-6; Penn State 4-7 = 18-17
  • 2005: Penn State 11-1, Pitt 5-6, Syracuse 1-10 = 17-17
  • 2006: Penn State 9-4, Pitt 6-6, Syracuse 4-8 = 17-18
  • 2007: Penn State 9-4, Pitt 5-7, Syracuse 2-10 = 16-21
  • 2008: Penn State 11-2, Pitt 9-4, Syracuse 3-9 = 23-15
  • 2009: Penn State 11-2, Pitt 10-3, Syracuse 4-8 = 25-13
  • 2010: Syracuse 8-5, Pitt 8-5, Penn State 7-6 = 23- 16
  • 2011: Penn State 9-4, Pitt 6-7, Syracuse 5-7 = 20-18
  • 2012: TBD

During this entire period, there were only two seasons (2005 and 2007) where two of these teams were not bowl eligible at the end of the season.  Both of those seasons just happened to come during Syracuse’s dreadful Greg Robinson era.* Pitt had a similarly dreadful era from 1992 to 1995, where Paul Hackett and Johnny Majors led them to a combined 11-34.  But, for the most part, Syracuse and Pitt have ordinarily managed to have bad seasons with 4 wins or so.

If Penn State drops to a point where they are not capable of fielding a team able to win more than 2 or 3 FBS games a year, those players have to go  somewhere.  If Pitt and Syracuse are able to siphon off some of that talent, it only stands to reason that both can improve by one or two wins a year.

To be sure, there was not Rutgers or UConn to contend with in the 1980’s and 1990’s.  Even Temple is finally playing up to its potential.  So nothing guarantees that Pitt and Syracuse will pick up the slack.  The move to the ACC might, however, be the shot in the arm that convinces more of these players to go with Pitt and Syracuse (and BC), rather than Rutgers, UConn, and Temple.

Still, the three teams have historically averaged about 22 to 23 wins between them.  If Penn State is only  contributing 2 or 3 wins, that could mean 9 or 10 win seasons for Pitt and/or Syracuse.  If so, the ACC will have to be pleased with these two schools’ contributions to the football equation.

* In the three seasons preceding his era, coaches were 16-20.  In the three seasons after his era, coaches were 17-20.  During his era, Syracuse was 10-37.

Yahoo Claims Miami’s NCAA Issues Persisted Under Al Golden

It was about one year ago that Yahoo’s Charles Robinson reported that the Miami Hurricanes provided illegal benefits to more than 70 players.  The report was significant enough to get everyone’s attention, from Miami to the NCAA.  Miami’s Al Golden promised that he would clean up the mess caused by the former regime and booster Nevin Shapiro; however, a new Yahoo report by Robinson suggests that Miami continued to violate NCAA rules under Al Golden.  This is very troubling news for “the U.”

The new report concerns an allegation that the Hurricanes used “Sean ‘Pee Wee’ Allen – a then-equipment manager and onetime right-hand man of convicted Ponzi schemer Nevin Shapiro – to circumvent NCAA rules in the recruiting of multiple Miami-area players.”  The troubling aspect is that Al Golden’s staff also used Allen to make impermissible contacts.  If so, the Miami scandal overlaps the hiring of Golden.

The Yahoo article includes a pointed response by Golden:

“I have been a college football coach for more than 18 years and I am proud of — and I stand by — my record of compliance over that span,” Golden said in a statement. “As my colleagues and players on all of my teams can attest, I believe strongly in doing things the right way with the best of intentions.

“The inferences and suggestions in the Yahoo! Sports story that my conduct was anything but ethical are simply false. I, like all of us at UM, have cooperated fully with the joint NCAA-UM inquiry and will continue to do so, so that our program and our university can move forward. Because the process is on-going, I am unable to address any specifics or answer questions on the matter.”

Despite Golden’s denial, the report does seem to have some pretty clear evidence that Allen was used improperly.

The saving grace for Golden may be that these violations happened so early in his tenure–perhaps before he even knew Allen’s role with the team.  Nevertheless, Allen was dispatched by current Miami coaches other than Golden, who certainly would have known.  All in all, it looks like Miami’s troubles are getting worse, not better.

The Atlantic Coast Conference needs Miami to return to its glory days.  And looming NCAA sanctions are only going to delay that.  Hopefully, these reported violation are either untrue or were quickly remedied by Golden’s staff to help mitigate the sanctions.

Lucky 13: Syracuse Will Officially Join the Atlantic Coast Conference on July 1, 2013

Syracuse University has announced that it has reached a deal with the Big East that will allow Syracuse to join the Atlantic Coast Conference on July 1, 2013.  Syracuse will pay $7,500,000–only $2,500,000 more than the buyout of $5,000,000.  With this move, the Atlantic Coast Conference is certain to have 13 teams for the 2013 football season.  It is likely that Pitt will join the ACC for 2013 as well, however, that dispute is in the court system right now.

Reports are that West Virginia paid $20,000,000 to exit the Big East in time for the 2012 football season.  However, the exit fee for West Virginia was $10,000,000, based on changes to the rules after Syracuse and Pitt announced they were leaving.  Kudos to Syracuse and the Big East for being able to resolve their differences without the need for attorneys.

For the ACC, it is not looking like there will be 7-team divisions in 2013.  Let’s hope that the powers that be finally get around to logical geographical divisions.

Penn State, the Death Penalty, and Such

The long-awaited Freeh report is out in public.  This allows everyone to start debating Penn State.  Some have even thrown around the idea of the death penalty for Penn State.  There are too many writers suggesting that to bother citing to any one of them.  The Confidential does not want to minimize what happened at Penn State, but fails to see how the death penalty serves anyone’s interests.

Nobody wins if Penn State football is killed.  Penn State and its fans obviously lose.  The Big 10 loses.  Anyone who enjoys playing and defeating (whether often or not) Penn State loses.  The NCAA loses–demonstrating that it cannot prevent wrongful conduct, only punish it long after it occurs.  Seriously, who wins?

Most importantly, there are victims of these crimes.  These victims have friends and relatives.  These victims want justice, surely, but do not want to be responsible for the death of the Penn State football program that entertains so many people they know and care about, and is so integral to local life.  The victims have suffered enough.

A better justice for these victims would be a cleaned-up Penn State program that takes the lead on preventing this from happening again anywhere.  Actually, there is a rather obvious institutional problem as it relates to sexual abuse, especially child sexual abuse.  People do not want to believe that colleagues, particularly respected colleagues, can be abusive.  This is not limited to football programs, but happens in churches, businesses, and government.  However, there are some very smart people who get paid to research at Penn State.  Perhaps Penn State could devote some significant resources from its Big Ten television revenue to putting its smartest sociologist, psychologist and business minds together on how to create an institutional system that allows for a rational, proper response to accusations of sexual abuse.  Not laws or regulations that defer responsibility to the government, but a system that allows entities to self-police long before it reaches the stage of punishment.  This would not be as financially lucrative as sucking on the teat of Monsanto, but this would be Penn State’s greatest gift to the victims–preventing future victims in more places than merely Penn State.

If the NCAA wants to kill Penn State football, it can.  Then we can start talking about what happens next in the conference scheme.  Frankly, the Confidential thinks that those discussions are designed more to inflame passions and entice viewership than any real possibility of the NCAA implementing the death penalty.  The problem is that arguments can detract from solutions.  Until Penn State folks stop worrying about legacies, can anything good be accomplished.  Non-Penn State folks need to stop provoking the Penn State folks.  And so on.

The Confidential has never much cared for Penn State.  They belonged in the Big East.  They would fit nicely in the ACC today.  But that does not mean that it supports the death of its football program.  And without an explanation as to how it benefits all, or even anyone, the Confidential cannot support it.  Punishment can be cathartic, but it can also be pointless.

Notre Dame, the Orange Bowl, and the ACC

Previously, the Confidential noted that the ACC signed a new deal with the Orange Bowl securing its status within the power structure of college football.  Of course, the most important aspect was that the ACC gets to keep the TV revenue.  The latest word is that Notre Dame is in discussions with the Orange Bowl to make regular appearances.  There is also Internet talk as to whether Notre Dame is considering a relationship with the ACC that would allow several games a year between ACC teams and the Fighting Irish.  This is, again, all good news for the ACC.

First, the decision to pair up Notre Dame with the Orange Bowl makes complete sense.  For the Orange Bowl, a 10-2 Notre Dame team trumps any other ten-win team in the country and most 11 win teams.  Even if Notre Dame is unfairly selected, the buzz alone will be worth the trouble.  People will care, even if it is simply to root against Notre Dame.  For the ACC, having Notre Dame as an opponent makes great sense too.  Notre Dame is located in Indiana, but the heart of its fan base is nationwide and certainly heavy along the Eastern seaboard–locations where the ACC has a presence.  Given that the ACC controls the TV revenue, having a 10-2 Notre Dame in the game is much more lucrative than just about any other conceivable opponent.  For Notre Dame, it once again shows that it can remain fully relevant without the shackles of a full-time conference affiliation.  All it has to do is win 10 games and it is in a lucrative bowl.  And if it does better, it will not be in the Orange Bowl, but playing for a national title.  A classic win-win, albeit a win-win-win.

Second, the ClemsonInsider (www.clemsoninsider.com) has the following interesting snippet posted:

For several months TheClemsonInsider.com has been telling its members that the chances of Notre Dame joining the ACC were much higher than Clemson leaving for the Big 12.  The ACC has been courting the Irish for a long time but those discussions picked up over the past few months as we’ve reported.

TheClemsonInsider.com has now confirmed with sources close to the situation that the discussions have progressed to the point where Presidents from a number of ACC schools are having discussions with Notre Dame to try to finalize a deal.  The ACC Presidents would love for the Irish to join the ACC as a full member, but they are also interested in other alternatives that could help the league.

Having Notre Dame play four games a year against ACC opponents is yet another win-win.  For ACC teams, having Notre Dame visit is always going to be lucrative at the gate and on television.  It is also helpful for scheduling strength.  Further, it prevents the Big 12 landing Notre Dame in a similar relationship.  For Notre Dame, scheduling is going to get more complex in the future–having an agreement with the ACC will allow more flexibility in that regard.  And, given that Notre Dame often plays at least a few ACC teams per year, there is really not that much of a change.

Of course, it remains to be seen how these two discussions work together.  The potential for a rematch in the Orange Bowl could pose some problems.

But, overall, it looks like Notre Dame is warming up to the ACC as a partner in multiple ways.  While Notre Dame as a full-time member would go a long way towards fixing all that ails the ACC, the ACC is going to have to slow dance with Notre Dame for a while.  Hopefully, it works out better for the ACC than it did for the Big East.  Fortunately, the monetary benefit is far greater for the ACC to do so.

The Orange Bowl Tie-In: An ACC Cash Cow Now

For several years now, the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Orange Bowl have had an official tie-in.  That relationship to continue for the near future, as the ACC and the Orange Bowl have reached a 12-year deal, which will carry the relationship through 2026.  While that news is great, the outstanding news is that the ACC also has the right to market the TV revenue from the Orange Bowl:

Sources told Schad that the ACC will negotiate and sell the Orange Bowl TV rights and plans to keep at least 50 percent of the revenue. Whatever network gets the Orange Bowl will get to broadcast it, even when it’s a semifinal.

Thus, not only is the new deal great for ensuring that the ACC will remain at the big boys’ table, it is also a financial cash cow.

Just imagine the ratings and revenue resulting from a Florida State-Notre Dame Orange Bowl.  Or, when the Orange Bowl hosts a semifinal, it will feature two of the top 4 teams in the country.  Again, this is a huge “get” for the ACC leadership.

The Orange Bowl remains the logical landing spot for ACC schools due to its location.  Now it will contribute money even when an ACC school is not playing in the game.

 

Plea to the ACC: Reconfigure the Divisions!

The Confidential is not very sympathetic to much of what Florida State complains about.  For the most part, they blame the ACC for their own inability to field a top 10 team.  The ACC leadership is merely a scapegoat.  HOWEVER, Florida State does have a legitimate issue regarding the zipper-format that the ACC has used to divide the teams into divisions.  The Confidential renews its plea for the ACC leadership to apply a logical division of the teams primarily based on geography and school type.

As you know, the ACC is currently divided into the following divisions:

Atlantic: Clemson, Florida State, Wake Forest, North Carolina State, Boston College, Maryland, Syracuse (in 2013?)

Coastal: Georgia Tech, Miami, Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh (2013)

We know these are right because they have been researched.  Yes, one has to check the standings to keep this straight.  If ACC fans and followers have to double-check to know for sure, just think how outsiders consider the ACC.

The logical solution is to do a more pure geographical distribution:

North: BC, Maryland, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Pitt, Syracuse, and Miami

South: NC, NC State, Duke, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, FSU, and Clemson

That is easy to remember.  It’s the northern schools, plus Miami (a northern school in character).  Play 6 games, plus 2-3 cross-divisional games.  Lock-in certain rivalries: Miami-FSU, Virginia-North Carolina, maybe a few others.  Or give everyone a locked-in opponent:  BC-Duke, Syracuse-Wake Forest, Miami-FSU, Clemson-Va Tech, Georgia Tech-Pitt, Maryland-NC State, North Carolina-Virginia.  And then play 1-2 other cross-divisional games.  One could even rotate the “locked-in” game periodically, so that Duke-Syracuse and BC-Wake Forest could play each other.  And so on.

The upshot is that FSU gets games against the three southern-most schools–which is good for attendance, TV ratings, and strength of schedule.  All rivalries are preserved.  And the world can keep the division straights.  Everyone plays a ton of geographically logical games.  Only Miami loses geographically, but it renews rivalries with Syracuse, Pitt, and BC.  This is what we call a win-win.  Making FSU happy is not a bad bonus either.  So… ACC leadership… the plea has been renewed.  Make it happen!

Huge Win for the ACC–Four Team Playoff In College Football on the Horizon?

For most folks who have been fretting over the future of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the monetary situation is scary enough.  But when the SEC and Big XII announced their new bowl, there was legitimate concern that the national championship might arise out of a winner of that game versus the winner of the Rose Bowl.  If so, there would be a mad scramble for teams to get into one of the big four conferences.  The latest news is that the 11 conference commissioners, as well as the Notre Dame athletic director, have agreed to a four-team proposal that will select the best four teams, regardless of conference affiliation.   As always, Frank the Tank has a great update.

To be sure, the university presidents will need to make the final decision.  But it is doubtful that the presidents will decide to reject the commissioners’ suggestion and trigger conference realignment Armageddon.  As previously noted on this blog, it is not even clear that adding teams to the top 4 conferences is financially viable.  A school pretty much needs to be worth $40M-$5OM per year to allow each of the existing conference teams to get a $2M raise through the addition.  And even if some schools are worth that, it is not clear that it is worth diluting the tight-knit, slow-growing conferences that are stable.  This playoff structure gives the presidents an “out” for delaying realignment.

For the ACC, this should eliminate any real concern by the ever-whining Florida State fan base that they cannot be nationally competitive.  It probably will not shut them up, but it should.  If they can just learn how to win, they’ll be fine.  The money is there.

And for the rest of the ACC teams, they remain in the national title picture.  A 13-0 ACC team WILL be in a playoff.  Heck, even a 13-0 Big East team will probably qualify.  Like Florida State, it is just up to the ACC teams to go out and win games.

 

The ACC TV Schedule for Football (Partial)

The ACC has released the TV football schedule for the first few weeks of the season and a few more games.  Here it is:

Date Game Network Time
Aug. 31 Tennessee vs. NC State ESPNU 7:30 pm
Sept. 1 Elon at North Carolina ACC Network 12:30 pm
Sept. 1 William & Mary at Maryland ESPN3 3 pm
Sept. 1 Richmond at Virginia RSN 3 pm
Sept. 1 Miami at Boston College ABC/ESPN2# 3:30 pm
Sept. 1 Murray State at Florida State ESPN3 6 pm
Sept. 1 Liberty at Wake Forest ESPN3 6:30 pm
Sept. 1 Auburn vs. Clemson ESPN 7 pm
Sept. 1 FIU at Duke ESPN3 7 pm
Sept. 3 Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech ESPN 8 pm
Sept. 8 Penn State at Virginia ABC Noon
Sept. 8 Ball State at Clemson ACC Network 12:30 pm
Sept. 8 Maine at Boston College ESPN3 1 pm
Sept. 8 Austin Peay at Virginia Tech ESPN3 1:30 pm
Sept. 8 North Carolina at Wake Forest RSN 3 pm
Sept. 8 Savannah State at Florida State ESPN3 6 pm
Sept. 8 Presbyterian at Georgia Tech ESPN3 7 pm
Sept. 8 Duke at Stanford TBA* TBA*
Sept. 8 Maryland at Temple TBA* TBA*
Sept. 8 Miami at Kansas State TBA* TBA*
Sept. 8 NC State at Connecticut TBA* TBA*
Sept. 15 Wake Forest at Florida State ESPN or ESPN2 Noon
Sept. 15 Bethune-Cookman at Miami ESPN3 Noon
Sept. 15 Connecticut at Maryland ACC Network 12:30 pm
Sept. 15 Furman at Clemson RSN 3 pm
Sept. 15 Virginia at Georgia Tech ESPNU 3:30 pm
Sept. 15 South Alabama at NC State ESPN3 6 pm
Sept. 15 North Carolina Central at Duke ESPN3. 7 pm
Sept. 15 Boston College at Northwestern TBA* TBA*
Sept. 15 North Carolina at Louisville ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 TBA*
Sept. 15 Virginia Tech at Pittsburgh TBA* TBA*
Oct. 6 Miami vs. Notre Dame (Chicago, Ill.) NBC 7:30 pm
Oct. 25 Clemson at Wake Forest ESPN 7:30 pm
Nov. 1 Virginia Tech at Miami ESPN 7:30 pm
Nov. 8 Florida State at Virginia Tech ESPN 7:30 pm
Nov. 15 North Carolina at Virginia ESPN 7:30 pm
Nov. 17. Wake Forest at Notre Dame NBC 3:30 pm
Dec. 1 Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game ABC 8 pm or ESPN 7:45 pm

Yes, we know what you are thinking.  How long will it take Florida State fans to complain that they have to play a 6 pm game on September 8th, and then turn around and play a noon game on September 15th?  The horror.  And just wait until Seminole fans figure out that their opponent on the 15th is Wake Forest, who Florida State cannot seem to beat anymore.  Three less hours to prepare = proof that the ACC hates Florida State.  At least the fans will have their excuse ready to go when the Demon Deacons win again….

 

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