Talks are heating up for the SEC to start a nine-game conference schedule in the near future, bringing excitement to many college football fans.
If the SEC expands to nine, the ACC could soon follow, but no commitment has been made by either conference yet.
Miami AD Dan Radakovich Thinks Conference Schedule Is Conference
Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich pointed out that expansion is complicated, mentioning the ACC’s deal with Notre Dame as a built in extra power conference game for some teams. With uncertainty about a College Football Playoff expansion and potential pressure from the SEC and Big Ten, Radakovich thinks there are a lot of factors at play.
“[The SEC] could [put pressure on the ACC],” Radakovich told SiriusXM College’s Roddy Jones. “That’s something that we’ll talk about, I’m sure. But with the Notre Dame rotation, a lot of times, you have your eight conference games, you have your Notre Dame game as nine.”
“At some of the schools — Georgia Tech and Clemson — you would have your SEC rivals. So there’s your 10 Power Four games right there. If you go to nine in the ACC, some years, you’ll have 11 Power Four games. It’s something that you have to balance, a little bit.”
“There’s a lot of inter-related pieces here. Because how does the College Football Playoff end? Does it stay at 14, does it go to 16, what are automatic berths, how are all of those managed? Those are all pieces that would help really form the discussion around whether we stay at eight or move to nine.”
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The current CFP format includes auto-bids for the five highest-ranked conference champions — bringing the ACC an extra bid when Clemson won the league championship but finished the season No. 16 in the CFP poll and ACC Championship Game loser SMU finished No. 10 in the CFP poll. The proposed 16-team playoff would give the ACC two auto-bids.
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