One school has got to go, but who?
Now that we know that the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball squad will play 18 ACC games, now we have to look at the best options for the Orange to play twice and to avoid next season.
As a reminder, to get to 18 games, each ACC team will play two games against a permanent partner (for Syracuse this is Pitt), two games against a rotating partner and no games against one ACC counterpart.
Sure it doesn’t make sense, but let’s look at what the best options might be for the Orange. Now remember that the ACC is changing the revenue distribution to include ratings as part of the formula. So as OrangeRay pointed out, playing Duke or UNC twice might have an impact on Syracuse’s slice of the revenue pie.
Let’s try and break down the ACC teams into categories:
Schools we want to play for the ratings boost: Duke, UNC, Louisville
Any of these schools would give the Orange an opportunity for prime-time games. All of them are likely to be at least around the top 25 next season.
Schools we want to play for the record boost: BC, Georgia Tech, Cal, Virginia Tech
Right now none of these teams project to be very good so it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to draw them for a home-and-home.
Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images
Schools we want to play twice for the content: NC State, Georgia Tech, Cal
NC State has Quadir Copeland and Will Wade and two games would mean lots of fuel on the Adrian Autry narrative fire. Cal has Chris Bell and the Orange of course took both Nait George and Ibrahim Souare from the Georgia Tech, so fans would get to see familiar faces..
Schools we wouldn’t miss: Wake Forest, Stanford, Florida State
If the Orange didn’t play any of these schools next season, would anyone really miss them?
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Now it’s your turn: Which school do you want to see the Orange play twice next season? Which school would you like to avoid playing in 25-26?