Today it was announced that the North Carolina Tar Heels would face the Georgia Bulldogs in the 2016 Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game. It seems like a good regional matchup in a high profile game. I tell you what though, I don’t like it for the ACC and I don’t like it for North Carolina.
This is kind of scheduling that has hurt Virginia in recent years. The Cavaliers in the last 3 years have faced UCLA, BYU, BYU, Oregon, Penn State, and TCU. They’ve gone 2-4 in those games, and have gone 4-8, 2-10, and 5-7. This year Virginia plays at UCLA, and hosts a game with a always dangerous Boise State. I’m all for scheduling up, but when you are trying to build a program these losses add up and do little to build the confidence of your team.
You know what builds confidence? Winning…
Duke has been criticized the last couple of year for weak OOC schedules. Well guess what the Blue Devils have won 19 games the last 2 years, including an ACC Coastal Division title. They have built a culture of winning, by you know winning.
I think Duke is at a point where they can begin more aggressive scheduling now. At the moment in the ACC, Clemson and FSU can schedule anyone they wish. They can play with anyone in the country. Louisville playing Auburn next year, is good measuring stick game for the Cardinals as they have already established themselves.
Georgia Tech, while I’m not sure this year’s success is sustainable, we will see, proved they can play in a given year top 10 caliber football as they went 3-1 against teams that finished in the top 15. Virginia Tech as recently as last year, despite some lean recent seasons, beat Ohio State in Columbus. These teams can’t step out of conference and challenge themselves against top end competition.
When you are North Carolina you are building. Your last two years you sit 13-13, with a coach Larry Fedora approaching the hotseat, and probably a new starting QB in 2016. So now you want to play perennial top 15 ranked Georgia in a virtual road game? I don’t get the strategy when you are trying to establish a program. Exposure? Money? I suppose, that’s the draw, but at this point I’m not playing that game until I’ve put my program on more solid footing.
We’ll wish the Tar Heels the best of luck…
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