Quick tell me how many ACC vs ACC Matchups have been ESPN Gameday Matchups the last 10 years that weren’t Florida State vs Miami ( A historically great rivalry ) or Florida State vs Clemson ( the best college football rivalry of the last 5 years )?
October 3, 2009 – Florida State vs Boston College
September 17, 2016 – Florida State vs Louisville
October 1, 2016 – Louisville vs Clemson
September 16, 2017 – Clemson vs Louisville
Do you see trend? No one will argue that Florida State and Clemson are your national football powers. They are. and they have earned the title of the ACC’s Flagship Football schools, but Louisville is helping adding a dimension to ACC that is fairly recent. They are giving the ACC another program to have a marquee matchup with. Part of what made the SEC great in their heyday years back, was just about every week there was a game you had to watch that featured a variety of SEC teams playing each other.
That brings the focus of ESPN’s Gameday coverage right to an ACC campus while featuring ACC teams. Louisville has now hosted Gameday in back to back to years, and that certainly won’t hurt the Cardinal’s recruiting.
In addition, another high profile game enhances Clemson’s playoff resume, while a win by Louisville would get them into the playoff discussion.
This is a showcase for Clemson, Louisville, and the ACC. Clemson should be credited by making each game they play national viewing. When you’re the defending national champs that will happen, but Louisville should also be given credit. The Cardinals and Heisman Trphy Winner Lamar Jackson are giving the ACC that football depth that is helping make conference matchups the national game of the week. When did you think a non FSU\Miami non Clemson\FSU ACC game would have bigger playoff implications than a ranked matchup of Florida and Tennessee?
It’s another step in the right direction for the ACC. When a Gameday is two ACC teams without FSU or Clemson – then we will know the ACC has truly arrived. The last year there was ACC vs ACC Gameday that didn’t have FSU or Clemson?
September 24, 2005 – Georgia Tech vs Virginia Tech
November 5, 2005 – Miami vs Virginia Tech
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