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ACC makes more scheduling changes
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The Atlantic Coast Conference announced changes Wednesday to its future scheduling in football and basketball, impacting which teams Pitt will face when it moves into the conference next year.
The conference will stick with an eight-game football schedule and an 18-game basketball schedule with each team having two regular primary partners.
"The addition of Notre Dame gives us an opportunity to reinforce a number of conference rivalries in basketball and Olympic sports while also giving our schools greater flexibility in non-conference football scheduling," ACC commissioner John Swofford said
The changes were spurred by the announcement recently that Notre Dame would join the conference in all sports except football. The Irish will play five ACC football teams annually.
For football, the original plan was to play nine conference games a year when Pitt and Syracuse joined the conference. Now, the divisions and primary crossover opponents will remain the same, meaning Pitt will play its six other Coastal Division foes, as well as Syracuse, its designated annual crossover opponent. The final ACC game will be a rotation through the other Atlantic Division teams.
In men's and women's basketball, Pitt will play Syracuse and Maryland twice as primary partners every season. The Panthers will play two other teams on a rotating basis home and away and every other team once.
Until Notre Dame joins, though, Pitt's only home and away series will be with Maryland.
The ACC tournament will include all teams. There will be three games Wednesday followed by four games Thursday. The top four teams will continue to receive byes into the quarterfinal round on Friday.
First Published October 4, 2012 12:00 am
