http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/01/26/unc-and-wake-forest-schedule-non-conference-home-and-home/

Pros & cons

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/01/26/pros-and-cons-of-conference-foes-scheduling-non-conference-games/

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The evolution of college football scheduling reached a new low Monday, potentially. North Carolina and Wake Forest have agreed to a home-and-home series as non-conference opponents. UNC and Wake Forest are both ACC members, but play in opposite divisions. This is the first time two conference members have scheduled a home-and-home series for non-conference competition*, and it may not be the last.

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WTH??

Seems stupid but they're in each other's backyards. Makes sense in that regard.

I don't have a problem with that at all. I applaud them for making a "rivalry" game happen. It's better than either one playing Lamar.

Okay, rivalry game, I get that, but they just guaranteed another loss for the ACC against a Power 5 opponent.

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Okay, rivalry game, I get that, but they just guaranteed another loss for the ACC against a Power 5 opponent.

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And a win

they have no natural ooc rivalry game
neither want to play the ECU pirates , cincy , or ucf
The SEC is not interested in playing them home and home
They probably have enough cupcakes so conference opponent
as an OOC game is their best option

this is just the first time it's happened in football... other schools have done it in other sports

I'd be fine with scheduling Georgia or Florida OOC.

Great compromise for cross division rivalry versus going to an across the board extra conference game.

I'd like to see us add the gators under this scenario too.

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I'd be fine with scheduling Georgia or Florida OOC.

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Agree completely. I'd love to do a Georgia home and home.

I see nothing wrong with this. Its actually a good thing. We should do something similar

This also solves the dilemma of traditional rivals in a 16 team 4 division set up.

The is what Bama/UT and Auburn/Georgia need to do so the SEC can get rid of stupid permanent cross division rivals

Ole Miss is against this idea.

This is the solution for the unbalanced rivalry game schedule in the SEC.

This is an innovative move for both sides:

-Keeps travel costs down b/c no charter planes
-Neither set of fans fills the stadium, they both rely on visiting team to bring fans
-Because of proximity, should get a lot of visiting fans
-North Carolina will be the favorite in both games
-Wake is better taking a loss from UNC than a non-power 5 team
-All the out of conference FBS programs within driving distance currently have better teams

A lot of other power-5 programs would probably be interested in home/home with UNC. Nobody would jump to play Wake Forest. UNC is an ideal opponent as they are a beatable opponent that attract a lot of media attention. A lot like most Big Ten programs.

UNC though probably must worry about getting bowl eligible. High profile losses do not help.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Wake_Forest_Demon_Deacons_football_team

I love this idea & have been advocating this or something similar since we joined the SEC.

From a power 5 conference stand point a 9 game conference schedule will always hurt your overall SOS, compared to 8. However on an individual basis it's effects will be mitigated. Especially since a team like Wake who would probably lose a p5 non con game anyway. Keeps the victory "in house."

Broader though, how great if the SEC ended permanent cross divisional foes? Alabama & Tennesee could use a non con game when they where not scheduled. Auburn & Georgia too, if they cared. Everyone would have the opportunity to cycle faster. We would play the entire East in 4 years. Plus could still schedule home & homes if we cared to, like w/Georgia. Finally LSU & Florida would be happy to no longer have one of the toughest cross divisional opponents every year.

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This is an innovative move for both sides:

-Keeps travel costs down b/c no charter planes
-Neither set of fans fills the stadium, they both rely on visiting team to bring fans
-Because of proximity, should get a lot of visiting fans
-North Carolina will be the favorite in both games
-Wake is better taking a loss from UNC than a non-power 5 team
-All the out of conference FBS programs within driving distance currently have better teams

A lot of other power-5 programs would probably be interested in home/home with UNC. Nobody would jump to play Wake Forest. UNC is an ideal opponent as they are a beatable opponent that attract a lot of media attention. A lot like most Big Ten programs.

UNC though probably must worry about getting bowl eligible. High profile losses do not help.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Wake_Forest_Demon_Deacons_football_team

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Wake has recently had H2Hs with Notre Dame, Nebraska, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Baylor, and Stanford (playing close home games against ND and NE, and going at least 0.500 against all the others). Beyond future games w/ ND (the previous H2H was scheduled prior the ACC / ND arrangement, although Wake played a key role in that), Wake has commitments w/ Indiana and Ole Miss. In fact, w/ the deal w/ UNC, Wake is confirmed on playing at least one power conference team through 2025, except for 2022. Point of all this is that Wake was having no trouble scheduling power conference opponents both before and after the requirement, including opponents from the vaunted SEC.

Additionally, while Wake is at a low point right now, it has been, at the very least, a comparable program to UNC over the past decade so it's rather silly to project that UNC will be favored five years from now.

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Okay, rivalry game, I get that, but they just guaranteed another loss for the ACC against a Power 5 opponent.

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And a win

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That doesn't count in conference standings, apparently.

irrelevant in this instance since neither will challenge for conf crown any time soon

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it's rather silly to project that UNC will be favored five years from now.

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Wake has sucked nutz for much of history. They used to be so bad, that they would sell their home game to Florida State. Wake is a small private school that struggles to put 30k butts in the stadium. Teams like that will struggle to hire good coaches, struggle to keep good coaches, and struggle to build facilities on par with programs that can put 2-3x as many butts in seats.

Jim Grobe was the coach there for 13 seasons, only once finishing ranked. He had 5 straight losing seasons before finally being fired. Most places would have fired him long before. The guy Wake hired this year was 1 game above 500 after 5 seasons at Bowling Green, and he took over Bowling Green program that had gone 6-6 the season before.


UNC has underachieved for much of its history. But it is the premier public school in the region. It averages twice the home attendance, and thus has more $$$ for coaches and facilities. It also gets a lot of visibility because of the hoops program.

UNC has been able to hire name coaches. The current coach, Fedora, won a bunch of games at S Miss and was considered a hot commodity when hired. Butch Davis and Mack Brown both coached at UNC. They have had good coaches come through there.

Based on those factors alone, is UNC more than 50% likely to be favored when they play? Yes.

We'll take Vandy, please.

I think it's a great move, and I would assume we will see more scheduling like this. I hate the SEC rotation, but I think this would be a great way to solve the rotation issues.