So the ACC (not the AAC) has told conference members NOT to schedule for the first weekend of eligible games in 2019 (11/5 and 11/6) as the conference is planning to have a weekend of conference games to open the season instead of the regular slate of powder puff openers.
I don't bring this up because I care all that much about the ACC but in the trend this may start for other conferences to open the year with a slate of conference games. I'm not sure how I would feel about this for the AAC as we tend to start slow and come to peak form during the traditional conference season. I wonder if the ACC's motivation is exposure OR if they are trying to avoid some of their mid-range bubble schools avoiding late conference losses against teams not on the bubble and not going to the NCAA tournament w/o a miracle ACC tourney run. Playing a conference game this early would also allow them to schedule a cream puff non-con later in the season so their last 10 has a good look.
OR, the ACC has had some wonky conference tourney scheduling because of their insistence on being in NYC and having to schedule around the Big East and A-10 tournaments that have had long term tournament contracts in MSG and in Brooklyn respectively. ACC would do well to avoid NYC altogether and just do a Philly-DC-Charlotte-Atlanta that allows the tournament to be pretty close to a group of conference schools each year.
I don't bring this up because I care all that much about the ACC but in the trend this may start for other conferences to open the year with a slate of conference games. I'm not sure how I would feel about this for the AAC as we tend to start slow and come to peak form during the traditional conference season. I wonder if the ACC's motivation is exposure OR if they are trying to avoid some of their mid-range bubble schools avoiding late conference losses against teams not on the bubble and not going to the NCAA tournament w/o a miracle ACC tourney run. Playing a conference game this early would also allow them to schedule a cream puff non-con later in the season so their last 10 has a good look.
OR, the ACC has had some wonky conference tourney scheduling because of their insistence on being in NYC and having to schedule around the Big East and A-10 tournaments that have had long term tournament contracts in MSG and in Brooklyn respectively. ACC would do well to avoid NYC altogether and just do a Philly-DC-Charlotte-Atlanta that allows the tournament to be pretty close to a group of conference schools each year.
