2007 Football schedule & "rotating partners"

[Highlander]

Since I'm not a baseball fan, I've started thinking about football already.

Next year will be the third year the ACC has has the divisional alignment. The format is that every team plays the other 5 teams in their division, plus their one permanent cross division partner (for Duke that is Wake Forest), plus two rotating partners. For Duke, our rotating partners have been:
'05-06 - Florida State, Clemson
'06-07 - Florida State, Boston College
'07-08 - Florida State, Clemson

How is this a rotating schedule? We've played FSU 3 straight years (4 if you count the 11 team year of 2004), yet we haven't played NCSU since 2003? Does anyone know when FSU will ever drop off our schedule?

Other than that, next year's football schedule is just absolutely brutal (http://www.goduke.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=22666&SPID=1843&DB_OEM_ID=4200&KEY=&Q_SEASON=2007). We start off against UConn at home, then go on the road for a solid month. Homecoming is a thumping by VTech, followed the next week by a second road trip to Florida. Then we have two tough home games, and finish on the road at Notre Dame and at UNC. Seven road games to five at home against a slate that only has four teams who weren't bowl eligible last year (UNC, NW, UConn, and UVA). Even the games we traditionally look at as "potential" w's like Wake and Navy are no more. I think it's going to be very tough for Roof and the guys to do anything against this schedule. I would consider anything over 1-2 wins to be a miracle.

Personally, I'd rather drop Navy and add a semi-winnable game like ECU early in the season to pump some confidence into the schedule, and switch FSU out for State. That would give us two more winnable games at least.

[throatybeard]

Five home games on a schedule of eleven was a bit annoying.

Five home games on a schedule of twelve, and we might as well project a silhouette of Mickey Mouse ears onto the Yoh Building.

I think the answer to "how is this rotating" is they had to rejuggle everything when BC joined later than VT/Miami. So the ten-year period over which things theoretically will be balanced begins with BC's entry into the league.

[Susan]

I know I'm glad we decided that playing at Bama last year was too much, and we're going to Notre Dame this year instead.

:eek:

Think I'll go clean my bathrooms. More pleasant than Duke sports at the moment.

[DU Band Prez 88]

Since I'm not a baseball fan, I've started thinking about football already.

Next year will be the third year the ACC has has the divisional alignment. The format is that every team plays the other 5 teams in their division, plus their one permanent cross division partner (for Duke that is Wake Forest), plus two rotating partners. For Duke, our rotating partners have been:
'05-06 - Florida State, Clemson
'06-07 - Florida State, Boston College
'07-08 - Florida State, Clemson

How is this a rotating schedule? We've played FSU 3 straight years (4 if you count the 11 team year of 2004), yet we haven't played NCSU since 2003? Does anyone know when FSU will ever drop off our schedule?

Other than that, next year's football schedule is just absolutely brutal (http://www.goduke.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=22666&SPID=1843&DB_OEM_ID=4200&KEY=&Q_SEASON=2007). We start off against UConn at home, then go on the road for a solid month. Homecoming is a thumping by VTech, followed the next week by a second road trip to Florida. Then we have two tough home games, and finish on the road at Notre Dame and at UNC. Seven road games to five at home against a slate that only has four teams who weren't bowl eligible last year (UNC, NW, UConn, and UVA). Even the games we traditionally look at as "potential" w's like Wake and Navy are no more. I think it's going to be very tough for Roof and the guys to do anything against this schedule. I would consider anything over 1-2 wins to be a miracle.

Personally, I'd rather drop Navy and add a semi-winnable game like ECU early in the season to pump some confidence into the schedule, and switch FSU out for State. That would give us two more winnable games at least.

Wow, this is unbelievable. Where are the ECUs, Rices and Western Carolinas at the start of the season? The only games with really any potential to be a win are the bookends of the schedule, UConn and Carolina. At least the first game is at home...but then so was the Richmond game last year. After that, perhaps the next best chance is Northwestern; that team finished near the bottom of the Big Ten in 2006 but they were a young team that will definitely be better than they were last year, and it's AT Evanston.

It's great to have home conference games vs. VT, Wake, Clemson and GT, but all of these are likely very, very good teams next year. UVA is bound to be better than last year, and next year's game is at C'ville...good luck.

Who added Notre Dame? Are you kidding me? Do we even play the Irish again in future years and do they ever come to Wallace Wade given that 60,000 or so less tickets would be sold at a Duke home game even if it were a sellout (which a Notre Dame game would certainly be)? What's the point of even scheduling them, really?

I do wish our guys luck and will support them/root for them, but that is a tall order with this schedule next year...

[Highlander]

I think the answer to "how is this rotating" is they had to rejuggle everything when BC joined later than VT/Miami. So the ten-year period over which things theoretically will be balanced begins with BC's entry into the league.

Well, I started my analysis with the '05-06 season, which was BC's first in the conference. Including next year's schedule, that means we've played FSU three straight years since BC joined the league, and Clemson twice. Assuming a home and home series before rotation explains two of the FSU games, but not the third. No one on this year's team, except any redshirt seniors we may have, has ever played NC State. I just find it hard to believe the ACC couldn't do a better job with this, especially considering our conference slate hasn't changed in three years, save switching BC for Clemson last year.

[Kewlswim]

Hi,

I feel with this schedule, I might be able to watch the Devils on TV playing football out here in California. The Notre Dame games are almost always televised.

GO DUKE!

[Bob Green]

My understanding is we are scheduling tough out of conference games against schools such as Alabama and Notre Dame in order to bolster recruiting (come to Duke and you can play against the best teams in the Nation). That's a nice theory but at some point we are going to have to win some games.

I like the series with Navy and believe it is in our long term interest to continue to play the service academies. Instead of dropping Navy, we should look into adding Army.

I'm bracing for another brutal football season. :mad: All we can do is prepare for the worst, while hoping for the best. :)

Bob Green
Yokosuka, Japan

[RelativeWays]

I plan on going to a couple of home Duke football games this year. I've always felt that just rooting for the basketball team is a cop-out. I think tickets are $70 a game?!? Thats a bit much but maybe they'll be cheaper at the gate. WW is a nice place to take in a game.

[DukeUsul]

I plan on going to a couple of home Duke football games this year. I've always felt that just rooting for the basketball team is a cop-out. I think tickets are $70 a game?!? Thats a bit much but maybe they'll be cheaper at the gate. WW is a nice place to take in a game.

Tix are much cheaper than that. That's the season ticket/general admission price. For one game, just buy general admission seats as you walk up, and sit wherever you like. Probably $20 or so.

[Susan]

And for Homecoming games, tix have been offered to alumni for $10 for the past few years. Here's hoping that holds true for the VaTech game this year, as the number of Hokies who filled Wallace Wade 2 years ago was sickening. That said, I've suffered through two straight homecoming losses (and last year's to UVA was miserable), and I'm not excited about this year's game. We'll see if I make the drive back to Durham for that one.

[Bob Green]

Tix are much cheaper than that. That's the season ticket/general admission price. For one game, just buy general admission seats as you walk up, and sit wherever you like. Probably $20 or so.

I realize it was a long time ago (I haven't been in WW since 1976) but end zone seats use to be $1 each.

Bob Green
Yokosuka, Japan

[Jim3k]

I realize it was a long time ago (I haven't been in WW since 1976) but end zone seats use to be $1 each.

Bob Green
Yokosuka, Japan


And that included the splinters. ;)


Gone now, in favor of aluminum bleachers. :cool: (used this smiley because the end zone seats still require shades)

[NovaScotian]

this may just be a rumor, but i heard somewhere that the reason we have a kind of screwy schedule (four game road trip, only four games at home during school) is because someone in the scheduling office messed up and thought the game at northwestern was supposed to be in durham. can anyone verify this? if not, does anyone know why the schedule is so crappy?

[Bob Green]

Sorry but there is no conspiracy associated with the schedule. Last year we played seven games at home and five on the road; this year we play five games at home and seven on the road. Of the seven road games this year, we played five of those teams at home last year. The two exceptions being Northwestern and Notre Dame. Of the five games we played on the road last year, only three are coming to Durham this year (WFU, VT, GT). Alabama and Boston College are not on our schedule.

It is just the way it worked out.

[Olympic Fan]

Bob,

I think the point was that that the four-game road trip is ununsual, not so much the 5 home/7 road breakdown

Duke hasn't played four straight road games since 1987 -- and that was caused when Duke elected to sell a home game (Oct. 17 vs. Clemson, which was the third of the four-game streak). Before that, you have to go back to 1969.

The fact is that the schedules are largely arranged, not by the schools, but by the ACC office. Let me clarify -- the schools sign the contracts with the non-conference opponents (although the conference often has input there -- for instance, the Notre Dame game is a result of an ACC deal with the Irish to play a certain number of ACC teams). The ACC office then lays out the conference schedule around those contracts -- and is supposed to avoid situations such as Duke's four straight road trips.

Anyway, the head of football scheduling is Mike Finn, the Associate Commissioner of the ACC for Football. If you remember, he was the guy Chuck Amato got so mad at a few years back. Chuck first thought his 2003 schedule (Rivers' senior year) would give his team a great chance to win at Ohio State, the defending national champion -- the Pack opened with a warmup game against Western Carolina, then had an open week before the trip to Columbus.

But at the last minute, Finn switched a late-season trip to Wake Forest into the week where Amato thought he had an open week. Reportedly, he did it because the ACC TV network (which he also coordinated scheduling for) needed a game that weekend. When State -- obviously looking ahead to Ohio State (part of it was Amato's fault since he held out a number of banged up players, including McLendon) lost to the Deacs, Amato went nuts on Finn.

Finn's still scheduling the ACC. Is it possible that he made a mistake and thought the Northwestern game was in Durham?

I find that hard to believe, but I can see one possible hint that it's true. On the ACC media release (which Finn also oversees) that the conference sent out Monday, the master schedule listed the Duke-Northwestern game in Durham.

Hmmmm.

[Bob Green]

OF,

Thanks for the explanation. I misinterpreted the post as saying we only played four games at home this year.

[NovaScotian]

is there any way to find if Finn is really at fault? was there any public acknowledgement of the screw up or is not enough attention paid to our or northwestern programs so it doesnt matter?