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A Look at the ACC Basketball Schedule

By T.H.

Unlike the football season, with its two divisions and eight-game schedule, basketball's a bit more complicated. From Wikipedia:

With the expansion to 12 teams in the 2004-2005 season, the ACC schedule could no longer accommodate a home-and-away series between every pair of teams each season. In the new scheduling model, each team is assigned two permanent partners and nine rotating partners over a three-year period. Teams play their permanent partners in a home-and-away series each year. The rotating partners are split into three groups: three teams who are played in a home-and-away series, three teams who are played at home, and three teams who are played on the road. The rotating partner groups are rotated over the three-year period.

UNC's permanent partners are, naturally, Duke and N.C. State. Here's a rundown on who's playing who this winter:

Team Home Only Away Only
Boston College Maryland / UNC/ Virginia Georgia Tech / N.C. State / Wake Forest
Clemson Miami / UNC / Virginia N.C. State / Virginia Tech / Wake Forest
Duke Florida State / Virginia Tech / Wake Forest Miami / N.C. State / Virginia
Florida State N.C. State / Virginia Tech / Wake Forest Duke / UNC / Virginia
Georgia Tech Boston College / N.C. State / Virginia Tech Maryland / Miami / Virginia
Maryland Georgia Tech / Miami / UNC Boston College / Virginia Tech / Wake Forest
Miami Duke / Georgia Tech / N.C. State Clemson / Maryland / UNC
North Carolina Florida State / Miami / Virginia Boston College / Clemson / Maryland
N.C. State Boston College / Clemson / Duke Florida State / Georgia Tech / Miami
Virginia Duke / Florida State / Georgia Tech Boston College / Clemson / UNC
Virginia Tech Clemson / Maryland / Wake Forest Duke / Florida State / Georgia Tech
Wake Forest Boston College / Clemson / Maryland Duke / Florida State / Virginia Tech

If there's a clear winner in this year's scheduling lottery, it's N.C. State, whose only crack at Boston College and Duke come in the friendly confines of Raleigh. Boston College gets a hand as well, getting their only game against Maryland as well as Carolina at home. Which team is behind the scheduling eight ball depends on your perspective. Is Florida State, whose only games against UNC and Duke are both in the Old North State better or worse off than Georgia Tech, the lone ACC team that has home and aways with the two traditional powerhouses? Would you rather be in Virginia's shoes, and meet Boston College and UNC only on the road, or Duke, the lone team playing that pair twice?

OK, that last one's easy. Who would ever want to be Duke?

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