ACC: 14-game women's hoop schedule w/11 teams

ACC athletic directors, meeting in Charlottesville, Va., have established
scheduling plans for 2004-05, when Virginia Tech and Miami expand the league
from nine to 11 teams. (There have been reports Boston College will become the
12th team soon, but nothing has been formalized yet.)

There will be no divisional format for either men's or women's basketball. The
following are some questions and answers that should help along with the list
of partner schools for basketball. 

FOR BASKETBALL THE FOLLOWING STRUCTURE WILL BE FOLLOWED IN 2004 AND 2005 


Q. How many regular-season conference games will be played for women's
basketball and why? 

A. A 14-game regular-season conference schedule has been selected to allow
greater flexibility in the scheduling of non-conference opponents, not only out
of region but also to include tournament events and intra-state rivalries that
have become important to the growth and development of women's basketball. In
conference play, it allows each team to play each institution at least once a
year and also protects conference rivalries allowing for a home/away series
every year. Additionally, this schedule meets the leagues current television
requirements and meets NCAA requirements to receive automatic qualification to
the NCAA Tournament. 


Q. What is the difference between a primary partner and a rotating partner? 

A. A primary partner is a team that you are guaranteed to play twice - home and
away - every year. Each school will have primary partners assigned which can be
changed, after a minimum of two seasons of play. 

Rotating partners are the remaining schools that you will play a combination of
once or twice in any given season. 


Q. Why are the primary partners different for the men and women? 

A. The rivalries and traditions for men's and women's basketball have developed
differently. It was appropriate to have different models to maintain the
traditions for both men's and women's basketball. 


Q. How were primary partners decided? 

A. Throughout the expansion process, lengthy discussions between league
officials ensued and a commitment was made to make every effort to protect one
traditional rivalry per member institution, inclusive of new members. 


Q. When will the actual schedule designating all primary and rotating partners
be announced? 

A. We hope to have that available after the New Year. 


Q. Why wasn't a 20-game round-robin conference schedule selected? 

A. It compromises the ACC's commitment to schedule nationally in basketball.
Specifically, it would reduce the number of non-conference opponents from 11 to
seven, which would severely impact an institution's ability to schedule highly
regarded non-conference out of region opponents, traditional regional opponents
and could influence negatively on a schools ability to play in special events
and inter-conference challenges that have become synonymous with ACC
Basketball. 


Q. If a team is only playing a conference opponent once, would it be
permissible to play the team again, as a non-conference opponent? 

A. Yes, however it is an institutional decision to schedule a conference
opponent for a second regular-season game; however it would not count toward
their conference record for tournament seeding. 


Q. How much input did Virginia Tech and Miami have on the decisions about the
conference scheduling models? 

A. Both institutions have been consulted throughout the process. (Note: Miami
and Virginia Tech do not become voting partners until July 1, 2004.) 


Q. Why was this Basketball Tournament format selected? 

A. The decision was made in the sport of basketball that every institution
would participate in the conference tournament to uphold the commitment of
providing a positive student-athlete experience and maintaining the tradition
that the men's and women's tournament have developed throughout the years. This
tournament format provides an equitable and efficient bracket for an 11-member
conference tournament. 

Women's Basketball Primary Partners (will play home and away with each of these
teams) 

Clemson: NC State, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Wake Forest 
Duke:  North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Miami 
Florida State: Miami, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Virginia Tech 
Georgia Tech: Clemson, Florida State, Maryland, Wake Forest 
Miami: Florida State, Virginia Tech, NC State, Duke 
Maryland: Virginia, Virginia Tech, Duke, Georgia Tech 
North Carolina: Duke, Wake Forest, Virginia, NC State 
NC State: Wake Forest, Clemson, Miami, North Carolina 
Virginia: Maryland, Duke, North Carolina, Virginia Tech 
Virginia Tech: Miami, Maryland, Florida State, Virginia 
Wake Forest: NC State, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Clemson

V


"There is no such thing as accident. It is Fate--misnamed."
   --title card, Erich Von Stroheim's "The Wedding March," 1928