2008 Woodie Awards
Reviving the lost Tobacco Road rivalry
By: Michael Moore
Issue date: 11/6/07 Section: Column
Last update: 11/6/07 at 7:42 AM EST
Last update: 11/6/07 at 7:42 AM EST
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There is, however, a larger point to this discussion. Before expansion, the ACC wasn't just about the depth of the most premier rivalries, it was about breadth of rivalries among teams within the conference. And that has suffered as a result of the constraints of scheduling in a larger league.
The symptoms of weakening conference rivalries may be beginning to show, even if the average fan or player doesn't recognize them for what they are.
For example, the Cameron Crazies have been criticized recently for their decline in creativity when taunting ACC opponents. In the Crazies' defense, it's easier to remember, or even get dirt on players when they come to your gym every year.
Maybe it's not the line policy that needs to be overhauled. Maybe it's the conference scheduling that does.
The ACC basketball schedule is locked- in through 2011, and Commissioner John Swofford said the policy will be revisited sometime in the next few years to see if the league should opt for an 18-game conference slate. The Big East, Big Ten and Pac-10 have done this already.
Adding two ACC contests would change the system so that each team would have three partners that it would play twice every year and two groups of four with which it would alternate between playing once or twice. With that schedule, Duke would never go more than a year without having a home-and-home with each conference foe, including N.C. State.
In the meantime, the oft-forgotten Tobacco Road rivalry has some hope for revival. The basketball teams have a home-and-home series for the first time since 2004, and they are predicted to finish second and third in the conference. Add to that the fact that they are coming off a year when the Wolfpack handed the Blue Devils their first-ever Thursday ACC Tournament loss.
And the football drought shouldn't happen again either, as the division system ensures that the teams will play every other year. Still, that means each class will see just one home game against the Wolfpack.
The bottom line is that the ACC needs rivalries like Duke-N.C. State. The Blue Devils can only play the Tar Heels so many times each year. And if the league can't rebuild those mid-major rivalries, we'll start to see the real price at which expansion money came.
The symptoms of weakening conference rivalries may be beginning to show, even if the average fan or player doesn't recognize them for what they are.
For example, the Cameron Crazies have been criticized recently for their decline in creativity when taunting ACC opponents. In the Crazies' defense, it's easier to remember, or even get dirt on players when they come to your gym every year.
Maybe it's not the line policy that needs to be overhauled. Maybe it's the conference scheduling that does.
The ACC basketball schedule is locked- in through 2011, and Commissioner John Swofford said the policy will be revisited sometime in the next few years to see if the league should opt for an 18-game conference slate. The Big East, Big Ten and Pac-10 have done this already.
Adding two ACC contests would change the system so that each team would have three partners that it would play twice every year and two groups of four with which it would alternate between playing once or twice. With that schedule, Duke would never go more than a year without having a home-and-home with each conference foe, including N.C. State.
In the meantime, the oft-forgotten Tobacco Road rivalry has some hope for revival. The basketball teams have a home-and-home series for the first time since 2004, and they are predicted to finish second and third in the conference. Add to that the fact that they are coming off a year when the Wolfpack handed the Blue Devils their first-ever Thursday ACC Tournament loss.
And the football drought shouldn't happen again either, as the division system ensures that the teams will play every other year. Still, that means each class will see just one home game against the Wolfpack.
The bottom line is that the ACC needs rivalries like Duke-N.C. State. The Blue Devils can only play the Tar Heels so many times each year. And if the league can't rebuild those mid-major rivalries, we'll start to see the real price at which expansion money came.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Taylor Williams
posted 11/06/07 @ 9:30 AM EST
Well said. In addition to all of this, expansion has contributed to the parity of the conference in basketball, triggering the drought of NCAA Tourney bids in recent years. (Continued…)
Locomotive Breath
posted 11/06/07 @ 12:17 PM EST
This is what happens when you turn your sport into a made-for-TV event.
hatin
posted 11/06/07 @ 8:13 PM EST
We Tar Heels don't view you as elitist outsiders. Don't be so vain. Believe me, we view ourselves as the elite.
We view you as we view your architecture. (Continued…)
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