The ACC has announced this afternoon that it will be moving from a 20-game conference schedule to an 18-game slate beginning this fall. The move will allow for some scheduling flexibility across the league. The new setup will have two teams serve as primary partners (Stanford is going to be matched up with Cal) with those two teams playing twice in a season along with a rotating variable partner that will also have a home and home matchup on the schedule. Then the other games will be played against 14 of the 15 remaining teams in the league.
“As a league, we have been transparent about the importance of ACC Men’s Basketball and specifically our commitment to ensuring it is best positioned for the future,” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said in a statement through the league. “Moving to an 18-game conference schedule is a direct result of our ongoing strategic review and analysis and provides our schools a better balance of non-conference and conference games, while also allowing them more autonomy in the scheduling process. This decision reflects our on-going prioritization to do what’s best for ACC Men’s Basketball, and we appreciate the thoughtfulness of our membership and the support from our television partners.”
Conference play will begin in late December and run through the first Saturday in March. Last season the Bears had a Dec. 7 matchup against Stanford before concluding nonconference play and played the Cardinal, SMU and NC State twice during the regular season.
