2014 ACC Spring Meeting Highlights

Football staying with 8 conference, 4 non-conference games. This is huge for teams like Virginia Tech who want to play top non-conference opponents (Beginning in 2015 the Hokies are scheduled to play 2 OOC games vs P5 teams most years).

Speaking of non-conference opponents, the ACC decided that beginning in 2017 every team must play at least one P5 OOC game to promote the strength of schedules of ACC teams. It was further decided that Notre Dame would count toward fulfilling this requirement, but that other independent teams - including BYU - would not. ACC teams may continue to play BYU of course, but they will still need a P5 opponent.

Another strategy which may be used sparingly is for ACC teams to play each other as non-conference opponents in a pseudo 9th game. So far it looks like the pairs of teams most interested in pursuing this are NC State/Duke and Syracuse/Miami.

ACC games will feature an 8th official this Fall. The extra official will be stationed in the offensive backfield. (Expect more holding penalties against the offense).

The ACC is going to recommend an early signing period for football to the NCAA as well.

_____

In basketball news, the ACC men's basketball tournament will now start on Tuesday, with the finals on Saturday night in prime time.

The ACC also decided to experiment with a 30-second shot clock during men's exhibition games.

_____

When asked about progress on an ACC Cable Network, commissioner John Swofford replied that it's "several years" away, still.

_____

The decision was made that the ACC Baseball Championship will be held in Durham, NC from 2015 through 2018.

_____

Here is a graphic published on the official ACC website which lists all ACC championship sites for the 2014-15 athletic year:

http://platform.silverchalice.co/v3/images/contents/5374d609e4b04dd24b42b701

Virginia Tech will be hosting 2 ACC championships: Indoor Track and Field, and Softball.