A Look at the ACC Basketball Schedule

by T.H. on Dec 11, 2006 5:01 AM EST in Basketball Comment 0 comments

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?