Could Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh shift to opening weekend in 2019?

Back in March, we’d heard about early-season ACC football scheduling potentially getting some tweaks with the upcoming linear network launch in 2019. The thought was for the ACC Network to mimic the SEC Network’s early strategy, stacking conference games onto the channel early to push subscribers.

At the time, ACC Commissioner John Swofford chatted with the Daily Press’s David Teel talked about some of the challenges that could stand in the way of changing the schedule. A lot of the top teams in the conference are already locked into marquee non-conference games, which are nearly impossible to get out of.

Over the weekend, Teel took a look at the other teams, who are currently NOT tied to major non-conference games. One of those is the Syracuse Orange, who’s currently set to face Holy Cross on opening weekend. The rest of that shortlist: Boston College, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Pitt, Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Teel proposes that Clemson and Georgia Tech are a likely pair, then pulls Virginia Tech and BC together as well. That leaves SU, UVA and Pitt left to figure things out. The Hoos and Orange don’t play in 2019, so either Virginia faces Pitt or Syracuse hosts the Panthers.

If the Carrier Dome is being renovated (and we think it could be at the time), then SU’s out. But if they can get it done during 2018 -- we can dream! — what better way to welcome the venue back into action in 2019 than against our longest-running annual football opponent?

Again, far from assured. And perhaps some more comes of this discussion at the spring meetings. But it does seem like it could be an option on the table for Syracuse... if we can get the Dome ready to go, that is.