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As part of the ACC Network’s efforts to air compelling content without any lives sports, each of the league’s 15 teams got its own “takeover day” in the second half of April. We’ve covered what will air during the Syracuse Orange’s takeover (this Friday), and even talked about it a bit on last week’s podcast. But certainly this group has some thoughts as well.
So we want you to tell us how you’d have changed things, keeping in mind that you can only pick ESPN-owned inventory and that you’re probably going to opt for Syracuse wins. Rather than mess around with “what ifs” around how the Orange could pack a ton of condensed games in, we’ll just utilize the timeslots that the ACC opted for in real life. As a refresher, here’s what that schedule looked like:
- Football: Syracuse at Duke (2019) — 2 a.m.
- Women’s Soccer: Colgate at Syracuse (2019), 4:30 a.m.
- Men’s Basketball: Syracuse at Notre Dame (2020), 6:30 a.m.
- Men’s Basketball: Syracuse vs. North Carolina (2020), 8 a.m.
- Men’s Soccer: Syracuse at North Carolina (2019), 9:30 a.m.
- Men’s Basketball: Duke at Syracuse (2017), 11:30 a.m.
- Men’s Basketball: Syracuse at Pittsburgh (2014), 1:30 p.m.
- Men’s Lacrosse: Syracuse vs. Duke (2015), 3 p.m.
- Women’s Basketball: Florida State at Syracuse, 5 p.m.
- Football: Clemson at Syracuse (2017), 7 p.m.
- Men’s Basketball: Syracuse vs. Duke (2014), 10 p.m.
That’s 11 slots, and five of them went to men’s basketball. Also, none of them went to women’s lacrosse, or the national championship field hockey and cross country teams back in 2015. No offense to women’s soccer, but I don’t think many need to relive a 1-0 win over Colgate over any of those. (ed. note: it seems a men’s lacrosse game was added to the docket, so this has been updated slightly to reflect that).
Additionally, while some former Big East schools opted for an old Big East game or two (both Louisville and Notre Dame feature Big East wins over Syracuse, if you’ve been paying attention), the Orange opted for none of those.
It’s understandable that the conference likely doesn’t want us loading up a ton of old Big East wins (of which, there are many) for the sake of not making a mockery of the ACC Network. Yet, one would think more fans would tune into the six overtime game or Gerry’s 2006 Big East Tournament run than a recent regular season win over Notre Dame, no?
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And while the Duke football win this year was good, what about the Virginia Tech win from 2016? Or the Camping World Bowl? Or the 2011 win over West Virginia?
And again, how were we not airing any lacrosse whatsoever until a late change? There’s a lot to choose from for both the men’s and women’s team, with deep NCAA Tournament runs WHILE they were in the ACC. I’d personally pick the 2009 comeback vs. Cornell for MLAX, but maybe that’s just me. The 2015 ACC Championship win over Duke (what they went with) is a fine choice as well.
If your goal is to program out 11 games that Syracuse fans want to see, and are sufficiently representative of the athletic department’s overall success throughout the years, which would you pick? Share your own picks below.