In the year since Jim Phillips became ACC commissioner, he has made it his mission to prioritize football.
That is a big reason why football will take up the bulk of the agenda when the league holds in-person winter meetings in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, starting Wednesday. At the top of that agenda: in-depth discussions about scheduling and divisions. Only this time, multiple sources inside the ACC indicate there is much more movement toward eliminating divisions altogether.
Phillips has not been shy about saying he wants the league to reimagine football, and he told ESPN last year that at some point, the ACC would go to the NCAA and ask that divisions no longer be required for conferences with 12 or more teams to hold a championship game.
The ACC has not done that just yet, but the conversations this week could push the league much closer to making that a reality.
“It feels we are headed in that direction,” one source indicated.
What Phillips has done in the last year to not spur these types of conversations to happen again illustrates how he has tried to lead a conference with significant challenges that existed before he arrived. Phillips hasn’t been afraid to challenge the status quo inside the league, nor has he been shy in standing up for what his coaches and athletic directors want — even if it means serious blowback.
“That’s the value that Jim brings, and the opportunity that Jim has as a new commissioner,” NC State AD Boo Corrigan said. “It gives you the ability to look at everything. That’s where Jim has been so good. Just because things have occurred a certain way before he got here, that doesn’t mean that’s the only way to do it.”
Of course, what to do about divisions is only one piece to the larger scheduling conversation that will happen this week. Scheduling without divisions, how many conference games need to be played and figuring out how to schedule games with the Big Ten and Pac-12 as part of their Alliance must also be discussed. The Big Ten is…
Source : espn
