Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 27, 1991 TAG: 9102270063
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RALEIGH, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
The proposal was designed to accommodate next season's expansion to nine schools with the addition of Florida State. It calls for two opening-round games on Thursday, three games on Friday, the semifinals on Saturday and the championship game Sunday.
The regular-season champion would get a bye into Saturday's semifinals. The teams that finish second through fifth would play Friday and the four bottom finishers would need to win on four consecutive days to capture the tournament.
ACC athletic directors recommended the proposal despite the objections of the league's television partners, ESPN and the Raycom-Jefferson Pilot Sports network.
"TV was very much opposed to the Thursday format," said Tom Mickle, an assistant ACC commissioner. "The key reason we did it was because the coaches recommended this format. They thought it would be really attractive to give the number one finisher an advantage because they earned it through a 16-game regular season."
Mickle said that ESPN's championship week schedule for the next season is set, making it highly unlikely that ESPN would show the Thursday games. And Raycom-JP Sports has expressed doubts that it can sell the Thursday games to all the stations on its network.
"This format will be a monetary loss for us if ESPN isn't able to clear its 7 and 9 time slots on Thursday," Mickle said. "They pay so much for the rights to four games on Friday and two on Saturday. They broadcast six of seven tournament games right now.
"Under the new format, we'd have eight games, and they'd be able to broadcast just five of the eight."
John Swofford, athletic director at North Carolina, said conference officials were committed to including all nine schools in the postseason tournament. He said the league also wanted to address persistent requests from the coaches for a better way to reward the regular-season champion.
"This is one of those instances where what's best for television is not best for the league," Swofford said.
Swofford said he believes the league's nine faculty representatives will pass the recommended proposal when it comes to vote between now and May.
Athletic directors chose to make a recommendation rather than call for an immediate vote because they wanted some time to gauge public opinion. Swofford said it's possible the league could change its tournament format in a year or two if it is deemed unworkable.
by CNB