I have not bothered to post on here for over year because last year was the year without real college football. I am not sure what we will eventually call it but it was not normal.

The ACC has been standing at a fork in the road trying to find and improve itself and then move forward. Notre Dame joined the ACC and both parties were happy with the deal. Notre Dame needed the ACC more than the ACC needed them because Notre Dame needed a legitimate home for it's non-football sports. Having Notre Dame on your roster helps in a lot of ways so the ACC was happy. But as with all marriages the honeymoon comes to an end and reality sets in.

There is nothing wrong with the deal but Notre Dame is not the problem that most think it is for the ACC. Notre Dame is doing exactly what they need to ensure their own path forward on their terms. No one can fault them for that. The fault though is on the ACC and how it views Notre Dame. The ACC has penciled them as #15 and Notre Dame is never going to be #15. Never.

Even if the national structure requires a conference champion to advance to the national championship, Notre Dame will be given a special deal to get there. Notre Dame is never going to be a full football member of any conference.

The ACC from the beginning tried to wedge Notre Dame into the football schedule and this I think was a mistake. Notre Dame does not want to play ACC football - ever. It might want to play some of the members from time to time but never as a regular thing.

So, the ACC is at that fork trying to find its identity as a cohesive conference because it does not feel cohesive. The ACC has Big East-itis. A schism between football biased all sport focused members and basketball biased all sports focused members. Notre Dame wandering around the party just muddies the water from the real issue, which is not Notre Dame.

There are series of issues that must be dealt with to fix and improve the ACC:

Fan apathy
Conference cohesiveness
National perception
Stability - yes, like the Big East before it, the ACC stands on wobbly legs.
The Schism between football and basketball
Identity

While I listed six issues, I am sure there are others of merit but they all come back to the ACC being something of a mish-mash - Big East-itis. All of the problems can be traced back to the set up, so the set up needs to be changed.

Here is what I would do:

Recognize that Notre Dame is not going to be part of the football slate. Let them out of their 5 game commitment in football. They can still play any or all members of the ACC on the field of football but it would not be a conference game nor count to ward conference standing. It would also remove Notre Dame from the ACC bowl line up. To be honest, Notre Dame does not need the access as they can get into any bowl they want based on their pedigree if not their win-loss record in a given season.

Once Notre Dame is set aside as #15, the ACC can begin down the path to fixing its issues.

Split the current ACC into the following divisions:

Football Matters:
Clemson
Florida State
Georgia Tech
Louisville
Miami
North Carolina State
Virginia Tech

Basketball Matters:
Boston College
Duke
North Carolina
Pittsburgh
Syracuse
Virginia
Wake Forest

Some might quibble where they are but this is my perception and the lineup could be tinkered.

Then the ACC needs to add #15 and #16. Obviously a football biased school and a basketball biased school.

This is where people start screaming Texas. If you only knew how stupid that sounded. Texas writes its own rules and make smore money than anyone else. It is never joining the ACC. Next people scream less loudly WVU. This has issues.

WVU makes almost double what the average ACC members makes each year when all of the pennies are counted and there is the real issue. The ACC has treated WVU horribly over the years and I do not think anyone at WVU would suddenly believe the sweet words coming out of the ACC to woo them. Besides, WVU is smart enough to know it would not only take a 50% pay cut but once in, the ACC would go back to treating them like crap and bad mouthing them. The only way WVU would ever come is if the Big-12 died. Oddly, I think it is far more stable than the ACC, but that is me.

I would suggest for the 8th member of the football division, UCF and for the 8th member of the basketball division, Cincinnati. These teams do not have to move the needle, or bring in viewers or market share or any of those other silly notions people get hung up on. They are here to take up space and be relevant to their division. Nothing more.

Each member of a division would play all of its 7 mates and 1 cross division permanent rival for a total of 8 games - 4 home and 4 away. For VT this would naturally be UVA. If Notre Dame was on a member's schedule it would not be a conference game.

Each member would then be able to four more games: 1 decent P5 team and 3 cupcakes, so long as it got at least 3 more home games for 7 each season to balance the books.

The other members of the cross division would never be played unless both teams advanced to the CCG. For someone like VT, that would mean never seeing Duke or Wake Forest on the field again. The football division members would pound each other, producing some good football and because they all have decent fan bases - an end to fan apathy. The basketball schools would be in games that look more like a slap fight but even these can be entertaining. But, the basketball schools should be able to post a winning record even if they are not strong on strength of schedule.

The championship game would be the best from the football focused division facing the best from the basketball focused division. Both should have good records and good rankings, but the winner should be obvious to predict and thus not negatively impact a run into the national championship.

Once basketball season rolls around the same sort of set up still works. A member would play all its division mates home and away - 14 games - plus its cross division rival - home and away - up to 16 games now.

But what about Notre Dame? There are 17 teams playing basketball. Notre Dame would play every team in the ACC either home or away. It would play four of the basketball schools at home and four away, same for the football schools. Everyone would then have 17 conference games except Notre Dame which would only have 16. Again, this would mean that a school like VT would never see Duke or Wake Forest until the tourney where everyone goes except number 17, whoever has the worst record from both divisions.

If the ACC could get WVU, then it would replace UCF.

If there were done. Everyone would have 8 teams to hate each year and not 15. To be fair it is hard to even hate 8 members but it is easier to than 15 and this helps to pump up fan interest - consistent histories get built. The cross division rival is the same in football as it is in basketball.

The national perception is that the ACC is taking both football and basketball more seriously. The schism between football and basketball focus is reduced if not eliminated and the conference gains stability and thus national identity once more. The only real weakness is the ACC CG could well be a snoozer, but has it not already been since it came about? At least now it will pitch the two best records and rankings against each other and the football division member should be able to write that win if they are worthy.