SEC-ACC should try to preserve these 4 great rivalry games at all costs
The SEC and ACC can’t let these rivalry games die this season.
Dominos are falling on college football with the Ivy League postponing their season until the spring and the Big Ten being the first FBS league to announce they are shifting to a conference-only schedule. Surely, this will not be the last domino to fall as the other Power 5 leagues are likely to follow and ripples will be felt throughout the rest of college football.
The Pac-12, Big 12, SEC and ACC have not made formal announcements about their plans about altering their schedules, the momentum is as such that such an announcement likely isn’t too far behind. As a result, there stand to be even more great non-conference matchups that are removed from the schedule.
The Big Ten has already lost several notable games, including Ohio State vs. Oregon, Michigan vs. Washington and Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin. If the SEC and ACC adopt a conference-only schedule there may be several notable rivalry games that will be interrupted this year, which would be another blow for the great fans of the sport.
Could the ACC and SEC keep their rivalry games?
Rivalry games like Florida and Florida State is annually one of the most-anticipated games of the season. Georgia and Georgia Tech is Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate that’s been played 114 times, the first coming in 1893. World War I interrupted the rivalry from 1917-1924 but has been played uninterrupted since.
Louisville and Kentucky is one of the most passionate rivalries in college basketball but also in football where both programs, especially Kentucky has been rejuvenated under the direction of coach Mark Stoops.
And then there’s the Palmetto Bowl between Clemson and South Carolina that began in 1896 and been uninterrupted since 1909. Hopefully, the decision-makers at these universities can find a way to keep these rivalry games on the schedule.
Both the SEC and ACC play eight conference games, so perhaps there’s a sliver of hope they can keep the rivalry games on the schedule and these games won’t fall to the wayside like the Big Ten-affected tilts we won’t see.
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