ACC will go to 9-game football schedule when Pittsburgh, Syracuse join league; crossover rivals remain the same

It's still unclear when Pittsburgh and Syracuse will become members of the ACC, but when they do, the league will have a new scheduling format.

The ACC announced Friday that it will go to a 9-game football schedule when the two schools join to make it a 14-team league. That is unlikely to be this year.

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Pittsburgh will join the Coastal Division, which is where Virginia Tech plays, while Syracuse will join the Atlantic Division. They will become crossover partners, leaving the existing matchups in place. The Hokies' annual Atlantic Division partner will remain Boston College.

The announcement was made following the ACC's annual winter meetings.

"We have been engaged in discussions on the various options for integrating Pitt and Syracuse since early fall," ACC Commissioner John Swofford said. "It's a tremendous tribute to the leadership at our schools that we will be able to seamlessly add Pitt and Syracuse at the appropriate time when they become full playing members."

The nine-game schedule will consist of each team playing all six of its division opponents in a year, its primary crossover partner and two rotating opponents from the opposite division.

It is a six-year cycle that allows each team to play the rotating crossover opponents two times (once at home, once away) in that time.

Here's the division breakdown:

• Coastal: Duke, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Miami, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Virginia Tech
• Atlantic: Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Maryland, N.C. State, Syracuse, Wake Forest

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