Just last May, it was reported that the ACC would not consider BYU an option for its membership to satisfy the mandatory scheduling of at least one Power Five opponent per season.
Eight months later? Never mind, apparently.
The same day that the ACC released its complete 2015 schedule, ESPN.com‘s Brett McMurphy reports that games against BYU will now count toward the Power Five non-league requirement for the conference. The league has yet to announce the reversal, for whatever that’s worth.
ACC changes stance: games vs. #BYU will count toward Power 5 non-league requirement, sources told @ESPN
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) January 29, 2015
As it stands now, Virginia is the only ACC school with BYU on its future schedules, with games slated for 2019 in Charlottesville, 2020 in Provo. Whether this reported decision to allow BYU to meet the P5 scheduling requirement means future games between the football independent and ACC schools will start popping up remains to be seen.
Unless a change hasn’t been made public yet, the SEC still does not consider BYU meeting a scheduling requirement similar to that of the ACC’s. Of course, the Cougars have played just five games total against teams that were members of the SEC at the time the game was played, so it’s not as if there’s an extensive history between that institution and that conference.
Regardless, the ACC’s decision is a huge one for BYU as it will allow the football program to further bolster its schedule -- and any potential playoff résumé -- with quality Power Five opponents. Short of landing a spot in one of those conferences -- you have their digits, Big 12 -- this is about as good as it gets for the Cougars.
(Photo credit: BYU athletics)
