BLACKSBURG 鈥 Whit Babcock sensed the tenor of last week鈥檚 ACC annual spring meetings were different than the past two trips to Amelia Island, Florida. No lawsuits from league members were dictating the conversations. Membership seemed aligned with a unified mission.
The cohesion allowed the league鈥檚 athletic directors to get down to business. And the order of business primarily revolved around football and money, ranging from the College Football Playoff to future scheduling.
The Hokies athletic director is no stranger to having to alter how the football program schedules its nonconference slate during his tenure at Virginia Tech. The latest change in scheduling is based on how the ACC will distribute its television revenue from ESPN, and that means Babcock鈥檚 focus now turns to getting more attractive matchups that will draw larger audiences in the stadiums and on television.
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鈥淚 know our fanbase is always interested in certain series and certain games, but you used to schedule to try to win or build a program or strength of schedule. Now we鈥檙e going to get paid on viewership,鈥 Babcock said Monday morning in a sit-down interview with two local beat writers. 鈥淪o it has sent us back into a deep dive on scheduling and looking at it comprehensively. I would expect some action on that later this summer.
Whit Babcock, shown attending the Virginia Tech football team鈥檚 pro day in late March, said Monday that he and his staff will do a deep dive into the football team鈥檚 future schedule and look for more marquee nonconference matchups.
鈥淏ut you really have to look at every series you have. How does it impact viewership? How much does it cost to drop something versus what you might make on a bigger game here and there? So we鈥檙e right back into scheduling. Those things tend to not stay the same very long.鈥
The ACC, as part of settling multiple lawsuits with Florida State and Clemson, is revising its revenue distribution model beginning with the 2025-26 athletic season.
The need to see improvement on the gridiron comes as the economic calculus within the ACC is undergoing significant changes.
The revenue distribution model centers around the league鈥檚 media rights deal with ESPN through 2036. Previously, the league evenly distributed the yearly media rights to league members. The new model will see 40% of the television money distributed evenly among the 14 long-standing ACC members (this excludes newcomers SMU, California and Stanford), and the other 60% will be distributed based on a ratings-based formula from the last five years.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of movement and people looking at schedules,鈥 Babcock said, 鈥渁nd I don鈥檛 want us to get behind and be competing against other ACC schools on games. We鈥檙e moving really quickly on it.鈥
Virginia Tech鈥檚 2025 football schedule features at least three games that should generate strong television viewership.
The Hokies open the season against Shane Beamer and South Carolina on Sunday, Aug. 31, at 3 p.m. on ESPN as the first of a doubleheader that will see Miami host Notre Dame later that evening. The matchup with the Gamecocks is a neutral-site contest at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, and Babcock said part of reevaluating future schedules will include looking at neutral-site contests against SEC and Big Ten opponents, especially if home-and-home options are not available.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a way to make a bigger number than we would make at a home game,鈥 he said. 鈥淎gain, get a really good TV slot and try to play marquee opponents.鈥
Tech also plays at Florida State and hosts Miami during the 2025 league schedule. The rest of the nonconference slate features home games against Vanderbilt, Old Dominion and Wofford.
ODU and Liberty are the only two Group of Five teams with multiple games against the Hokies on future schedules.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to have that right mix of home games to draw season ticket holders, you鈥檝e got to have strength of schedule, you鈥檝e got to have some games you can win. And we always want to have six or seven home games here,鈥 Babcock said, 鈥渂ut it will more than likely make us look more heavily at some neutral-site games in the right places.
鈥溾 You can get an SEC team that maybe doesn鈥檛 want to play home-and-home, you can do that. And, again, if it鈥檚 the only game on, your viewership鈥檚 pretty good. We鈥檙e playing for money now.鈥
Babcock said the discussion of the ACC moving to nine league games hasn鈥檛 been brought up in recent meetings. The SEC, though, broached the topic during its spring meetings as a way to generate more television revenue, and that could have a direct impact on the Hokies鈥 future schedules.
Virginia Tech currently has home-and-home series scheduled with three SEC opponents (Alabama in 2034 and 鈥35, Mississippi in 2032 and 鈥37 and South Carolina in 2034 and 鈥35).
鈥淚f they go to nine, is that going to impact some of our future years?鈥 Babcock said.
The Hokies also have two future series against Big Ten opponents (Maryland for four games between 2026-29 and Wisconsin in 2031 and 鈥32) and two future series against Big 12 opponents (Arizona in 2029 and 鈥30 and BYU in 2023 and 鈥33).
Babcock said the deep dive into future scheduling discussions will include West Virginia and reviving the Black Diamond Trophy matchup.
鈥淲est Virginia is a very good game and series for us,鈥 he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 really confident their fanbase likes and wants it, too. I鈥檓 hopeful we can revisit that and have success with that. That鈥檚 a no-brainer if we can do it.鈥
Notre Dame also was a big topic discussed during the spring meetings. The Fighting Irish made headlines by agreeing to a 12-game series with perennial ACC power Clemson, and ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said at the spring meetings that the series will not count toward Notre Dame鈥檚 five yearly matchups with ACC teams.
Virginia Tech quarterback Connor Blumrick (left) unleashes a pass while under pressure from Notre Dame defensive lineman Justin Ademilola during a 2021 game in Blacksburg.
Babcock said Virginia Tech has four scheduled games with Notre Dame through the 2036 cycle, and he hopes there will be clarity on how the ACC will rotate the matchups with Notre Dame in the next month.
鈥淲e all needed it pretty quickly 鈥 because, again, before you look at your schedule, if your Notre Dame games are going to change and dates, that would have a big impact,鈥 Babcock said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e all very anxious to see that,鈥 he added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 good for us and I think it鈥檚 good for Notre Dame, too, with a brand like Virginia Tech.鈥
Not only does a strong nonconference schedule potentially produce high viewership numbers, winning those matchups can set up a potential run to a berth in the College Football Playoff.
The topic of the playoff was another talking point that was discussed for a lengthy period of time. Babcock said he didn鈥檛 want to speak for the other ACC athletic directors, but he鈥檚 confident they will feel the same way he does in that he doesn鈥檛 want to see the SEC and Big Ten receive multiple guaranteed bids into the College Football Playoff, whether it鈥檚 12, 14 or 16 teams.
A proposal for a 16-team playoff field has the SEC and Big Ten each receiving four guaranteed bids into the field. The ACC and Big 12 would receive two automatic bids apiece. The Group of Five鈥檚 best team would get in, and that leaves room for three more at-large bids.
鈥淭he SEC and Big Ten already get a bigger share of the playoff money from past performance and stacking the deck with auto bids before you even play a game seems unfair and not necessary,鈥 Babcock said. 鈥淭o me, if we鈥檝e spent all this time getting to a rev share cap and working to get a level playing field to then skew the whole playoff, and I can鈥檛 think of another playoff system 鈥 maybe there is one 鈥 that prebakes how many you get in before the season starts, so just doesn鈥檛 feel right. I could go for a straight seeding of 12, 14 or 16 teams and let everybody play for it.鈥
