ACC Announces 2015 Men's Hoops Schedule
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami opens it 2015 Atlantic Coast Conference schedule against reigning league champion Virginia on Jan. 3 in Coral Gables, ACC Commissioner John Swofford announced today.
In the 2014-15 campaign, Miami will host three Atlantic Coast Conference opponents that finished in the Top 25 in 2014, including preseason No. 7 North Carolina (Feb. 28), league newcomer No. 10 Louisville (Feb. 3) and No. 12 Virginia (Jan. 3). The Canes will travel to preseason No. 2 Duke (Jan. 13) and No. 21 Pittsburgh (March 4).
“The ACC in my mind is the best basketball conference in the country. Every night you are playing against a Top 20 or Top 10 team in the country,” said Larrañaga. “Whether you are at home or on the road, you had better be at your best, or you will be defeated.”
Miami will play eight games on the ESPN body of networks (ESPN, ESPN2 & ESPNU), one game on CBS, three on the ACC Network and six will be aired on the ACC’s regional sports network (RSN), which consists Fox Sports South, Fox Sports Carolinas, Fox Sports Florida, Sun Sports, Fox Sports Indiana, Fox Sports Midwest, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, NESN, YES Network, MSG Network and ROOT Sports.
“We have such a demanding non-conference schedule because of the number of games we are going to play in such a short period of time. We are going to find out right away how well prepared we are for the ACC,” added Larrañaga. “This is going to be a very challenging team with nine new players. They are going to be asked to bond and play well together very very quickly. That’s why the trip to Spain was so important to us.”
The Canes start the conference season with two at home and two on the road, as UM hosts Virginia Jan. 3 on ESPN 2 and Boston College (Jan. 10), then hits the road for a pair of ESPN or ESPN2 televised matchups against Duke (Jan. 13) and Notre Dame (Jan. 17). Following a home outing against NC State on Jan. 22, Miami travels to Syracuse, N.Y. to face the Orange on Jan. 24, a game that will be on ESPN or ESPN2. Miami wraps up the month with a home matchup with Georgia Tech on Jan. 28.
The Canes play nine games in February, five of which are at the BankUnited Center. UM opens the second month at Florida State on Feb. 1, then is in Coral Gables Feb. 3 and Feb. 8 to face Louisville and Clemson, respectively. Miami’s next three of four games are on the road as the Canes go to Wake Forest (Feb. 11) and Boston College (Feb. 15), are home for Virginia Tech (Feb. 18), then travel to Louisville Feb. 21, for an ESPN or ESPN2 game. The Canes conclude the home portion of the schedule with home matchups against Florida State (Feb. 25) and North Carolina (Feb. 28).
Miami’s two games in March are on the road, as the Canes play at Pittsburgh (March 4) and at Virginia Tech (March 7).
The ACC Tournament will be held at the Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum March 10-14.
In 2015-16, Miami will play home and away against Virginia, Florida State, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech and will host Duke, Louisville, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Wake Forest. UM will play on the road against North Carolina, NC State, Clemson, Georgia Tech and Boston College that season.
The 2014-15 season will be the first year of a 12-year schedule rotation during which teams that are not partners play five years at home only, five years on the road only, and two years both home and road. The past two conference schedules were “one-offs” due to an increase from 16 to 18 conference games and conference expansion, respectively.
This season will mark the third in which each ACC team will play an 18-game conference schedule. With Louisville joining the ACC on July 1, nine of the conference’s 15 teams will enter next season having made postseason appearances in 2013-14, including seven teams that took part in NCAA Tournament play this past year.
The ACC’s collective non-losing streak in the NCAA Tournament reached 27 years in 2013-14, by far the longest stretch in the nation. The ACC has had at least one team ranked among the Top 10 of the final Associated Press poll for 54 consecutive years.
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