Opinion: We almost certainly open 2019 @CU or @UVA

I would absolutely want to play Clemson first. I hope it happens for a bunch of reasons.

1) If we lose, which is likely, we'll have a full season to rebound. It won't kill in-season momentum and it will basically be forgotten by the end of the year if we end up going on a run. Hell, some people are trying to rank Michigan above Notre Dame now despite the fact that Notre Dame is undefeated AND they beat Michigan head-to-head.

2) There aren't a lot of big games that week, so we'd likely be prime time. Lots of eyes on the game, and if we managed a win, we'd be top 10 and thrust into the national conversation. If we lost or even got blown out, it would be about how good Clemson is and not about us at all.

3) Sure, we may improve as the year goes on, but Clemson also gets better as the season progresses. Early this season, they nearly lost to A&M, only beat Georgia Southern 38-7, and squeaked by Syracuse. Now they just went on a run of winning conference games 63-3, 41-7, 59-10, and 77-16.
 
Wonder if we could get Clemson to agree to play this one inside Megatron’s Butthole?
 
Clemson week one would be an embarrassment. The option is like novocaine - takes time to work. That applies to in-game and in-season play. Week 1 against Clemson is a recipe for <150 total yards of offense.
 
ScionOfSouthland said:
Clemson week one would be an embarrassment. The option is like novocaine - takes time to work. That applies to in-game and in-season play. Week 1 against Clemson is a recipe for <150 total yards of offense.
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Clemson week 4 this season we had 200 yards offense. What's the difference. If they're truly that much better than us it'll show no matter when we play. If we want to steal one from them it's more likely to come early IMO.
 
GoGATech said:
Clemson week 4 this season we had 200 yards offense. What's the difference. If they're truly that much better than us it'll show no matter when we play. If we want to steal one from them it's more likely to come early IMO.
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Fair enough - I base my opinion strictly on personal belief and disregard actual opening weekend stats. Maybe we'd come out of the gate hot, maybe it would be more of the same against Clemson. We may find out in a few months!
 
Opening with Clemson on a national stage would be incredible. Let's do it.
 
00Burdell said:
Opening with Clemson on a national stage would be incredible. Let's do it.
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The new ACC cable channel will hardly be an incredible national stage.

BTW, who is going to be the ACC network's Paul Finebum? If this goes the way the SEC network did, the cable ratings will be so low they won't be measured.

At least the conference will get a lot of free promotions and mentions from ESPN and money from the cable subs. A lot of eyeballs in the ratings - not so much.

I would still love to be the inaugural game on the network.
 
coit said:
Dude, there's no time to think about 2019 right now. We must stay focused on 2018 to make the season all it can be!!!11!!
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I am with coin on this. Don’t let the distractions get us1!!! Stay focused on this week fans!!! Rat poison!!!
 
Quinlan has said repeatedly it’s Virginia, FWIW. But don’t trust anybody who doesn’t ask questions and only starts sentences with “I imagine...”
 
OP is absolutely right. Has to be one of those teams, unless one of those dates are wrong. I highly doubt we schedule Clemson to open season. My guess is UVA.
 
I might guess a Thursday night game in Charlottesville, or a prime time game in Clemson Saturday, Sunday or Monday night.
 
If we play Clemson on a Labor Day weekend night game, there's no way that a playoff team and a preseason top 20 GT gets relegated to the ACC Network, no matter how much they want to promote it.

It will be billed as a preview of the ACCCG.
 
It will be Virginia.....Clemson isn't starting their season on the ACC network.

First game on the SEC network was Texas A&M vs South Carolina. South Carolina was ranked 9th in preseason poll and Texas A&M was ranked 21st. South Carolina would go on to end the season 7-6 and A&M finished 8-5. Neither was ranked at the end
 
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mookie43 said:
It will be Virginia.....Clemson isn't starting their season on the ACC network.

First game on the SEC network was Texas A&M vs South Carolina. South Carolina was ranked 9th in preseason poll and Texas A&M was ranked 21st. South Carolina would go on to end the season 7-6 and A&M finished 8-5. Neither was ranked at the end
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#21 @ #9 doesn't feel much different than probably unranked @ top 5. I wish it were going to be different, but of course we will get not respect whether we deserve it or not.

But I would prefer to open @UVA.
 
Another possibility is that we don't play that weekend. 2019 is a year where there are fourteen weeks to get in 12 games, so everyone has two off weeks. USF opens at Wisconsin on August 31. The advantages are that we could see them play, they might get a beating at Camp Randall, and we get extra preparation time. The downside would be the adage that teams improve the most between week one and two.
 
I absolutely DO NOT want a week 1 bye. Those are much more valuable later in the season to help heal bumps and bruises, and put in new wrinkles. Week 1 byes are completely worthless imo.
 
IM79 said:
The new ACC cable channel will hardly be an incredible national stage.

BTW, who is going to be the ACC network's Paul Finebum? If this goes the way the SEC network did, the cable ratings will be so low they won't be measured.

At least the conference will get a lot of free promotions and mentions from ESPN and money from the cable subs. A lot of eyeballs in the ratings - not so much.

I would still love to be the inaugural game on the network.
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Wes Durham?
 
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