Included in the release are game times and TV networks for all home games for the league in its first three weeks of the season, as well as for all of its 2012 Thursday night games on ESPN and all national television games confirmed to date.

The 2012 Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game, which will be played on December 1 in Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., will be nationally televised by either ABC, with an 8 p.m. kickoff, or ESPN at 7:45 p.m. It will be the fourth straight prime time exposure for the ACC title game which drew a sellout crowd of 73,675 fans last year and has averaged 73,027 fans in its two years in Charlotte.

A pair of ACC teams will be playing in the two Chick-fil-A Kickoff Games this year that will be played on back-to-back days in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome.  NC State faces Tennessee on Friday, Aug.31, in a 7:30 p.m. game which will be nationally televised by ESPNU. Clemson, the ACC’s 2011 champion, will then face Auburn on Saturday, Sept. 1, in a 7 p.m. contest that will be nationally televised by ESPN.

The Chick-fil-A sponsored games are the first of three nationally televised games on the opening weekend of the season as Georgia Tech will travel to Blacksburg, Va., to meet Coastal Division rival Virginia Tech in the ACC’s annual Labor Day Monday night football game, which will be telecast by ESPN with an 8 p.m. kickoff.

Monday’s game marks the eighth time ACC teams have met in the prime national television slot on Labor Day. It is the first appearance by Georgia Tech and the second by Virginia Tech, which faced Boise State on Labor Day Monday in 2010.  The rivalry between the Hokies and Yellow Jackets has become pivotal to the ACC Football Coastal Division race, as in each of the past seven years the winner of the Virginia Tech-Georgia Tech contest has won the Coastal Division title and advanced to the ACC Football Championship Game.

The ACC will again have two syndicated packages produced by the ACC Network this fall. The ACC Network will produce a game of the week which will be seen across the nation on a network of stations which last year included six of the top 10 markets in the nation—including Los Angeles (2), Philadelphia (4), San Francisco (6), Boston (7), Washington (8) and Atlanta (9)—11 of the nation’s top 20 markets and 50 of the nation’s top 100, while averaging 75 markets each week. In addition, ACC Network games are also available digitally on ESPN 3 and on the ACC App for I-Phones, I-Pads and Droid mobile devices.

The ACC Network package will debut with North Carolina hosting Elon on Sept. 1.  The ACC Network will also air Ball State at Clemson on Sept. 8 and Connecticut at Maryland on Sept. 15. All the games of the ACC Network this year will feature 12:30 p.m. kickoffs.

The Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) throughout the ACC footprint—Fox Sports Florida or Sun Sports, Fox Sports South, Fox Sports Carolinas, Comcast Sports Mid Atlantic and the New England Sports Network (NESN)—will again air a syndicated package of 14 games which will begin with Virginia hosting Richmond on Sept. 1, and continue on Sept. 8 with North Carolina at Wake Forest and on Sept. 15 with Furman at Clemson. All three games will have a 3 p.m. kickoff. All RSN Games are also available on a series of other RSNs outside of the ACC footprint and also digitally on ESPN3.

The schedule features a minimum of 13 televised games in the first three weeks of the season, and that total will rise as several of the league’s seven away non-conference games during this period are likely to be televised as well. The game times and networks for those seven games, which are controlled by their host conferences, are expected to be announced later this year in June.

ESPN will air four consecutive Thursday night games during the season featuring ACC teams, all with 7:30 p.m. kickoffs,  beginning with Clemson at Wake Forest (Oct. 25),  and including Virginia Tech at Miami (Nov. 1), Florida State at Virginia Tech (Nov. 8)  and North Carolina at Virginia (Nov. 15).

Finally, 11 ACC games will be available exclusively over ESPN’s web-streaming platform of ESPN3 which is now available in more than 73 million homes, making telecasts of all of the Conference’s home games in the first three weeks of the season available to national audiences.

The deal will provide premier content to numerous ESPN multimedia platforms, including ESPN, ESPN on ABC, ESPN2, WatchESPN.com, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPN 3D, ESPN Mobile TV, ESPN GamePlan, ESPN FULL COURT, ESPN Buzzer Beater/Goal Line, ESPN International, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Classic and ESPN.com.

The conference’s planned increase to an 18-game conference men’s basketball schedule and the additions of Pittsburgh and Syracuse will bring an increase of 30 conference men’s basketball games per year and two more conference tournament games. In football, 14 more conference-controlled games will be televised each year. Per the extension, ESPN has the right to televise three Friday ACC football contests annually which will include a standing commitment from Boston College and Syracuse to each host one game as well as an afternoon or evening game on Thanksgiving Friday. Also, more women’s basketball and dozens more Olympic sports competitions will be covered on ESPN platforms representing the conference’s 25, soon to be 26, sponsored sports.

For the first time, ESPN has acquired title sponsorship rights, subject to conference approval, beyond football to all other conference championships including the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. The ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament, televised in its entirety on ESPN networks and its syndication partner Raycom, has never been sponsored in its 59-year history.

John Skipper, president, ESPN and co-chair, Disney Media Networks, said, “This expansion and extension of our exclusive agreement brings tremendous value to our company and to ACC fans everywhere. We look forward to showcasing this premier conference across all platforms through 2027.”

“We are excited to have further enhanced our partnership with ESPN through the extension of our multimedia contract,” said ACC Commissioner John Swofford. “We are proud that ESPN has invested so deeply in the ACC both from a resource and exposure standpoint. As we look to the future, this relationship will be tremendous for our schools, fans, coaches and student-athletes.”

ESPN has been televising ACC content since 1979 and has exclusive rights to every conference-controlled football and men’s basketball game, plus women’s basketball and Olympic sports matchups, and all ACC championship events. ACC content is distributed on the widest array of multi-media platforms in the sports industry. ACC on ESPN highlights:

·         Football on national TV: Extensive regular-season action on Saturday afternoon and nights, primetime Thursdays, three Fridays including Thanksgiving Friday, Labor Day Monday and the ACC Football Championship Game;

·         Men’s basketball on national TV: The most comprehensive coverage of regular-season games and the entire conference tournament produced and distributed via ESPN; regular-season matchups of the storied Duke-North Carolina rivalry each year; full national telecasts on all games televised on an ESPN platform; a weekly ACC Sunday Night Basketball franchise on ESPNU;

·         Women’s basketball: Numerous women’s regular-season basketball games and the entire conference tournament;

·         Olympic sports: An extensive commitment to the league’s soon to be 23-sponsored Olympic sports with regular-season and championship telecasts, highlighted by baseball, softball, lacrosse, and men’s and women’s soccer;

·         Digital media: Exclusive ACC football, men’s and women’s basketball, and Olympic sports games as well as simulcasts on ESPN3. Live ACC games, including football and basketball, on ESPN Mobile TV;

·         ESPN 3D: Select live ACC action on ESPN 3D;

·         Additional outlets: Select ACC action on ESPN International, ESPN GamePlan, ESPN FULL COURT, ESPN Classic and ESPN Deportes; and extensive content rights for ESPN.com.

Members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association (ACSMA) selected the teams that were announced on Monday (March 5).

Scott, who finished second in the balloting, is the first Virginia player to earn first-team All-ACC honors since Sean Singletary in 2008. 

The 6-8 Scott is averaging 17.9 points and 8.3 rebounds a game, while shooting 57.3 percent (200-349) from the field and 81.4 percent (131-161) from the free-throw line. He ranks first among ACC players in field goal percentage, second in scoring, tied for fifth in rebounding and fifth in free throw percentage.

Scott also leads all active ACC players in career points scored (1,500) and rebounds (928). He is the 33rd player in ACC history to record 1,500 career points and 900 career rebounds.

Scott has been named the ACC Player of the Week four times this season. He is the first Virginia player to earn the honor four times in one season. Barry Parkhill (1971-72), Ralph Sampson (1982-83), Bryant Stith (1989-90) and Norman Nolan (1997-98) all were named ACC Player of the Week three times in a season.

Also named to the All-ACC first team in addition to Scott were Harrison Barnes (North Carolina), John Henson (North Carolina), Austin Rivers (Duke) and Tyler Zeller (North Carolina). Zeller was the only unanimous selection.

The All-ACC second team is comprised of Erick Green (Virginia Tech), C.J. Leslie (NC State), Kendall Marshall (North Carolina), Michael Snaer (Florida State) and Terrell Stoglin (Maryland).

Lorenzo Brown (NC State), Seth Curry (Duke), C.J. Harris (Wake Forest), Kenny Kadji (Miami) and Mason Plumlee (Duke) are members of the All-ACC third team.

Evans spearheads a Virginia defense that is among the national leaders in several categories. He ranks fourth in the conference in steals with an average of 1.6 steals a game.

The 5-11 Evans also averages 7.3 points, 3.8 assists and 2.0 rebounds a game. He has scored in double figures in six of the Cavaliers last eight games.

Other members of the ACC’s All-Defensive Team in addition to Evans were Henson, Snaer, Bernard James (Florida State) and Andre Young (Clemson).

Mike Scott, Virginia
Tyler Zeller, North Carolina
Harrison Barnes, North Carolina
John Henson, North Carolina
Terrell Stoglin, Maryland

Second Team

Erick Green, Virginia Tech
Austin Rivers, Duke
Michael Snaer, Florida State
Lorenzo Brown, NC State
C.j. Leslie, NC State

Third Team

Durand Scott, Miami
Bernard James, Florida State
Seth Curry, Duke
Mason Plumlee, Duke
Kendall Marshall, North Carolina

All-Defensive Team

John Henson, North Carolina
Bernard James, Florida State
C.J. Leslie, NC State
Mason Plumlee, Duke
Jontel Evans, Virginia

All-Freshman Team

Austin Rivers, Duke
Lonnie Jackson, Boston College
Alex Len, Maryland
Ryan Anderson, Boston College
Dorian Finney-Smith, Virginia Tech

Player of the Year: Mike Scott, Virginia
Defensive Player of the Year: john Henson, North Carolina
Rookie of the Year: Austin Rivers, Duke
Coach of the Year: Leonard Hamilton, Florida State

Metheny is planning on completing his undergraduate degree this summer and will enroll at another University in the fall to complete his final two seasons of eligibility. Brown has informed the Cavalier coaching staff he no longer wishes to play college football but will remain enrolled at Virginia as an undergraduate student. Royal has been dismissed from the team.

Metheny redshirted the 2009 season and played in five games in 2010 and twice last season. He completed 15-of-19 pass attempts in two seasons for 207 yards and three touchdowns.

“Ross Metheny has expressed a desire to have the opportunity to transfer and play his final seasons elsewhere,” London said. “We are happy to accommodate him and I want to thank him for everything he has done for the program. He’s been a valuable member of our team and I wish the best for him in the future. Most importantly, I appreciate the work he has done in the classroom that will allow him to graduate with a degree from Virginia.”

Brown was a true freshman in 2011 and appeared in 11-of-13 games, including the Chick-fil-A Bowl. He played on both special teams and at defensive end. He lettered and had four assisted tackles during the season.

“Thompson came back from the break and indicated that he no longer had the desire to play college football,” London said. “He wants to remain at Virginia and continue his studies and I want to wish him the best.”

Royal was a sophomore in 2011 but did not play in any games. He appeared in four contests in 2010 after redshirting the 2009 season.

“As I have stated before, there are expectations for the members of the Virginia football team and if they fail to meet those expectations, they will no longer enjoy the privilege of competing here,” London said. “Kevin Royal has failed to meet those expectations and therefore is no longer a member of the team.”

“Our schedule will be a great test for our football team,” said Virginia coach Mike London.  “I like the way the schedule lays out and the balance between home games and road games.  Our fans played a key factor in our success a year ago, and with this schedule, we’re going to need everyone behind us in even greater numbers at home and on the road.”

The Cavaliers will face eight teams that played in postseason bowl games in 2011 and two teams that finished in last season’s final Associated Press and USA Today football polls.

Virginia kicks off its campaign at home for the fifth-consecutive season when it plays host to Richmond on Sept. 1. The game will mark the 31st meeting between the Spiders and Cavaliers. Danny Rocco, a former UVa assistant coach, takes over the head coaching reigns of the Spiders. Rocco was on staff at UVa from 2001-05.

Penn State and Virginia renew a series that dates back to 1893 when the Nittany Lions come to Charlottesville on Sept. 8. It will be the first meeting between the teams since 2002. Penn State will be under the direction of first-year coach Bill O’Brien. Last year the Nittany Lions went 9-4 and played Houston in the TicketCity Bowl.

The Cavaliers open ACC play on Sept. 15 when they travel to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets went 8-5 in 2011 and played Utah in the Sun Bowl. Georgia Tech finished the 2011 campaign second in the nation with 316.5 yards rushing per game.

Virginia travels to Fort Worth, Texas, on Sept. 22 to face TCU. The Horned Frogs will compete in the Big 12 Conference for the first time in 2012. It will be the third all-time meeting between the two programs, which is tied 1-1. TCU finished the 2011 season ranked No. 14 in the AP poll after going 11-2 and defeating Louisiana Tech in the Poinsettia Bowl.

Virginia’s only first-time opponent on the 2012 schedule comes to Charlottesville on Sept. 29 when the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs visit Scott Stadium. Louisiana Tech returns 14 starters off its 8-5 squad that played in the 2011 Poinsettia Bowl.

After two weeks facing non-conference opponents, UVa returns to ACC play in Durham against Duke. The Blue Devils, coming off a 3-9 finish in 2011, host the Cavaliers on Oct. 6.

The Cavaliers play their first ACC home contest on Oct. 13 when Maryland visits Scott Stadium. The Terrapins finished 2011 with a 2-10 record in head coach Randy Edsall’s first season in College Park.

Virginia hosts Wake Forest on Oct. 20 for the first meeting in the series since 2008. The DemonDeacons’ last trip to Scott Stadium was in 2007 when the Cavaliers were victorious over then-No. 21 Wake Forest, 17-16. Wake Forest finished 2011 with a 6-7 record and an appearance in the Music City Bowl.

Virginia’s bye week will fall on Oct. 27 this season.

The following weekend the Cavaliers head to Raleigh to face NC State on Nov. 3. It will be Virginia’s first trip to Carter-Finley Stadium since the 2007 campaign. The Wolfpack finished 2011 with an 8-5 record and a victory over Louisville in the Belk Bowl.

Virginia hosts the Miami Hurricanes on Nov. 10. Former UVa assistant coach Al Golden finished 6-6 in his first season as the head coach at Miami. While bowl-eligible, Miami elected to not participate in a bowl game in 2011.

The South’s oldest college football rivalry will continue on Nov. 15 when North Carolina comes to Charlottesville for the 117th game in the series. The Thursday night matchup will be televised in primetime on ESPN. It marks the first time UVa has played at home on a Thursday night since 2006. That game also featured a matchup between the Cavaliers and Tar Heels. This will be UVa’s 12th time playing on a Thursday night. North Carolina is coming off a 7-6 season in 2011 and an appearance in the AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl against Missouri.

The Cavaliers wrap up the 2012 regular season in Blacksburg on Nov. 24 when Virginia Tech hosts UVa for the annual Commonwealth Cup contest. The Hokies went 11-3 in 2011. Virginia Tech finished No. 21 in the AP poll after losing to Michigan in the Sugar Bowl.

UVa does not face ACC opponents Boston College, Clemson or Florida State in 2012.

Football season ticket holders from 2011 will receive renewal application information in mid-March. The season ticket order and seating priority deadline will be April 30. Newbuyers may also order starting in mid-March and should order by the April 30 deadline to maximize seating priority.

Season tickets for 2012 will be priced at $285 in the lower level and upper level sideline priorityareas (orange on the linked seating map) and include a Virginia Athletics Foundation annual giving requirement.  Segments of the orange priorityarea have been converted to per seat priority for 2012 (orange with blue stripes) to enable fans to have a lower donation option in sideline seatingsections. The donation requirement in these areas is $50 per seat in addition to the $285 per ticket cost.

Lower level end zone seating (green) will be priced at $285 and does not include a donation requirement.  Season tickets located in upper end zone seating areas will be $190, $160, and $140 (blue, yellow, and pink, respectively).  UVA faculty and staff will continue to receive a 20 percent discount for up to four season tickets.  Young alumni sections 525 and 526 will be priced at $112.  Each ticket price represents an average increase of $2 per ticket pergame across all pricing categories from the 2011 season ticket prices.

Virginia will open its spring football practice sessions March 19. The Cavaliers will host open practices in Northern Virginia on Saturday, March 24, at Christopher Newport University on Friday, March 30, and in Richmond on Saturday, April 7.  Additional information, including locations and practice times will be announced in the near future. The annual Orange-Blue Spring Football Scrimmage will take place at Scott Stadium on Saturday, April 14.  Admission to all open spring practices is free.

2012 Football Virginia Schedule

Sept. 1       RICHMOND

Sept. 8       PENN STATE

Sept. 15     at Georgia Tech

Sept. 22     at TCU

Sept. 29     LOUISIANA TECH

Oct. 6        at Duke

Oct. 13      MARYLAND

Oct. 20      WAKE FOREST

Nov. 3       at NC State

Nov. 10     MIAMI

Nov. 15     NORTH CAROLINA (Thur.), ESPN

Nov. 24     at Virginia Tech

It’s OK. We get it. The Duke-Carolina binary system is the linchpin of the ACC’s marketing efforts. In spite of the best John Swofford and the other suits in the ACC office have done to dilute the product in its ill-fated pursuit of BCS football dollars, basketball is what defines the ACC, and you don’t get better than Duke-Carolina.

It had to be a difficult week, then, in the office when folks looked up and saw Duke and UNC sitting squarely in a Saturday ACC Tournament semifinal as two and three seeds looking up at one seed Florida State. Florida State? The Seminoles are only here because we wanted to beef up our Weak Sisters of the Poor football lineup, and they’ve let us down the past decade or so there. FSU basketball? Step aside.

That mission was accomplished Thursday night when Duke slipped out of Tallahassee with a relatively easy win that put the Blue Devils back in the driver’s seat for a regular-season title.

The suits didn’t expect lowly Virginia Tech to almost upset the apple cart 36 hours later in Durham. but a couple of phantom fouls on Tech senior Dorenzo Hudson prevented a Hokie second-half runaway and let the Dookies fight back to post an overtime win.

Later Saturday, Virginia – long dormant, but threatening to be thorns in the side under third-year coach Tony Bennett – was doing its best to throw a wrench into the march toward the inevitable, somehow leading at the half against North Carolina despite losing star Mike Scott to two chintzy fouls, and taking another lead in the final six minutes after losing Scott to two more quick second-half fouls, including one that would have earned John Henson either a yellow card in European soccer or a Best Supporting Actor honor at tonight’s Academy Awards.

The Heels prevailed in the end, and we’re back on track now. Duke and UNC will meet next weekend for the ACC regular-season title (expect some home cookin’ from the officials in favor of UVa. when it hosts Florida State Thursday night just to add some cushion), and then a rematch in Atlanta a week later. If things go according to plan, both Duke and UNC will get #1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament for what will seem like the millionth time, and ride off into the sunset after suffering an early-round upset. (Because, as those of us who have watched the ACC regularly this year know, and know well, neither is Final Four material, not this year.)

For those of us who are fans and alums of ACC schools not named Duke and North Carolina, life goes on as always. We bitch and moan when we play one or the other and lose after watching the big boys shoot 10 to 15 more free throws. We vow to flood the ACC offices with emails and petitions aiming to let them know that we won’t take the BS anymore. We snort and giggle when we see the big boys go down, or bitch and moan some more when Ol’ Roy or Coach K gets to cut down the nets after a national championship about how much easier it is to get there when you get to play a stacked-deck conference schedule.

But we never really do anything that will actually have an impact – like, I don’t know, boycott en masse the season tickets of our favorite schools, to send a message with our wallets and pocketbooks that if the ACC is going to keep shoving the same crap down our throats and telling us to like it, well, then, eff you, we don’t like it.

We’ll keep filling up our arenas and root like hell when we play each other, because at least then we’re on equal terms, and then when Duke and UNC come to town, we’ll fill the seats up then, too, on the off-chance that the refs won’t foul us out down to our walk-ons if we get a big lead, and we can rush the court in celebration of a win over the hegemons of Tobacco Road.

As long as we keep acting like the sheep that we are, change in the ACC ain’t never gonna happen.

Virginia (5-3, 1-0 ACC) jumped out to an early 10-2 lead and led the Hokies by as many as 14 in the first half. Tech (4-4, 0-1 ACC) closed to within two points on two occasions in the final two minutes, but Mike Scott hit a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left following a breakaway on which Hokie forward Jeff Allen was called for an intentional foul, and Mustapha Farrakhan followed with another pair to make it 57-51 UVa. with 16.8 seconds to go.

Malcolm Delaney, who led all scorers with 26 points following his dismal 2-for-18 shooting night against Purdue in the ACC-Big 10 Challenge, hit a three from NBA range to close the Hokies to within 57-54. Joe Harris and Scott both missed the front ends of one-and-ones to give Hudson a shot at sending the game into overtime, but Virginia rebounded the airball and ran out the clock.

More UVa. and Virginia Tech sports at VaSportsOnline.com.

Scott led Virginia with 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field and a game-high 14 rebounds. Delaney hit on 10 of his 15 field-goal attempts for Virginia Tech, which held Virginia to 21 second-half points.

Only two other players were in double figures – Tech’s Allen with 12 points and UVa.’s Harris with 10.

Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.

A desperation Dorenzo Hudson three-pointer fell short, leaving a second-half comeback attempt by Virginia Tech short as Virginia knocked off its in-state rival 57-54 Sunday night.

Virginia (5-3, 1-0 ACC) jumped out to an early 10-2 lead and led the Hokies by as many as 14 in the first half. Tech (4-4, 0-1 ACC) closed to within two points on two occasions in the final two minutes, but Mike Scott hit a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left following a breakaway on which Hokie forward Jeff Allen was called for an intentional foul, and Mustapha Farrakhan followed with another pair to make it 57-51 UVa. with 16.8 seconds to go.

Malcolm Delaney, who led all scorers with 26 points following his dismal 2-for-18 shooting night against Purdue in the ACC-Big 10 Challenge, hit a three from NBA range to close the Hokies to within 57-54. Joe Harris and Scott both missed the front ends of one-and-ones to give Hudson a shot at sending the game into overtime, but Virginia rebounded the airball and ran out the clock.

Scott led Virginia with 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field and a game-high 14 rebounds. Delaney hit on 10 of his 15 field-goal attempts for Virginia Tech, which held Virginia to 21 second-half points.

Only two other players were in double figures – Tech’s Allen with 12 points and UVa.’s Harris with 10.

Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.

“I thought the essay contest and fanatic fan club Mike London created leading up to football season was a great idea,” Bennett said. “Our fans really made a difference in some of our home wins last season with their vocal support. I want to help create the best home-court advantage for our team.”

To enter the contest fans must submit an essay that answers these questions: Why are you crazy about Virginia basketball, and how do you show your Cavalier spirit?

Link to the rest of the story on VaSportsOnline.com.