Bronco: ACC Network means late starts, and problems with the clicker

If you’re not a fan of the ACC Network, it doesn’t seem like UVA coach Bronco Mendenhall is, either, so, there’s that.

“I hadn’t really even thought about ACC Network, other than I was at home because it was an eight o’clock game, and I was trying to find games in our league, and I couldn’t find it on my own TV. I had to ask Holly, what channel is this on. Even though we have it, it was not an easy find,” Mendenhall said.

Hey, at least he has a subscription. Many UVA fans don’t, with the network still not, more than a year into its existence, available through Comcast’s Xfinity, the primary cable-TV provider in Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic.

All six of UVA’s games in 2020 to this point have been broadcast on the ACC Network, and Saturday’s 8 p.m. home game with Louisville will make it an even 7-for-7.

With the games on a TV network that few have access to, and an extremely limited number of fans allowed at Scott Stadium, it’s fair to say that the level of interest in UVA football is at a low point probably dating back to the late 1970s.

Is what it is.

For Mendenhall, it’s as big an issue that the Clemson game back on Oct. 3, then the past two games, and the one upcoming, have been 8 p.m. starts.

“It’s completely altered my bedtime. I’m an early to go to bed-er. Seems like we’re not only, but the eight o’clock window, which that’s like a red eye flight for me, it takes like a three-day recovery to get that thing going again,” Mendenhall said.

Feel ya there, coach.

Story by Chris Graham