College football fans react to the ACC's flex of toughest non-conference schedules
By Sam Fariss
![ACC football logo on a pylon ACC football logo on a pylon](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_7199,h_4049,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/GettyImages/mmsport/194/01j3g01k5r1z5zr8c95w.jpg)
The ACC has done it again... fumbled the ball before the season has even kicked off.
This time, at the conference media days, the ACC hung banners around the conference boasting that its teams have the "toughest non-conference schedule in the country."
CLT 📍
— Grayson Mann (@gray_mann21) July 23, 2024
Checking in at ACC Kickoff, home of the “toughest non conference schedule in the country.”
I’ll be here today and Thursday! Follow along for updates and more over @ClemsonTigerNet! pic.twitter.com/puQbeMAc9a
The moral of the story is: this 'flex' totally flopped.
Immediately, fans across the country started ripping into the ACC for bragging about something that doesn't actually highlight the conference itself.
"toughest non-conference schedule in the country"
— Dailey Joy (@daileyjoyf) July 22, 2024
congratulations, i guess. https://t.co/bIlcIGP6uR
Sure, you have to play tough non-conference opponents, most teams do.
But, can you not boast about your conference's member teams instead? Is the ACC really that bad?
Now that Dabo Swinney has dropped the NIL ball and the conference only picked up Stanford, Cal, and SMU in the conference realignment, has the ACC fallen to the wayside?
Toughest Non-Conference is such a hilarious thing for a CONFERENCE to brag about 😂🤣 Just admitting every other conference poses a bigger threat https://t.co/Q7CkrebKvi
— Anthony Lepine (@albert_octavius) July 22, 2024
Fans were (almost audibly) laughing at the ACC once pictures of the banners were strewn on social media.
People across the country were giving the nod to the SEC since that's the conference that makes up most of the ACC's non-conference schedule this season.
Toughest non-conference schedule in the country because there's a LOT of SEC teams on it. https://t.co/R84cWAitJT
— Michael Borkey (@MichaelBorkey) July 22, 2024
At the end of the day, the non-conference schedule will help boost a team's resume, if, and only if, the ACC team can pull off the victory.
However, instead of fans seeing this sign and walking away with the fact that the ACC has some tough opponents on its schedule, they are laughing at the conference for not being any good itself.
Maybe next year, with a new copywriter in charge, the ACC will hit the mark on their signage.
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