Pittsburgh and Syracuse ACC Division Assignments: Who Got the Tougher Draw?

Today, the ACC announced which divisions its two incoming teams, Pittsburgh and Syracuse, will play in when they arrive in the conference.

Pittsburgh will be headed to the Coastal Division, where the Panthers will join Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Syracuse will be headed to the Atlantic Division where the Orange will join Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Maryland, North Carolina State and Wake Forest.

Before the announcement was made, some people speculated that the ACC could switch to a North-South regional division format, but instead, conference officials decided to just add Syracuse and Pittsburgh into the mix and keep things the way they are.

The conference schedule will now consist of nine games with teams playing every one of their six division opponents, one permanent member of the other division and two rotating non-division opponents.

The Panthers and Orange are expected to join the ACC for the 2014 season, but that could change if West Virginia wins its lawsuit against the Big East, as that could open the door for the schools to bypass the 27-month waiting rule and leave early.

It’s hard to tell just how the divisions will stack up by that time, and for the most part, they seem to be reasonably even at this point. It two years time, however, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Coastal division looking considerably stronger than it does now.

Miami, North Carolina and Virginia all seem to be trending upward with quality up-and-coming coaches in place, and you have to expect that Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech should remain consistent contenders.

In the Atlantic Division, Florida State and Clemson look like they’ll be the two future powerhouses (North Carolina State could make some noise and Wake Forest will at least hang around and be pesky like always). Who knows what will happen with Boston College and Maryland after the disastrous seasons they suffered through this year?

All in all, it’s tough to say who got the tougher draw, Syracuse or Pittsburgh. The divisions remain about even right now, but it looks like the Coastal division will be deeper while the Atlantic will be more top-heavy.

Personally, I thought it would have been neat if the ACC went to the North region-South region division format, but I guess the existing members didn’t want to change things up.

We’ll see how it all works out in two years unless another wave of college football realignment doesn't come crashing through college football again and drastically change the landscape, which is something that seems like it could be a possibility in the near future.