ACC releases scheduling guidelines for sports this spring
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The Atlantic Coast Conference on Tuesday announced scheduling guidelines for spring sports, including men’s and women’s lacrosse, rowing, softball, tennis and track and field.
Fall Olympic sports will also play a spring schedule to advance to NCAA championships, which will be held at the end of spring. Here’s everything you need to know about how the schedule will affect Syracuse sports.
Spring Sports
Men’s lacrosse
Teams will begin their regular seasons on the weekend of Feb. 5-7. No. 3 Syracuse will play six conference games, including two “home-and-home” series, with the option to schedule additional nonconference games. There won’t be an ACC tournament — instead, the regular season winner will be considered conference champion.
All five of the conference’s teams are ranked in the top 10 of Inside Lacrosse’s preseason poll. Syracuse sits behind No. 1 Duke and No. 2 Maryland in the preseason rankings, and the team has yet to release its 2021 schedule.
Women’s lacrosse
The conference announced that teams will begin their regular season on the weekend of Feb. 12-14. The teams will play a 10-game conference schedule that includes four games against single opponents and three two-game series, with the option to schedule additional nonconference games.
The eight-team ACC tournament will be at UNC beginning April 28. SU women’s lacrosse sits at No. 3 in Inside Lacrosse’s preseason rankings, behind No. 1 North Carolina and No. 2 Notre Dame.
Softball
The regular season begins the weekend of Feb. 12-14, and conference play begins March 5-7. Syracuse will play two three-game series against conference opponents as part of “ACC pod play,” which the conference is using to replace the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Each team will play eight four-game series against conference opponents, with the option to add nonconference games. The ACC tournament will be in Louisville from May 12-15.
Tennis
Syracuse tennis will play a round-robin ACC schedule, with the option to add nonconference games. The ACC tournament will be held from April 21-25 in Rome, Georgia. The Orange were swept by Ohio State and Tennessee in their first two games as part of Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kickoff Weekend.
Track and field
The ACC announced that all regular-season competition is at the discretion of each individual school. The conference championship will be hosted by NC State from May 13-15.
Rowing
Syracuse will schedule its own regular-season regattas. The ACC tournament will be in Clemson from May 14-15.
Fall Olympic Sports
Men’s soccer
Men’s soccer will resume its spring league schedule on March 5-7. As part of the Atlantic Division, Syracuse will play five games against teams in its division — Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Notre Dame and Louisville — and one game against a team from the Coastal Division. The winners of the two divisions will play on April 13, and the winner of that game will face ACC tournament champion, Clemson, to determine who gets the automatic NCAA tournament berth.
Syracuse finished 0-3-2 in the fall, losing 3-2 in overtime against then-No. 2 Pitt and tying Virginia Tech and Louisville.
Women’s soccer
Teams played eight games in the fall and will not play in the spring, the ACC announced. Florida State won the conference tournament and will represent the ACC in mid-May for the NCAA tournament.
Field hockey
The ACC will resume in the first week of March and play six conference games. UNC won the ACC tournament and will face the highest-finishing team from the spring to determine who will automatically represent the ACC in the NCAA tournament. Teams can also schedule nonconference games.
Syracuse finished 3-2 in conference play during the fall, with wins over Louisville, Wake Forest and Duke. The Orange earned the No. 3 seed in the ACC tournament and beat Duke in their first game, but they lost to UNC in overtime in the following round.
Volleyball
Regular season play for volleyball resumed Friday and conference play will resume on March 5. Syracuse will play the 10 remaining conference teams it didn’t face during the fall — everyone except Boston College, Louisville, Notre Dame and Pitt. The regular season will determine who is the ACC’s champion, and that team will represent the conference with an automatic NCAA tournament berth.
Teams must play 75% of their conference games to qualify as champions. Syracuse finished 4-4 during conference play during the fall, sweeping Pitt and Boston College and getting swept by Louisville and Notre Dame.
Cross country
Regular season schedules are at the discretion of each school and are set to resume Monday. The NCAA championship is scheduled for March 15.
