ACC, Orange Bowl close to deal

The Atlantic Coast Conference and Orange Bowl are finalizing a deal that would pit the ACC champion against either Notre Dame, an SEC or Big Ten team starting after the 2014 regular season, sources told ESPN.

The ACC champion, or another team from the conference if its champion qualifies for the national semifinals, will play annually in the Orange Bowl. How the ACC's opponent will be selected from Notre Dame, the SEC or Big Ten is still being determined.

The ACC and Orange Bowl would have the opportunity to take Notre Dame, if it doesn't make the national semifinals; an SEC team not in the national semifinals or Champions Bowl; or a Big Ten team not in the semifinals or Rose Bowl.

The Orange Bowl and ACC's deal with Notre Dame/Big Ten/SEC locks up both sides of the third major bowl when the new playoff format starts in 2014. The Rose Bowl will have Big Ten and Pac-12 teams and the Champions Bowl -- still to be determined whether to be held in Arlington, Texas or New Orleans -- will have SEC and Big 12 teams. Last week, Notre Dame announced it would join the ACC as a full member for all sports except football, where the Irish will play five games annually against ACC opponents.

via http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8392440/atlantic-coast-co...

So Notre Dame, or a team from the SEC / Big Ten is the probably opponent pool for the ACC. I'm fine with that as long as the deal guarantees ND is ranked high, it won't be a regular season rematch, and we get the next available SEC/B1G team after they send their teams to the playoff and the Rose and Champions Bowl. It would have been better if the ACC reached a deal with all 4 of the other major conferences, so there's a bigger pond to choose from. As expected the Big East (Boise State) are left in the cold.

What do you guys think?