Of course you can be have extremely bad injury luck, but usually you won't lose more than one player for the entire season. Which puts you at a seven-player rotation -- and maybe one of the others has stepped up in practice.

So I'm looking at what my JV team will be next year now that I've seen some of the incoming freshmen. Good news: We have a lot of good (though small) players. Bad news: There's not going to be much difference between 12 and 5.

So No. 10, 11 and 12 are going to be unhappy all year, feeling they should be playing more because in their minds, they're better than 4, 5 and 6. And they might just be right, in some settings, because maybe 12 shoots better than 6 but doesn't rebound as well. Or defends better but struggles to run the offense.

This kind of situation requires constant hand-holding, even at my level, but when there's NIL money involved, it becomes much more serious. If a college team has a strong player at 10 who's not getting minutes, it's cutting into her NIL earning power and she's going to be upset, for good reason.

So on the one hand, if you go with eight, there's an outside chance injuries will devastate you. If you go with 10 or 11, you know for sure you'll have morale problems all year long.

I found more info regarding scholarship limits, etc post settlement :

" Scholarships are not going away in college athletics, but how many there are and which sports they will apply to in coming years are among the many questions stemming from a mammoth antitrust settlement and athlete revenue-sharing plan proposed by the NCAA and its five largest conferences last week. Nearly $2.8 billion in damages over 10 years must come from somewhere.

Scholarship limits for individual teams are expected to be lifted. That could mean even more scholarships available from certain schools for money-makers like football or basketball. It could mean that programs like baseball and softball which have to slice and dice scholarships each season could be fully funded. But even the wealthiest schools may have to make tough choices when it comes to investing in which sports…"

Link full article: https://apnews.com/article/ncaa-settlement-scholarships-8a355a1274f2cef644449833b4099d21

mbBear said:

---

SFCALBear72 said:

---

During the Zoom meeting with Charmin today, she said:

ACC games will be Thursday/Sunday. Team will travel Wednesday. Charter flights.

ACC has yet to reveal travel partners (her example: Cal might have to play UNC and Miami on a road trip)

Team will be shooting a lot of 3's.

Point guard rotation will likely include Kayla Williams, Yo Krimili, Zahra King, Gisella Maul and maybe even Lulu.

And as always, "bring a freakin' friend to the games." She'll be working with Cal Athletics to build attendance.

---

I guess Miami is always going to be an issue because it's far from other schools. Yes, FSU is in the ACC but they would probably fly from there to Miami (or vice versa) anyway...so, flying from a UNC to Miami is another 50 minutes or whatever...
The other challenging one, thinking about it quickly, is probably Louisville....Syracuse is a bit of an outlier too: 4.5 hrs to BC....

---

Who does SMU pair with? Louisville?

calumnus said:

---

mbBear said:

---

SFCALBear72 said:

---

During the Zoom meeting with Charmin today, she said:

ACC games will be Thursday/Sunday. Team will travel Wednesday. Charter flights.

ACC has yet to reveal travel partners (her example: Cal might have to play UNC and Miami on a road trip)

Team will be shooting a lot of 3's.

Point guard rotation will likely include Kayla Williams, Yo Krimili, Zahra King, Gisella Maul and maybe even Lulu.

And as always, "bring a freakin' friend to the games." She'll be working with Cal Athletics to build attendance.

---

I guess Miami is always going to be an issue because it's far from other schools. Yes, FSU is in the ACC but they would probably fly from there to Miami (or vice versa) anyway...so, flying from a UNC to Miami is another 50 minutes or whatever...
The other challenging one, thinking about it quickly, is probably Louisville....Syracuse is a bit of an outlier too: 4.5 hrs to BC....

---

Who does SMU pair with? Louisville?

---

It's a great question. I mean, maybe the whole pairing thing is out the window?

Charmin seemed frustrated when asked that question. The ACC doesn't seem overly inclined to make that a priority and/or are at least not giving any hints it seems as to what the answer is.

CalWSportsFan said:

---

Charmin seemed frustrated when asked that question. The ACC doesn't seem overly inclined to make that a priority and/or are at least not giving any hints it seems as to what the answer is.

---

I certainly wound understand that frustration in terms of how it affects her players. What is baffling to me is why wouldn't some sort of "pairing" be considered for the economics of it....

I think the pairing is going to happen sometime before basketball season. Perhaps even by August so Cal, Stanford and SMU can begin to make travel arrangements. The "waiting to hear official word" is the most frustrating part for Charmin. Probably for Mark Madsen too.

It's kind of a stretch but maybe SMU will be paired with Georgia Tech. Clemson and Louisville.

SFCALBear72 said:

---

I think the pairing is going to happen sometime before basketball season. Perhaps even by August so Cal, Stanford and SMU can begin to make travel arrangements. The "waiting to hear official word" is the most frustrating part for Charmin. Probably for Mark Madsen too.

It's kind of a stretch but maybe SMU will be paired with Georgia Tech. Clemson and Louisville.

---

It could be later than August. Last year -- without SMU, Cal, and Stanford to consider -- the ACC announced its 2023-24 women's basketball schedule on September 23. Conference play didn't really start until December 31 (though Duke played Clemson on December 7, for some reason).

As a reminder, the ACC set up the conference matchups back in February.

Cal
2024-25

Home: Stanford, Pitt, Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech, NC State, North Carolina, Syracuse, Boston College
Away: Stanford, SMU, Clemson, Wake Forest, Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Notre Dame

That's 8 road games out of state. The 4 pairings could be exactly as they appear above: SMU/Clemson, Wake Forest/Duke, Virginia/Virginia Tech, Louisville/Notre Dame.

Similarly, for the other 16 teams, Cal and Stanford are always listed together, as a home pair or a road pair.

In regard to competitive impacts, both Cal and Stanford will have to make four tough cross-country trips, with some considerable geographic distances between many of those weekend games. In contrast, the other ACC teams will have either no cross-country trips or only one trip, with easy travel distances out here between Cal and Stanford. And because Stanford is always tough, we will be guaranteed two challenging games in those two instances close to home. In a year when we need to get back into the NCAA tournament, this is going to do us no favors.

I don't know if we will have the money, but clearly we will need all charter flights.

annarborbear said:

---

In regard to competitive impacts, both Cal and Stanford will have to make four tough cross-country trips, with some considerable geographic distances between many of those weekend games. In contrast, the other ACC teams will have either no cross-country trips or only one trip, with easy travel distances out here between Cal and Stanford. And because Stanford is always tough, we will be guaranteed two challenging games in those two instances close to home. In a year when we need to get back into the NCAA tournament, this is going to do us no favors.

I don't know if we will have the money, but clearly we will need all charter flights.

---

I wonder if the cost of the flights for schools comes from the conference, or that the schools have to handle those costs...

brevity said:

---

SFCALBear72 said:

---

I think the pairing is going to happen sometime before basketball season. Perhaps even by August so Cal, Stanford and SMU can begin to make travel arrangements. The "waiting to hear official word" is the most frustrating part for Charmin. Probably for Mark Madsen too.

It's kind of a stretch but maybe SMU will be paired with Georgia Tech. Clemson and Louisville.

---

It could be later than August. Last year -- without SMU, Cal, and Stanford to consider -- the ACC announced its 2023-24 women's basketball schedule on September 23. Conference play didn't really start until December 31 (though Duke played Clemson on December 7, for some reason).

As a reminder, the ACC set up the conference matchups back in February.

Cal
2024-25

Home: Stanford, Pitt, Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech, NC State, North Carolina, Syracuse, Boston College
Away: Stanford, SMU, Clemson, Wake Forest, Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Notre Dame

That's 8 road games out of state. The 4 pairings could be exactly as they appear above: SMU/Clemson, Wake Forest/Duke, Virginia/Virginia Tech, Louisville/Notre Dame.

Similarly, for the other 16 teams, Cal and Stanford are always listed together, as a home pair or a road pair.

---

SMU/Clemson is kind of dumb, but SMU is never going to match well with anyone; but not having Clemson with Georgia Tech and even the Tobacco Road schools is a missed opportunity.
Louisville and Notre Dame are never going to be easy matches either.

Looking more closely at the conference matchups link above...

Quote:

---

Cal

2024-25

Home: Stanford, Pitt, Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech, NC State, North Carolina, Syracuse, Boston College
Away: Stanford, SMU, Clemson, Wake Forest, Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Notre Dame

2025-26

Home: Stanford, SMU, Clemson, Wake Forest, Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Notre Dame
Away: Stanford, Pitt, Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech, NC State, North Carolina, Syracuse, Boston College

SMU

2024-25

Home: Pitt, Miami, Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Notre Dame, Boston College
Away: Pitt, Cal, Stanford, Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State, Wake Forest, Duke, Syracuse

2025-26

Home: Pitt, Cal, Stanford, Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State, Wake Forest, Duke, Syracuse
Away: Pitt, Miami, Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Notre Dame, Boston College

Stanford

2024-25

Home: Cal, Pitt, Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech, NC State, North Carolina, Syracuse, Boston College
Away: Cal, SMU, Clemson, Wake Forest, Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Notre Dame

2025-26

Home: Cal, SMU, Clemson, Wake Forest, Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Notre Dame
Away: Cal, Pitt, Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech, NC State, North Carolina, Syracuse, Boston College

---

... you can see that Cal and Stanford have identical home and away slates for the next 2 seasons. I would guess that SMU/Clemson are paired for them, and them only. The other 16 ACC teams aren't as burdened by travel; when not flying to the West Coast, they are more likely to mix up home and away games in the same week.

You'll also notice that SMU's schedule makes them play Pittsburgh as their home/away partner. Maybe this changes by the 2026-27 season, maybe not. Driving from Dallas, the closest ACC teams are Georgia Tech (about 11 hours) and Florida State and Louisville (both about 12 hours). At those distances, I'm sure the ACC is only thinking about this in terms of flying, and nonstop flights to Pittsburgh are only about 35 minutes longer than flights to Atlanta, Tallahassee, or Louisville.

brevity said:

---

Looking more closely at the conference matchups link above...

Quote:

---

Cal

2024-25

Home: Stanford, Pitt, Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech, NC State, North Carolina, Syracuse, Boston College
Away: Stanford, SMU, Clemson, Wake Forest, Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Notre Dame

2025-26

Home: Stanford, SMU, Clemson, Wake Forest, Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Notre Dame
Away: Stanford, Pitt, Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech, NC State, North Carolina, Syracuse, Boston College

SMU

2024-25

Home: Pitt, Miami, Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Notre Dame, Boston College
Away: Pitt, Cal, Stanford, Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State, Wake Forest, Duke, Syracuse

2025-26

Home: Pitt, Cal, Stanford, Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State, Wake Forest, Duke, Syracuse
Away: Pitt, Miami, Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Notre Dame, Boston College

Stanford

2024-25

Home: Cal, Pitt, Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech, NC State, North Carolina, Syracuse, Boston College
Away: Cal, SMU, Clemson, Wake Forest, Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Notre Dame

2025-26

Home: Cal, SMU, Clemson, Wake Forest, Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Notre Dame
Away: Cal, Pitt, Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech, NC State, North Carolina, Syracuse, Boston College

---

... you can see that Cal and Stanford have identical home and away slates for the next 2 seasons. I would guess that SMU/Clemson are paired for them, and them only. The other 16 ACC teams aren't as burdened by travel; when not flying to the West Coast, they are more likely to mix up home and away games in the same week.

You'll also notice that SMU's schedule makes them play Pittsburgh as their home/away partner. Maybe this changes by the 2026-27 season, maybe not. Driving from Dallas, the closest ACC teams are Georgia Tech (about 11 hours) and Florida State and Louisville (both about 12 hours). At those distances, I'm sure the ACC is only thinking about this in terms of flying, and nonstop flights to Pittsburgh are only about 35 minutes longer than flights to Atlanta, Tallahassee, or Louisville.

---

I definitely think that once you are on a charter flight, flying time doesn't matter too much , 40 minutes vs 1:15, yeah, read another chapter or 2. The Clemson deal for me is that they pair with others on reasonable drives( as you are basically pointing out)and shouldn't that be the goal?
Clearly SMU wasn't an easy match from the get-go...there wasn't going to be anything magical there...
So why not pair SMU with ND or Louisville, in fact you could alternate the pairing?