After seeing this breakdown of Michigan's upcoming football schedule, I felt compelled to surf over to the recently announced ACC 2007 schedules. With this in mind, a review of the non-confrence pairings:

Boston College - Army (Sept. 22), UMass (Sept. 29), Bowling Green (Oct. 6), at Notre Dame (Oct. 13) - One big rivalry game, 3 steps towards bowl eligibility.

Clemson - UL-Monroe (Sept. 8), Furman (Sept. 15), Central Michigan (Oct. 20), at South Carolina (Nov. 24) - A traditional rival, a competitive 1-AA school from their own backyard, and two teams that are basically polish for Howard's Rock. Note: If the Sept. 8 date holds for UL-Monroe it will be a Saturday game immediately following the Bowden Bowl on Labor Day.

Duke - Connecticut (Sept. 1), at Northwestern (Sept. 15), at Navy (Sept. 22), at Notre Dame (Nov. 17) - Sing with me, kids: "One of these games is not like the others. One of these matchups just doesn't belong".

Florida State - UAB (Sept. 8), at Colorado (Sept. 15), Alabama @ Jacksonville (Sept. 29), at Florida (Nov. 24) - This looked more impressive when originally assembled, note that FSU will travel to Wake Forest for a Thursday night game on Oct. 11.

Georgia Tech - at Notre Dame (Sept. 1), Samford (Sept. 8), Army (Oct. 20), Georgia (Nov. 24)
You reckon the Army was booked as a Bobby Ross reunion game? Worth noting: GT's only road game after an Oct. 13 date in the Orange Bowl is at Duke on Nov. 10.

Maryland - Villanova (Sept. 1), at Florida International (Sept. 8), West Virginia (Thurs., Sept. 13), at Rutgers (Sept. 29)
Somehow, Ralph Friedgen and company are Goofus and Gallant. They're building up to the better games, though.

Miami (FL) - Marshall (Sept. 1), at Oklahoma (Sept. 8), Florida International (Sept. 15), Texas A&M (Thurs., Sept. 20) - Two games I would expect from the rebuilding U, two game I wouldn't expect from the rebuilding U.

North Carolina - JMU (Sept. 1), at East Carolina (Sept. 8), at South Florida (Sept. 22), South Carolina (Oct. 13) - Not that Butch Davis was responsible for having the Gamecocks on the schedule, but I can see him getting together with the Ol' Ball Coach and swapping NFL stories of frustration. (Davis for lack of wins and talent, OBC for having less time to work on his short game)

N.C. State - Central Florida (Sept. 1), Wofford (Sept. 15), Louisville (Sept. 29 - under consideration for Thurs. Sept 27), at East Carolina (Oct. 20) - Yes, you keep seeing the Pirates of East Carolina. Why? 1) They're local and a 1-A school. 2) Terry Holland is the AD, so he's probably built up some chits along the way.

Virginia - at Wyoming (Sept. 1), Pittsburgh (Sept. 29), at Middle Tennessee State (Oct. 6), UConn (Oct. 13) - 2 BCS teams at home (albiet the Big East, so travel money is saved) and two games that look like double-dog dares for fans to consider a road trip. (Laramie, Wyoming on Labor Day weekend or get a cheap flight into Nashville and drive east on 40 for a while..is it worth the effort?) I would say that Al Groh is progressing nicely in his efforts to work down to the level of scheduling seen by the 2002 Terps and Wolfpack, although to be fair, Pittsburgh was supposed to be better than their result last year.

Virginia Tech - East Carolina (Sept. 1), at LSU (Sept. 8), Ohio (Sept. 15), William and Mary (Sept. 22) - 3, count 'em, 3 bowl teams, an in-state rival, and a marquee road game in Week 2. With the right spin, this actually looks pretty good for VPI.

Wake Forest - Nebraska (Sept. 8), Army (Sept. 15), at Navy (Oct. 20), at Vanderbilt (Nov. 24) Win the conference, play the service academies you scheduled in the lean years, a "match school" in Vandy on the road, and Nebraska at home. Not too shabby.