TheSabre.com Fan Friday: New Lights, New Teams With ACC Expansion

On the eve of kickoff for Virginia football season, some new things should catch the attention of fans. New lights and new teams to be more specific.

First, new lights. UVA athletics officially announced that new lights have been installed at Scott Stadium for the 2023 season. The brand new lighting system features 230 LED lights, which will debut during the Hoos’ first night game on Friday, Sept. 22 against NC State. The system allows the lights to flash coordinated colors, sync with audio, and turn on and off instantly. The updated Virginia Sports App will allow fans to participate in light shows with mobile devices as well.

The new lights were announced as part of Virginia Game Day enhancements. Other things included in that news release: streamlined operations (no wristband for alcohol sales, new group managing concessions stands, added Ting data points for wireless internet access, etc.), customer-oriented staffing increases, alternating food trucks, and new signs. The other big one that some fans will latch on to is the emphasis on an out of town scoreboard for other games during ALL timeouts an live look-ins from other games periodically. HooVision also will be able to show the line of scrimmage, first down line, and down/distance on plays similar to television viewing.

Thoughts on these changes? Share on the message board.

The other big news for fans came Friday as the ACC announced it had voted to expand by three teams. The conference will welcome Stanford, California, and Southern Methodist in 2024. SMU is set to join on July 1, while Stanford and Cal join on August 2. The ACC leads all conferences with 15 women’s sports offerings and 28 total sponsored sports.

“This is a significant day for the ACC as we welcome Cal, SMU and Stanford to this incredible conference,” said University of Virginia President James E. Ryan, chair of the ACC Board of Directors, in a news release. “This expansion will enhance and strengthen the league now and in the future. We greatly appreciate the tireless efforts of Commissioner Jim Phillips throughout this entire process, especially his focus on minimizing travel burdens for student-athletes, and we are excited about the ACC’s collective future.”

Fan reaction has been decidedly more mixed than that statement. The Sabre football board has had ongoing threads about the expansion decision. Here are a few thread starters:

• Given no other viable alternatives I think this was the right move for ACC ~ 1969hoo
• I understand why the ACC did it but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t hate it. ~ AmericanHero247
• Why did the ACC go after SMU and not Houston or TCU? ~ Mo Better Hoos
• I know the ACC didn’t bring this on and it HAD to do this to stay viable and relevant, but what kind of conference is it whose members will only play most other members in football every 2-3 years. It’s an affiliation not a conference. Money ruins everything. ~ Hoodunnit
• Expansion is great news for UVA Football & the 2024 schedule. ~ HTrain90
• Sad end for our league ~ Brother Griswold
• Very short-sighted decision by the ACC brass. Have fun feeding those 3 extra mouths down the road that bring zero brand (ok, Stanford has a brand but not for what matters). ~ HooWorldOrder
• I am now actively rooting against the ACC’s survival. ~ jonybuck33

With all of that floating around, it’s easy to get distracted from the game with Tennessee on Saturday. The Hoos return to the field for the first time since last November after a shooting tragedy took the lives of Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr., and D’Sean Perry and led to the cancellation of the final two games in 2022. It’s expected to be an emotional day.

From a football standpoint, the Vols enter the game ranked No. 12 in the preseason Associated Press poll. They opened as 28-point favorites. What do you think Hoos? Vote in our poll:

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The Hoos are ready to take the field for football season.