Get your passports updated, Boston College and Georgia Tech fans. You are going to Ireland next year.
As expected, Boston College and Georgia Tech will open the 2016 season in Ireland. The two ACC schools will play in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Aviva Stadium on September 3, 2016. The announcement was finally made this morning. ESPN 2 will air the game live from Dublin’s Aviva Stadium starting at 7:30 a.m. to give early rising college football fans something to watch while sipping on a morning cup of coffee waiting for the pregame shows to begin airing.
Boston College will serve as the home team in the ACC contest. Boston College was scheduled by the ACC to host Georgia Tech in the 2016 season. As noted by FBSchedules.com, Georgia Tech had pushed back a previously scheduled game against Mercer to the following week to make room for the season-opener in Ireland.
“I know the young men on our team will remember this experience for a lifetime, and I’m so excited for them,” Boston College head coach Steve Addazio said in a statement. “They will get to explore a new country, be immersed in a new culture, and then play the first game on the opening Saturday of the college football season. It’s great that we will get to share this experience with our conference friends from Georgia Tech.”
While this is Georgia Tech’s first visit to Ireland, head coach Paul Johnson has been there before.
“I’m excited for our guys to have the opportunity to experience playing in Ireland,” Johnson said in a statement. “Our players really enjoyed it at Navy when we played in Dublin in 1996 (vs. Notre Dame). It’ll be something they remember for the rest of their lives.”
Boston College will be returning to Ireland for the first time since playing in the 1988 Emerald Isle Classic against Army. Boston College is undefeated in Ireland and will look to improve its international record to 2-0. This will be the third college football game played in Ireland in six years. Penn State and UCF played in the Croke Park Classic to open the 2014 season and Notre Dame faced Navy in the Emerald Isle Classic to open the 2012 season. ACC commissioner John Swofford has said in the past he would like to see the ACC play more games in Europe, perhaps taking a page from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and his international playbook.
No word on whether the ACC will adopt a one-time nickname of the Transatlantic Coast Conference for the occasion. But they totally should, just for kicks.
