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2021 ACC football schedule announced

By Kevin Kelley - January 28, 2021
ACC Football

The 2021 ACC football schedule has been officially announced. Conference play begins on Thursday, Sept. 2 or Friday, Sept. 3 with North Carolina at Virginia Tech.

Featured 2021 non-conference match-ups for each ACC school include Missouri at Boston College, Clemson vs. Georgia (in Charlotte, N.C.), Northwestern at Duke, Notre Dame at Florida State, Georgia at Georgia Tech, Louisville vs. Ole Miss (in Atlanta, Ga.), Miami vs. Alabama (in Atlanta, Ga.), NC State at Mississippi State, North Carolina at Notre Dame, Pitt at Tennessee, Rutgers at Syracuse, Virginia at BYU, Virginia Tech at West Virginia, and Wake Forest at Army.

The 2021 ACC Championship Game will be played on Saturday, Dec. 4 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.

2021 ACC Football Schedules

Atlantic Division

Coastal Division

2021 ACC Football Schedule

Thursday, Sept. 2
USF at NC State

Thursday, Sept. 2 or Friday, Sept. 3
North Carolina at Virginia Tech

Friday, Sept. 3
Old Dominion at Wake Forest

Saturday, Sept. 4
Colgate at Boston College
Clemson vs. Georgia (Charlotte, NC)
Duke at Charlotte
Northern Illinois at Georgia Tech
Miami vs. Alabama (Atlanta, GA)
UMass at Pitt
Syracuse at Ohio
William & Mary at Virginia

Sunday, Sept. 5
Notre Dame at Florida State

Monday, Sept. 6
Louisville vs. Ole Miss (Atlanta, GA)

Saturday, Sept. 11
Boston College at UMass
South Carolina State at Clemson
North Carolina A&T at Duke
Jacksonville State at Florida State
Kennesaw State at Georgia Tech
Eastern Kentucky at Louisville
Appalachian State at Miami
Georgia State at North Carolina
NC State at Mississippi State
Pitt at Tennessee
Rutgers at Syracuse
Illinois at Virginia
Middle Tennessee at Virginia Tech
Norfolk State at Wake Forest

Friday, Sept. 17
UCF at Louisville

Saturday, Sept. 18
Boston College at Temple
Georgia Tech at Clemson
Northwestern at Duke
Florida State at Wake Forest
Michigan State at Miami
Virginia at North Carolina
Furman at NC State
Western Michigan at Pitt
Albany at Syracuse
Virginia Tech at West Virginia

Friday, Sept. 24
Liberty at Syracuse
Wake Forest at Virginia

Saturday, Sept. 25
Missouri at Boston College
Clemson at NC State
Kansas at Duke
Louisville at Florida State
North Carolina at Georgia Tech
Central Connecticut at Miami
New Hampshire at Pitt
Richmond at Virginia Tech

Thursday, Sept. 30
Virginia at Miami

Saturday, Oct. 2
Boston College at Clemson
Duke at North Carolina
Syracuse at Florida State
Pitt at Georgia Tech
Louisville at Wake Forest
Louisiana Tech at NC State

Saturday, Oct. 9
Georgia Tech at Duke
Florida State at North Carolina
Virginia at Louisville
Wake Forest at Syracuse
Notre Dame at Virginia Tech

Friday, Oct. 15
Clemson at Syracuse

Saturday, Oct. 16
NC State at Boston College
Duke at Virginia
Miami at North Carolina
Pitt at Virginia Tech

Saturday, Oct. 23
Boston College at Louisville
Clemson at Pitt
UMass at Florida State
Georgia Tech at Virginia
NC State at Miami
Syracuse at Virginia Tech
Wake Forest at Army

Saturday, Oct. 30
Boston College at Syracuse
Florida State at Clemson
Duke at Wake Forest
Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech
Louisville at NC State
Miami at Pitt
North Carolina at Notre Dame
Virginia at BYU

Friday, Nov. 5
Virginia Tech at Boston College

Saturday, Nov. 6
Clemson at Louisville
Pitt at Duke
NC State at Florida State
Georgia Tech at Miami
Wake Forest at North Carolina (non-conference)

Thursday, Nov. 11
North Carolina at Pitt

Saturday, Nov. 13
Boston College at Georgia Tech
UConn at Clemson
Duke at Virginia Tech
Miami at Florida State
Syracuse at Louisville
NC State at Wake Forest
Notre Dame at Virginia

Thursday, Nov. 18
Louisville at Duke

Saturday, Nov. 20
Florida State at Boston College
Wake Forest at Clemson
Georgia Tech at Notre Dame
Virginia Tech at Miami
Wofford at North Carolina
Syracuse at NC State
Virginia at Pitt

Friday, Nov. 26
North Carolina at NC State

Saturday, Nov. 27
Wake Forest at Boston College
Clemson at South Carolina
Miami at Duke
Florida State at Florida
Georgia at Georgia Tech
Kentucky at Louisville
Pitt at Syracuse
Virginia Tech at Virginia

Saturday, Dec. 4
ACC Championship Game (Charlotte, NC)

View Comments (5)

Comments (5)

The ACC should realign its division based on how long each school has been in the ACC:

Classic:
Clemson
Duke
Georgia Tech
North Carolina
North Carolina State
Virginia
Wake Forest

Modern:
Boston College
Florida State
Louisville
Miami
Pittsburgh
Syracuse
Virginia Tech

It would sort the 14 schools by how long they have been in the ACC. For the most part, regional rivals are together except the Virginia schools. But here are the protected crossovers:

Clemson-Miami
Duke-Syracuse
Georgia Tech-Florida State
North Carolina-Louisville
North Carolina State-Boston College
Virginia-Virginia Tech
Wake Forest-Pittsburgh

These crossovers would include the Orange Crush Bowl (Clemson VS. Miami), the Commonwealth Cup, and two matchups of schools normally known for their basketball prowess.

The Thanksgiving weekend schedule under this divisional alignment would include Virginia-Virginia Tech every year. The four NC schools would rotate among themselves on Thanksgiving weekend. Boston College, Miami, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse also rotate among themselves on Thanksgiving weekend (possibly so that each Northeast school has a shot to end its season in Miami). The four remaining schools would play their in-state SEC opponents as they usually do.

I like your work a lot but I have three suggestions / comments

1. No permanent crossovers, with an 8 game schedule that leaves the current play alot of teams once every 7 years. With 8 conference games and no permenant crossovers they would play each team from the other Division every 3 or 4 years, once during a 4 year collegiate career.

2. A lot of this depends on who the 2nd best team in the ACC will be in the future assuming Clemson stays #1. If it is Florida St or Miami or any team in the Modern it is good, if it is UNC or another team from the Classic you have a bottleneck for the playoff, like the SEC West or the Big 10 east.

3. Travel is a so much easier in the Classic by the way.

There has to be permanent crossovers because Virginia and Virginia Tech are in separate divisions.

Would something like this work though if the ACC went for it? The Big Ten had the Leaders & Legends Divisions before they went to Eastern & Western Divisions.

Conference football schedules are not the same!

3 ACC Teams will not play a team that went to the Playoff last from the ACC, Clemson and Notre Dame:

Miami
Duke
Clemson

One team has to play them both:
Georgia Tech

Of course the ESPN way to early poll has UNC ranked higher than ND so the strength of schedule can be discussed all off season!