The ACC football schedule for 2026 will take on a different look, as the league announced Tuesday that 12 of the 17 teams will play nine-game conference football schedules, while the remaining five teams will play eight-game league slates.
The 12 teams playing nine conference games will be required to play at least one power non-conference opponent, while teams playing eight league games will have to play two non-conference power opponents. The result is that each league member will play at least 10 power opponents in 2026.
The 2026 schedule format will serve as a “bridge” or “transition” as the conference moves toward fully implementing a nine-game league schedule in 2027. Beginning in 2027, 16 teams will play a nine-game ACC schedule annually, with one team each season playing eight league games due to the odd number of conference members (17).
“Today’s announcement of our 2026 football league opponents is another significant and intentional step forward for ACC Football,” said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D. “Transitioning to a nine-game conference schedule strengthens our competitive framework, aligns us with the other Power Four conferences and provides greater consistency for our student-athletes, coaches and fans. This phased approach reflects our commitment to competitive equity, scheduling flexibility and delivering a premier football product across all 17 institutions.”
According to the release, the 2026 schedule format was constructed to “…balance competitive equity, honor existing non-conference game contracts and account for the league’s unique 17-team footprint.”
The 2026 ACC football schedule with dates will be announced in late January. Listed below are the opponents for each ACC team for the 2026 season.
2026 ACC Football Opponents
NINE-GAME ACC SLATE (12 Teams)
California Golden Bears
HOME: Clemson, Pitt, Stanford, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
AWAY: NC State, SMU, Syracuse, Virginia
Duke Blue Devils
HOME: Boston College, Clemson, North Carolina, Stanford
AWAY: Georgia Tech, Miami, NC State, Virginia, Wake Forest
Louisville Cardinals
HOME: Florida State, Pitt, SMU, Stanford, Wake Forest
AWAY: Georgia Tech, North Carolina, NC State, Syracuse
Miami (FL) Hurricanes
HOME: Boston College, Duke, Florida State, Pitt, Virginia Tech
AWAY: Clemson, North Carolina, Stanford, Wake Forest
NC State Wolfpack
HOME: California, Duke, Louisville, Syracuse, Wake Forest
AWAY: Florida State, North Carolina, Stanford, Virginia (in Brazil)
Pitt Panthers
HOME: Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Syracuse
AWAY: Boston College, California, Louisville, Miami, Virginia Tech
SMU Mustangs
HOME: Boston College, California, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
AWAY: Florida State, Louisville, Stanford, Syracuse
Stanford Cardinal
HOME: Georgia Tech, Miami, NC State, SMU
AWAY: California, Duke, Louisville, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Syracuse Orange
HOME: California, Clemson, Louisville, SMU
AWAY: Boston College, North Carolina, NC State, Pitt, Virginia
Virginia Cavaliers
HOME: California, Duke, NC State (in Brazil), North Carolina, Syracuse
AWAY: Florida State, SMU, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Virginia Tech Hokies
HOME: Georgia Tech, Pitt, Stanford, Virginia
AWAY: Boston College, California, Clemson, Miami, SMU
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
HOME: Duke, Miami, Stanford, Virginia
AWAY: California, Georgia Tech, Louisville, NC State, SMU
EIGHT-GAME ACC SLATE (5 Teams)
Boston College Eagles
HOME: Florida State, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia Tech
AWAY: Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, SMU
Clemson Tigers
HOME: Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia Tech
AWAY: California, Duke, Florida State, Syracuse
Florida State Seminoles
HOME: Clemson, NC State, SMU, Virginia
AWAY: Boston College, Louisville, Miami, Pitt
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
HOME: Boston College, Duke, Louisville, Wake Forest
AWAY: Clemson, Pitt, Stanford, Virginia Tech
North Carolina Tar Heels
HOME: Louisville, Miami, NC State, Syracuse
AWAY: Clemson, Duke, Pitt, Virginia
View Comments (16)
Nine conference games are A must in P4.
Is it just me or does this seem like a recipe for controversy come conference championship weekend?
now for sure they will need to introduce some sort of tiebreaker using rankings.
They said they will announce it prior to the 2026 season.
Most definitely. This is the most ridiculous addled idea I've ever heard of. And CFB is chock full of ridiculousness.
Edited the list and separated the nine vs. eight game teams to make it easier to read.
They should add UConn. Easy solution to their scheduling mess and UConn already plays many ACC teams each year
Here's a better solution: all teams play 9 conference teams except 5 teams that plays Notre Dame, and let those teams count Notre Dame as a conference game.
The ACC should stick with an 8-game conference schedule for all teams, with 4 protected opponents for each team and 4 rotating on a 6-year schedule, with the following protected opponents:
Boston College: Miami, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia
California: Clemson, Louisville, SMU, Stanford
Clemson: California, Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State
Duke: NC State, North Carolina, Syracuse, Wake Forest
Florida State: Clemson, Georgia Tech, Miami, Virginia
Georgia Tech: Clemson, Florida State, Stanford, Virginia Tech
Louisville: California, SMU, Stanford, Virginia Tech
Miami: Boston College, Florida State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse
NC State: Clemson, Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest
North Carolina: Duke, NC State, Virginia, Wake Forest
Pittsburgh: Boston College, Miami, SMU, Syracuse
SMU: California, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Stanford
Stanford: California, Georgia Tech, Louisville, SMU
Syracuse: Boston College, Duke, Miami, Pittsburgh
Virginia: Boston College, Florida State, North Carolina, Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech: Georgia Tech, Louisville, Virginia, Wake Forest
Wake Forest: Duke, NC State, North Carolina, Virginia Tech
Having 16 play 9 and 1 play 8 causes problems in regards to ACC title game qualification.
Three teams could finish with the same amount of wins or losses, but the standings would be distorted by having one of those three play one fewer conference game than the other two.
This is why I’ve also suggested the Big Sky add CSU Pueblo to go to 14 football members, so that all 14 can play 9 conference games – 5 protected, 4 rotating on a 4-year schedule.
The ACC's Thanksgiving weekend slate would look like this:
Virginia-Virginia Tech is the only conference game played on that weekend every year.
The only other games involving ACC teams always at the end of the season are the games where Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, and Louisville play their in-state SEC foes.
Boston College and Pittsburgh would take turns ending the season playing at sunny Miami or air-conditioned Syracuse.
The four Tobacco Road schools take turns playing each other at the end of the season.
In even-numbered years, SMU hosts Stanford and California hosts UCLA at the end of the season.
In odd-numbered years, SMU hosts California and Stanford hosts Notre Dame at the end of the season.
This is my educated guess for ACC Thanksgiving weekend in 2026
Notre Dame at Syracuse
Boston College at SMU
Pittsburgh at Miami
Stanford at California
Virginia at Virginia Tech
North Carolina State at North Carolina
Duke at Wake Forest
Georgia Tech at Georgia
Louisville at Kentucky
South Carolina at Clemson
Florida at Florida State
This is an updated educated guess for Big Ten Thanksgiving weekend in 2026.
Friday 11/27
Illinois at Northwestern Noon, CBS
Penn State at Maryland 7:30PM, NBC
Saturday 11/28
Michigan at Ohio State Noon, FOX
USC at UCLA 3:30PM or 7:30PM
Washington at Oregon 3:30PM or 7:30PM
Nebraska at Iowa 3:30PM or 7:30PM
Purdue at Indiana 3:30PM or 7:30PM
Michigan State at Rutgers 3:30PM or 7:30PM
Minnesota at Wisconsin 3:30PM or 7:30PM
Notre Dame yes will play USC in Las Vegas sometime in September.
Update: My educated guess for Notre Dame vs USC at neutral site hopefully Las Vegas will be week 7 October 17th & they will have bye following week October 24th which is week 8.
Makes no sense whatsoever this will be the next conference ro crumble and the ACC should kick Notre Dame out completely
what a ridiculous "fix"
Total chaos continues for the Asinine Coast Conference! Seriously Stanford, Cal, SMU, ND are nowhere close to the Atlantic! Let alone 4 other teams! ND is now dropping USC for BYU so you are starting to see the problems with these Coastal Asinine conferences! Teams are not going to put up with 3 trips across 2 or 3 time zones for sporting events. Who the hell is going to stay up for a Cal / Duke matchup that could start after 10pm? This and the B1G 18 really made this a mess with taking on the PAC12. Notice the SEC remains a true regional conference. They continue to do the right thing!
I'm going to guess that the teams selected to play only 8 conference games already have a power 5 opponent in the 9th game slot for 2026. Boston College and UNC are going to play Notre Dame. Clemson, Florida State, and Georgia Tech are going to play South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia. All the ACC teams in question probably had their other 3 OCC games scheduled and didn't want to change them in 2026. Let's see what happens in 2027 before we pass further judgement.