The ACC has finalized the teams that will be playing eight league games from 2027 through 2032, per a report from Brett McMurphy of On3.
Beginning with the 2026 season, the ACC will play a nine-game conference football schedule. Due to previously scheduled non-conference games, only 12 members will play nine league games while the remaining five schools will play eight.
The 2026 schedule format is serving 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).
The report from Brett McMurphy indicates which of those teams will be playing eight ACC contests from the 2027 season to the 2032 season, which is only four schools — Clemson (2027, 2028), Georgia Tech (2029, 2031), Syracuse (2030), and Florida State (2032).
That leaves the following teams playing nine league games per season — Cal, Duke, Louisville, Miami, NC State, Pitt, SMU, Stanford, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest.
The four teams playing eight league games will have to schedule a minimum of two power non-conference opponents per season, while the nine-game playing schools will have to schedule at least one. That ensures that each ACC school plays at least 10 power foes per season.
The On3 report also states that the ACC is expected to revise its championship game tiebreakers in the near future due to some schools playing one more conference member than others. Non-conference games, including those against Notre Dame, will not count in the league standings.
No use in the ACC planning past 2030 when Florida State and Clemson are allowed to leave. Miami and North Carolina will join them in the SEC. Cal and Stanford will return to the PAC12 and SMU and at least one other school will join the BIG12. The ACC will be a minor conference thereafter.
Cal and Stanford have no interest in returning to the Pac-12.
North Carolina has Belicheat. SEC will never take them.
OK, let’s say FSU and Clemson are allowed to leave. Where are they going to go?
Cal and SMU could definitely end up in the Pac 12 or Big 12. Stanford might go independent because of academics, though.
You don’t keep a school worth that much out of your conference for a guy who might be around for 5 years.
And what do you mean, “where will they go”? The SEC or Big Ten. They’ve only been trying to get them for a decade.
ACC will prove they can compete with Big Ten, SEC & Big 12.
UNC isn’t actually worth that much.
No, Bison Jim, the SEC and Big 10 have not been trying to get FSU and Clemson for a decade. You may hear that on talk radio, but it’s not reality.
Clemson, Florida State & yes Miami & North Carolina will prove there still an ACC.
Theres a pretty easy solution to this. Between Notre Dame (5 games) and UConn (4 games), there is a 9 ACC game schedule almost every year. Count the games against the two independents as conference games. Or just add UConn
The ACC has an agreement with Notre Dame for 5 ACC schools to play the Irish each season. This season Notre Dame plays 6 because Stanford was scheduled to play Notre Dame before joining the conference and is not part of the ACC agreement. The simple solution is that the 5 games that are part of the agreement count in the standings for the team playing Notre Dame as a conference game and then play 8 other ACC conference games, similar to what is being done this year with the transition, while the 12 teams that don’t play Notre Dame play 9 ACC games. With Notre Dame a conference member in other sports and the Irish needing to (likely) finish 10-2 to make the playoffs, they will have every motivation to win every game. There is no reason the ACC-Notre Dame games shouldn’t count as a conference game for the ACC and would make scheduling a lot more straightforward with the current 17+1 ACC line up.