All three Chick-fil-A Kickoff games for the 2020 season have been canceled, Gary Stokan, the CEO & President of Peach Bowl, Inc., confirmed on Wednesday.
The Chick-fil-A Kickoff was set to feature three contests featuring teams from the ACC, Big 12, and SEC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga. West Virginia was set to take on Florida State on Saturday, Sept. 5. Two more games would have followed — Georgia vs. Virginia on Labor Day and Auburn vs. North Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 12.
The games were canceled following an announcement by the ACC on Wednesday that they will play 10 conference opponents and only one non-conference opponent. The non-conference opponent has to be played in the state of the ACC team, per the mandate, which eliminated all three kickoff contests.
It’s currently unknown whether any of the contests will instead be played at the home of the ACC opponents, but’s it’s highly unlikely at this point.
We certainly understand the ACC is doing what they feel is in the best interest of the conference and the health of their teams, staff and student athletes, and as our partners, we support them in that decision.
However, we are disappointed we will lose the opportunity to host Florida State, Virginia and North Carolina and their fans in our scheduled Chick-fil-A Kickoff Games this season.
We still look forward to hosting two top 10 teams in our Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on January 1 in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Gary Stokan, CEO & President of Peach Bowl, Inc.
Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated reported on Wednesday that the SEC may play a 10-game conference schedule only. That would, of course, eliminate some traditional ACC non-conference games, including Florida-Florida State and Georgia-Georgia Tech.
Stay tuned as the 2020 college football schedule will continue to change and update by the hour.
Football Schedules
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