The ACC is a conference that is fighting for respect. Clemson and SMU salvaged a season that had some embarrassing and disappointing performances league-wide by teams that were expected to compete for a title.
On the flipside, there are programs that are ascending like Georgia Tech and Syracuse, which provide depth to this conference. Also, with the transfer portal being what it is today, you never know what program will come out of nowhere and surprise. Given all that, here are the five teams with the most demanding ACC football schedules in 2025.
The Hurricanes break into the top five and would be higher on the list if more of their big games were on the road. Fortunately for Miami, they play Notre Dame, USF, Florida, Louisville, Syracuse, and NC State all at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. It’s well-documented that the Hurricanes don’t have the most significant home-field advantage, but not having to go to some of the more raucous road environments is a definite benefit. At first glance, the road games Miami does have look like ones that the Hurricanes should be able to win on a talent advantage alone. However, Florida State is a rivalry game, SMU will be dead set on proving that their 2024 season was not a fluke, Lane Stadium and the Virginia Tech faithful make life difficult on every opponent, and playing at Pitt in the winter elements late November will be something that the guys from the southern end of the Sunshine State likely won’t enjoy immensely.
Brent Pry is 16-21 in three seasons as the Virginia Tech head football coach. Pressure will be on to perform in 2025, and there will be no opportunity to ease into things. The Hokies will play South Carolina in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta in Week 1 and then will follow up playing that SEC opponent with another in Vanderbilt in Week 2. Just a few years ago, this would be a game that you would easily go ahead and pencil into the W column for Virginia Tech, but Clark Lea and Diego Pavia have transformed the Commodores into an opponent to respect. Especially after playing a physical South Carolina squad, the Vandy game will be no walk in the park. Road games against quality ACC opponents NC State, Georgia Tech, and Florida State add to the rigor of the slate. The Hokies will also have to take on ACC title contenders, Louisville and Miami, at home.
Dabo Swinny’s squad will face a rare blend of SEC opponents, nationally ACC ascending programs, and programs that are looking to restore themselves to respectability. Mix that all together, and you have a cocktail of difficulty that is going to be incredibly challenging to take on in 2025. The LSU Tigers come to Clemson to open up the season. The Tigers in orange will be looking for a better outcome to lead off the season against an SEC foe than they had a year ago against Georgia. Games three, four, and seven are against Georgia Tech (on the road), Syracuse, and SMU. Of course, SMU made the playoffs a season ago and will look to build off of that, but Georgia Tech and Syracuse are also programs that have been gathering momentum as of late. A trip to Louisville is never easy, and ending the season going to a very hostile environment and bitter rival in the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Florida State’s 2025 football schedule is a brutal gauntlet that will test the Seminoles’ mettle from start to finish. Kicking off the season at home against SEC powerhouse Alabama on August 30 sets the tone. FSU and The Crimson Tide will both be trying to wash a bitter taste out of their mouths, for varying reasons, and the contest will be content. Luckily, a three-game slate of East Texas, Kent State, and a trip to Virginia allows the Seminoles to breathe before a monumental rivalry home clash with Miami on October 4. Late-season trips to Clemson and NC State add another layer of difficulty to the schedule. Both programs have been in contention for ACC title for a few years. Given Florida State’s abysmal performance a season ago, nothing can be taken for granted, and home games against Pitt, Wake Forest, and Virginia Tech and a road contest at Stanford cannot be overlooked in any way.
Syracuse has the toughest 2025 ACC football schedule. Period. The season starts with a high-profile matchup against Tennessee in Atlanta, followed by non-conference home games against UConn and Colgate. Games four through eleven feature a demanding road slate that has the Orange traveling to SMU, Clemson, Georgia Tech, and Miami in conference and Notre Dame out of conference. All of those teams can make a jump in the 2025 season, with three of them having made the CFP in 2024. Home matchups at the JMA Wireless Dome against Duke, North Carolina, Pitt, and Boston College provide opportunities to regroup, though each opponent brings its own set of obstacles. With eight ACC games and marquee non-conference clashes, Syracuse has one of the most rigorous schedules in the entire country. That type of slate demands exceptional preparation and resilience; nobody embodies that more than Syracuse head coach Fran Brown.
This is a good series
agreed, I’m enjoying the heck out of these
With #1 tough schedule in ACC I will continue to stand up for Syracuse Go Orange!!!
The issue with ranking the ¨toughest¨ schedules is that you don´t truly know how good teams will be until they actually start playing.
Florida St’s game with Florida doesn’t even warrant mention?
It should, it´s pretty stupid that it wasn´t because Florida will be a very good team that would be able to compete for an SEC title and CFP spot if it didn´t have such a brutal schedule.