The Wake Forest Demon Deacons have added the Akron Zips to their 2026 football schedule, FBSchedules.com has learned.
Wake Forest will host Akron at Allegacy Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C., during week one of the 2026 season on either Thursday, Friday or Saturday (Sept. 3-5). The Demon Deacons will pay the Zips an $800,000 guarantee for the game, according to the copy of the contract obtained from the University of Akron via a state public records request.
The 2026 Wake Forest-Akron game will mark the first-ever meeting between the two schools on the gridiron.
Akron is the third known non-conference opponent for Wake Forest for the 2026 season. The Demon Deacons are also scheduled to visit the Purdue Boilermakers on Sept. 12 and host the Army Black Knights in Winston-Salem on Nov. 14.
Wake’s fourth and final non-conference opponent in 2026 will likely be from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
Wake Forest is the third scheduled non-conference opponent for Akron in 2026. Also on the docket for the Zips that season is a home tilt against the Robert Morris Colonials on Sept. 12 and a trip to face the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Sept. 19.
Akron now has seven future football games scheduled against opponents in power conferences. The Zips will visit a trio of foes in 2024 — Ohio State, Rutgers, and South Carolina — before visiting Nebraska in 2025. After facing Wake Forest and Minnesota in 2026, Akron will return to play Rutgers in 2027.
Football Schedules