2026 ACC football schedule: Takeaways, toughest slates, most important games

Any ACC fans up for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August? NC State and Virginia open the 2026 season — and conference slate — in Week Zero to commemorate South America’s first college football game. The league revealed full team-by-team schedules for next season Monday night, a robust slate featuring a number of spotlight games and weeknight specials.

With the ACC’s move to a nine-game scheduling model next season, every team’s slate will feature a minimum of 10 games annually against Power Four opponents moving forward. Since this is a transition year for the ACC with an altered league schedule, Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina and Georgia Tech will play eight ACC games due to contractual obligations with others outside of the conference.

In other words, 12 teams will play a “9+1 schedule” during the bridge year — which include nine ACC games plus at least one Power Four nonconference opponent — while five teams will play an “8+2 schedule,” equating to eight ACC games paired with at least two Power Four nonconference matchups.

One school each season with play eight ACC games beginning in 2027 with the conference at an uneven 17 members.

Thanks to Miami’s run to the national championship game in the College Football Playoff, the ACC captured nine total wins during bowl season, which tied for the most-ever in the league’s history. This comes a year after the ACC stumbled to a 2-11 bowl record during the 2024 postseason, the first year of playoff expansion.

The Hurricanes are one of four ACC teams ranked in CBS Sports’ way-too-early top 25 for 2026. Miami’s slotted at No. 13 despite losing Carson Beck, Rueben Bain Jr. and a slew of offensive linemen, while Louisville, SMU and Virginia Tech also appear.

This marks the fourth consecutive season that the ACC has unveiled an altered scheduling format. There’s also new tiebreaker rules that are expected to prohibit what happened during the 2025 season after seven-win Duke reached the ACC Championship Game and beat Virginia to keep the Cavaliers out of the playoff.

NC State has arguably the most manageable nine-game ACC schedule with only one matchup against a league opponent expected to be ranked in the preseason (Louisville). On the other hand, Stanford’s stretch against Miami and SMU at home along with Virginia Tech and Louisville on the road could be nightmarish. Stanford’s the only ACC team that will play those four notable opponents in 2026.

All of Clemson’s difficult games will be played at home (Miami, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, South Carolina) unless Duke returns to the top tier or Florida State recovers under Mike Norvell. Speaking of the Seminoles, FSU is one of five teams playing the eight-game conference schedule and its slate is not favorable. The Seminoles play Clemson, NC State, SMU and Virginia in Tallahassee, while they get Louisville, Boston College, Miami and Pittsburgh on the road.

Miami vs. Virginia Tech could mean something again

The Hurricanes have won seven of their last eight against the Hokies, including a 34-17 victory last season.

It’s been a while since this matchup’s had stakes, an element first-year Virginia Tech coach James Franklin hopes to change in 2026. The Hurricanes and Hokies will play on Friday, Nov. 20 in Miami Gardens, Florida during the penultimate ACC weekend prior to conference title game participants being decided.

The second half of Virginia Tech’s schedule is likely season-defining. The Hokies will play Georgia Tech, at Clemson, at SMU, Stanford, at Miami and Virginia from Oct. 24 onward. Franklin has a few games to evaluate his roster before the games that matter begin.

One interesting note about Miami’s slate is the inclusion of four non-Saturday games. The Hurricanes will play a Thursday night affair and three times on Friday, this coming after Mario Cristobal said last month he preferred keeping a traditional schedule in fixing ACC scheduling.

“It’s minor in the eyes of many, but I would eliminate Thursday and Friday games … college football is for Saturday,” Cristobal told Kirk Herbstreit before the playoff. “That drives me bananas. I know that might be petty for some, but man, I want college football on Saturdays. I really, really do.”

Year 2 for Bill Belichick looks terrifying

The Tar Heels were 2-6 in conference play under Belichick this season with the wins coming against Syracuse and Stanford, who combined to go 4-12 in the ACC. Perhaps the Tar Heels will have staying power with an incoming top-20 signing class along with 19 transfers, but they’re going to have to earn it on the field against one of the league’s most arduous schedules.

UNC opens the season against TCU in Dublin, Ireland on Aug. 29 and after a mid-September home bout with East Tennessee State, the Tar Heels host Notre Dame on Oct. 3 and go to UConn on Nov. 7. Notre Dame is a preseason title frontrunner, while the Horned Frogs will be gunning for another impressive finish after consecutive nine-win seasons. Former Toledo coach Jason Candle takes over for Jim Mora at UConn and his team will have 50 transfers, including 18 from his former program.

Across league play, seven of UNC’s eight opponents played in a bowl game last season including Miami, Clemson, Virginia and Louisville. In-state rivals NC State and Duke are back on the schedule, along with Pittsburgh. Preseason win totals are out later this spring, but don’t be surprised to see the Tar Heels’ total somewhere in the 5.5-win range.

Clemson relegated to wild-card status

Gone are the days of assuming the Tigers are going to reach double-digit wins as the league’s leading playoff threat under Dabo Swinney. After the program’s failure to show in 2025, Clemson barely signed a top-25 recruiting class and the Tigers didn’t make any noise in the portal, either. The coaching staff is sticking with the current quarterback room following the departure of Cade Klubnik, which means there’s considerable pressure on the return of Chad Morris as offensive coordinator to work out.

Expected marquee matchups for the Tigers like Virginia Tech, Miami and Duke could lose some of their luster if Clemson’s execution level doesn’t improve. Assuming Georgia Tech takes a step back without Haynes King at quarterback and favorable contests with UNC, Florida State, Syracuse and California are wins, bowl eligibility should be the bare minimum here.

Clemson plays the Hurricanes at Tiger Stadium for the first time since the 2022 season on Oct. 3, which shapes up to be one of the league’s best weekends with a Louisville-NC State clash and Virginia Tech battling Pittsburgh on a Friday night.

Conference games of importance

With rosters still being finalized and two-deeps that will be further established after the spring, projecting which games could have conference championship or playoff impact is a fool’s errand at the moment. Why not try and guess anyway in late January?

• Miami at Clemson, Oct. 3
• SMU at Florida State, Sept. 7
• Duke at Miami, Nov. 14
• Louisville at NC State, Oct. 3
• Clemson at Florida State, Oct. 31
• Georgia Tech at Clemson, Nov. 14
• Virginia at SMU, Oct. 17
• Virginia Tech at Miami, Nov. 20

In the nonconference, there’s a plethora of opportunities for the ACC to show out against quality competition. Clemson goes to LSU for Lane Kiffin’s debut on Sept. 5, Louisville plays Ole Miss in Nashville during that same weekend and Miami travels to Notre Dame on Nov. 7. A couple weeks later, SMU gets a crack at the Fighting Irish as well. NC State’s showdown with resurgent Vanderbilt on Sept. 19. offers an early ACC vs. SEC test.

Beefing up the nonconference slate worked to Miami’s advantage in 2025, ultimately leading to the Hurricanes’ first playoff appearance thanks to a head-to-head win in the opener over Notre Dame that the selection committee finally considered in its last deliberations.