ACC football schedule for 2026 season as title game moves to Saturday afternoon
The ACC championship game will move from its Saturday night time slot to the noon kickoff for the 2026 college football season. The move comes after the Big 12, which previously occupied the noon time slot, moved its conference title game to Friday night. The change came as part of the release of the ACC schedule on Monday, which featured every game for the 2026 season.
Miami reached the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history last season and lost in the national title game to Indiana. However, the Hurricanes did not participate in the ACC title game due to tiebreakers. In an ACC release last month outlining the conference’s nine-game schedule, a new tiebreaker policy was concealed.
Twelve ACC members will play nine conference games, while the other five will play eight conference games.
Instead of Miami — the top-ranked team in the CFP standings — playing for the ACC title last season, Duke and Virginia faced off in Charlotte. Duke had a thrilling victory over Virginia in this title game. However, the selection committee ruled the Blue Devils out of an automatic spot due to five losses already on their resume.
Week 0 will feature a handful of ACC teams facing off against each other. NC State will face Virginia on August 29 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, while North Carolina will face TCU in Dublin, Ireland. On the same day, Florida State hosts New Mexico State and Stanford takes on Hawaii.
Although conference championship odds have not yet been released, early 2026 CFP National Championship odds indicate the projected pecking order at the top of the ACC. After falling one game short of winning its first national title since the early 2000s, Miami opens the 2026 campaign with the 10th best odds (16/1), according to FanDuel, to win the national championship.
After Miami, the teams with the best odds are Clemson and SMU (100/1). Bill Belichick-led North Carolina will open the season with a long shot (10,000/1) to win the national title. The Tar Heels finished 4-8 in the first year of the Belichick era.
Below is the 2026 conference schedule for each ACC football team.
2026 ACC Calendar
Boston College
September 5 – at Cincinnati
September 11 – Rutgers
September 19 – Maine
September 26 – Virginia Tech
October 3 — at SMU
October 10 — BYE
October 17 – Pittsburgh
October 24 – at Georgia Tech
October 31 — at Duke
November 7 – Florida State
November 14 — at Notre-Dame
November 21 – Syracuse
November 28 – Miami
California
September 5 – UCLA
September 12 – Syracuse
September 19 – Wagner
September 25 – Clemson
October 3 — at UNLV
October 10 – Virginia Tech
October 17 – Wake Forest
October 23/24 — at SMU
October 30/31 – at NC State
November 7 — Goodbye
November 14 — in Virginia
November 21 – Stanford
November 28 – Pitt
Clemson
September 5 – at LSU
September 12 – South Georgia
September 19 – North Carolina
September 25 – Cal
October 3 — Miami
October 10 — Goodbye
October 17 – South Charleston
October 24 – Virginia Tech
October 31 – at Florida State
November 6/7 – Syracuse
November 14 – Georgia Tech
November 21 — at Duke
November 28 – South Carolina
Duke
September 5 – Tulane
September 12 – at Illinois
September 19 – Stanford
September 26 – Williams and Mary Tribe
October 3 — Goodbye
October 10 – at Georgia Tech
October 17 – North Carolina
October 23/24 — in Virginia
October 31 — Boston College
November 7 – at NC State
November 14 — in Miami
November 21 – Clemson
November 28 — at Wake Forest
State of Florida
August 29 – New Mexico State
September 5 – SMU
September 12 — Goodbye
September 19 – in Alabama
September 26 – Central Arkansas
October 3 – Virginia
October 9 – in Louisville
October 17 – in Miami
October 24 — Goodbye
October 31 — Clemson
November 7 — at Boston College
November 14 — at Pitt
November 21 – North Carolina State
November 28 – Florida
Georgia Tech
September 5 – Colorado
September 12 – Tennessee
September 19 – Mercer
September 26 – at Stanford
October 3 — Goodbye
October 10 — Duke
October 17 — at Virginia Tech
October 24 – Boston College
October 31 — at Pitt
November 6 and 7 – Louisville
November 14 — at Clemson
November 21 – Wake Forest
November 28 – in Georgia
Louisville
September 5 and 6 – Ole Miss (Nashville)
September 11 – Villanova
September 19 – SMU
September 26 – Wake Forest
October 3 – at NC State
October 10 – Florida State
October 17 – in Syracuse
October 24 — Goodbye
October 31 – Stanford
November 6 and 7 – at Georgia Tech
November 14 – in North Carolina
November 21 — Pitt
November 28 – in Kentucky
Miami
September 4 – at Stanford
September 12 – Florida A&M
September 18 – at Wake Forest
September 26 – Central Michigan
October 3 — at Clemson
October 10 — Goodbye
October 17 – Florida State
October 24 — Pitt
October 31 – in North Carolina
November 7 — at Notre-Dame
November 14 — Duke
November 20 – Virginia Tech
November 28 — Boston College
NC State
August 29 – Virginia (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
September 5 — Goodbye
September 12 – Richmond
September 19 — at Vanderbilt
September 26 – Appalachian State
October 3 – Louisville
October 10 – Wake Forest
October 17 — Goodbye
October 23/24 — at Stanford
October 30/31 – Cal
November 7 — Duke
November 14 – Syracuse
November 21 – at Florida State
November 28 – in North Carolina
North Carolina
August 29 — TCU (Dublin, Ireland)
September 5 — Goodbye
September 12 — ETSU
September 19 – at Clemson
September 26 — Goodbye
October 3 — Notre Dame
October 10 — at Pitt
October 17 — at Duke
October 24 – Syracuse
October 31 — Miami
November 7 – at UConn
November 14 – Louisville
November 21 — in Virginia
November 28 – North Carolina State
Pittsburgh
September 5 – University of Miami
September 12 — UCF
September 17 – Syracuse
September 26 – Bucknell
October 2 — at Virginia Tech
October 10 – North Carolina
October 17 — at Boston College
October 24 – in Miami
October 31 – Georgia Tech
November 7 — Goodbye
November 14 – Florida State
November 21 – in Louisville
November 28 — at Cal
EMS
September 7 – at Florida State
September 12 – UC Davis
September 19 – in Louisville
September 26 – Missouri State
October 3 – Boston College
October 10 — Goodbye
October 17 – Virginia
October 23/24 – California
October 30/31 — Syracuse
November 6-7 – Virginia Tech
November 14 – Wake Forest
November 21 — at Notre-Dame
November 28 — at Stanford
Stanford
August 29 – Hawaii
September 4 – Miami
September 12 — Goodbye
September 19 — at Duke
September 26 – Georgia Tech
October 3 – at Wake Forest
October 10 — at Notre-Dame
October 17 – Elon
October 23/24 – North Carolina State
October 31 — in Louisville
November 7 — Goodbye
November 14 — at Virginia Tech
November 21 — at Cal
November 28 — SMU
Syracuse
September 5 – New Hampshire
September 12 – Cal
September 19 — at Pitt
September 26 — Goodbye
October 3 – at UConn
October 10 — in Virginia
October 17 – Louisville
October 24 – in North Carolina
October 30/31 — SMU
November 6/7 – Clemson
November 14 – at NC State
November 21 — at Boston College
November 28 — Notre-Dame
Virginia
August 29 – NC State (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
September 5 — Goodbye
September 12 – Norfolk State
September 19 – West Virginia (Charlotte)
September 26 – Delaware
October 3 – at Florida State
October 10 – Syracuse
October 17 — at SMU
October 23/24 — Duke
October 31 – at Wake Forest
November 7 — Goodbye
November 14 – Cal
November 21 – North Carolina
November 28 — at Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech
September 5 — VMI
September 12 – Old Dominion
September 19 – in Maryland
September 26 – at Boston College
October 2 – Pitt
October 10 — at Cal
October 17 – Georgia Tech
October 24 — at Clemson
October 31 — Goodbye
November 6/7 — at SMU
November 14 – Stanford
November 21 – in Miami
November 28 – Virginia
Waking up forest
September 3 – Akron
September 12 – at Purdue
September 18 – Miami
September 26 – in Louisville
October 3 – Stanford
October 10 – at NC State
October 17 — at Cal
October 24 — Goodbye
October 31 – Virginia
November 7 – Merrimack
November 14 — at SMU
November 21 – at Georgia Tech
November 28 — Duke
