The Atlantic Coast Conference will do away with the divisional format in football starting with the 2023 season.
Currently, the winners of the Atlantic and Coastal Divisions face off in the ACC Championship Game. In May of this year, however, the NCAA changed its rules on conference championship games, removing the requirement that a conference must have a divisional structure in order to hold a title game.
The ACC unveiled its new scheduling model on Tuesday, which will be in effect at least through the 2026 season.
Each team will play three primary opponents annually and face each of the other 10 league teams twice during the four-year cycle, once at home and once on the road. The schedule allows for each team to face all 13 conference opponents both home and away at least once during the four-year cycle. Under the current divisional system, teams could go as long as six years between games with certain ACC opponents.
The new schedule will eliminate the Atlantic and Coastal divisions with all 14 schools competing in one division beginning in 2023. The top two teams based on conference winning percentage will compete in the Subway ACC Football Championship Game on the first Saturday in December at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
The structure was adopted by the league’s athletic directors and faculty athletic representatives.
“The future ACC football scheduling model provides significant enhancements for our schools and conference, with the most important being our student-athletes having the opportunity to play every school both home and away over a four-year period,” said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips. “We appreciate the thoughtful discussions within our membership, including the head football coaches and athletic directors. In the end, it was clear this model is in the best interest of our student-athletes, programs and fans, at this time.”
The three primary partners for each of the ACC teams in North Carolina are as follows:
Duke: North Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest
North Carolina: Duke, NC State, Virginia
NC State: Clemson, Duke, North Carolina
Wake Forest: Duke, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech
The 2023-2026 ACC Schedules (home and away) for the four in-state teams are:
2023 ACC Football Schedule
Duke: Home — Clemson, NC State, Pitt, Wake Forest; Away — Florida State, Louisville, North Carolina, Virginia
North Carolina: Home — Duke, Miami, Syracuse, Virginia; Away — Clemson, Georgia Tech, NC State, Pitt
NC State: Home — Clemson, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina; Away — Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Wake Forest: Home — Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State, Pitt; Away — Clemson, Duke, Syracuse, Virginia Tech
2024 ACC Football Schedule
Duke: Home — Boston College, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech; Away — Miami, NC State, Syracuse, Wake Forest
North Carolina: Home — Boston College, NC State, Pitt, Virginia Tech; Away — Duke, Florida State, Louisville, Virginia
NC State: Home — Duke, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Wake Forest; Away — Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina, Pitt
Wake Forest: Home — Duke, Louisville, Miami, Virginia Tech; Away — Boston College, Georgia Tech, NC State, Virginia
2025 ACC Football Schedule
Duke: Home — Florida State, Louisville, NC State, Wake Forest; Away — Clemson, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Pitt
North Carolina: Home — Clemson, Duke, Georgia Tech, Virginia; Away — Miami, NC State, Syracuse, Wake Forest
NC State: Home — Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech; Away — Boston College, Duke, Louisville, Miami
Wake Forest: Home — Clemson, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Syracuse; Away — Duke, Florida State, Pitt, Virginia Tech
2026 ACC Football Schedule
Duke: Home — Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Syracuse; Away — Boston College, NC State, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
North Carolina: Home — Florida State, Louisville, NC State, Wake Forest; Away — Boston College, Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech
NC State: Home — Boston College, Duke, Florida State, Pitt; Away — Clemson, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Syracuse
Wake Forest: Home — Boston College, Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech; Away — Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina
