Here’s a helpful tip for fans of North Carolina’s college football teams as they start looking ahead to the 2017 season: Stock up on sunscreen.It’s going to be needed, given the abundance of early afternoon games on the schedule of kickoff times announced by the ACC and its broadcast partners on Wednesday.North Carolina’s first two games, both at Kenan Stadium, will be played in the heat of the day with its opener against California on Sept. 2 scheduled for 12:20 p.m. on the ACC Network and its conference opener a week later against Louisville at noon on either ABC or one of the ESPN platforms.The starting time for the Tar Heels’ first road game, on Sept. 16 at Old Dominion, will announced at a later date by Conference USA.Duke will also play two early games.After opening the season on the ACC Network Extra against neighboring rival NC Central at 6 p.m. on Sept. 2, the Blue Devils drew a noon start for its home game against Northwestern on Sept. 9 on ESPNU and a 12;30 p.m. kickoff. Coach David Cutcliffe’s team will be back at Wallace Wade Stadium on Sept. 16 to play Baylor in a 12:30 p.m. kickoff on Fox Sports Carolinas.NC State’s only early game will be played in Week 3 against Furman, a 12:30 p.m. start on the ACC Network.The Wolfpack will open the season with a nationally televised matchup with South Carolina at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium in a previously announced 3 p.m. game on ESPN. Its Sept. 9 game against Marshall at Carter-Finley Stadium will be played at 6 p.m. on the ACC Network Extra.Wake Forest’s first three games will be at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 31 against Presbyterian on ACC Network Extra, Saturday Sept. 9 at Boston College at 1 p.m. and Sept. 16 at home against Utah State at 3 p.m. The latter two games will be televised online by ACC Network Extra.East Carolina’s second season under coach Scottie Montgomery will kick off on Sept. 2 in Greenville with a 6 p.m. game against defending FCS champion James Madison in a game streamed live on ESPN3. The Pirates will then travel to West Virginia for a noon game on Fox Sports 2 before returning home to take on Virginia Tech at 3:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.The remainder of games on each team’s schedules will be announced once other television broadcast schedules have been finalized, likely within traditional 12-day window selections during the season.Here is the ACC schedule with starting times and television network assignments as announced thus far:Thursday, August 31Presbyterian at Wake Forest, ACC Network Extra, 6:30 p.m.Friday, September 1Central Connecticut State at Syracuse, ACC Network Extra, 7 p.m.Boston College at Northern Illinois, CBSSN, 9:30 p.m.Saturday, September 2Kent State at Clemson, ESPN, Noon (previously announced)Cal at North Carolina, ACC Network, 12:20 p.m.Bethune-Cookman at Miami, RSN, 12:30 p.m.Youngstown State at Pitt, ACC Network Extra, 1 p.m.NC State vs. South Carolina, ESPN, 3 p.m. (previously announced)Belk College Kickoff Game, Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C.William & Mary at Virginia, ACC Network Extra, 3:30 p.m.NC Central at Duke, ACC Network Extra, 6 p.m.Louisville vs. Purdue, FOX, 7:30 p.m.Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Ind.Florida State vs. Alabama, ABC, 8 p.m. (previously announced)Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Ga.Sunday, September 3West Virginia vs. Virginia Tech, ABC, 7:30 p.m. (previously announced)FedEx Field, Landover, Md.Monday, September 4Tennessee vs. Georgia Tech, ESPN, 8 p.m. (previously announced)Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Ga.Saturday, September 9Louisville at North Carolina, ABC, ESPN or ESPN2, NoonNorthwestern at Duke, ESPNU, NoonJacksonville State at Georgia Tech, RSN, 12:30 p.m.Wake Forest at Boston College, ACC Network Extra, 1 p.m.Pitt at Penn State, ABC, 3:30 p.m.Miami at Arkansas State, ESPNU, 3:30 p.m.Middle Tennessee at Syracuse, ACC Network Extra, 3:30 p.m.Indiana at Virginia, ACC Network Extra, 3:30 p.m.Delaware at Virginia Tech, ACC Network Extra, 3:30 p.m.Marshall at NC State, ACC Network Extra, 6 p.m.Auburn at Clemson, ESPN, 7 p.m.Louisiana-Monroe at Florida State, ACC Network, 7 p.m.Saturday, Sept. 16Notre Dame at Boston College, ABC or ESPN, NoonOklahoma State at Pitt, ABC/ESPN2 (reverse mirror), NoonConnecticut at Virginia, ESPNU, NoonFurman at NC State, ACC Network, 12:20 p.m.Baylor at Duke, RSN, 12:30 p.m.Clemson at Louisville, ABC, ESPN or ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.Central Michigan at Syracuse, ACC Network Extra, 3:30 p.m.Virginia Tech at East Carolina, CBSSN, 3:30 p.m.Utah State at Wake Forest, ACC Network Extra, 3 p.m.Georgia Tech at UCF, ESPNews, 7:30 p.m.Miami at Florida State, ABC, 8 p.m. (previously announced)North Carolina at Old Dominion, TBD by Conference USAFriday, September 22Virginia at Boise State, ESPN or ESPN2, 8 p.m.Friday, September 29Miami at Duke, ESPN, 7 p.m.Thursday, October 5Louisville at NC State, ESPN, 8 p.m.Thursday, October 12Georgia Tech at Miami, ESPN, 8 p.m.Friday, October 13Clemson at Syracuse, ESPN, 7 p.m.Friday, October 27Florida State at Boston College, ESPN, 8 p.m.Thursday, November 9North Carolina at Pitt, ESPN, 8 p.m.Saturday, December 213th Annual Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game,Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C.7:45 p.m. (ESPN) or 8 p.m. (ABC)
