ACC Announces Future Conference Football Schedule Model

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Atlantic Coast Conference announced today its future football schedule model for the next seven years, 2024 through 2030. With the addition of the ACC’s three new member institutions next summer – University of California, Berkeley (Cal), Southern Methodist University (SMU) and Stanford University – the new football scheduling model will go into effect beginning with the 2024 season. After more than a month of significant discussions, the format has been adopted by the league’s athletic directors.

The new schedule will continue with no divisions, feature 17 schools and will increase the number of annual conference matchups from 56 to 68. The top two teams based on conference winning percentage will compete in the ACC Football Championship Game on the first Saturday in December at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Virginia Football ACC Schedule 2024-2030

“We are extremely excited to welcome Cal, SMU and Stanford to the ACC and look forward to having them compete beginning in the fall of 2024,” said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D. “Throughout the entire scheduling model process, the membership was incredibly thoughtful and purposeful in building a creative, flexible and aggressive conference scheduling model while keeping the student-athlete experience at the forefront. The excitement and anticipation for our teams, alumni and fans will undoubtedly build as we look ahead to the future of this incredible conference.”

The approved format will continue to have each member institution play eight conference games per season, with all 17 teams playing each other at least twice over the next seven seasons – once at home and once on the road. The current 14 conference teams will play a total of three times each in California over the seven years and none will travel west to California in back-to-back seasons.

The new scheduling model protects 16 annual matchups. Of the 16 matchups, 11 are retained from the current 3-5-5 schedule model, two are restored rivalries from the divisional format in Miami-Virginia Tech and NC State-Wake Forest and the three new schools fill the remaining three. The annual protected matchups are Boston College-Syracuse, Boston College-Pitt, Syracuse-Pitt, North Carolina-Virginia, North Carolina-Duke, North Carolina-NC State, NC State-Wake Forest, NC State-Duke, Duke-Wake Forest, Virginia Tech-Virginia, Florida State-Clemson, Miami-Florida State, Miami-Virginia Tech, Stanford-Cal, Stanford-SMU, and Cal-SMU.

Each team’s opponents over the next seven years can be found here (hyperlink) as part of year-by-year composite graphics. The 2024 ACC Football schedule with specific game dates for all matchups will be announced at 9 p.m. on January 31, 2024, as part of ACC Network’s ACC Huddle: 2024 Schedule Reveal.

2024-30 Football Schedule Model Talking Points:

The primary goals considered when building the schedule model were the following:

• Protect the regionality of play regarding meaningful matchups.
  • 16 annual protected matchups each year in collaboration with the institutions.
  • Protect “must play” matchups each season.
  • 11 annual matchups from the current 3-5-5 schedule model
  • Two restored annual rivalries from the divisional model in Miami-Virginia Tech and NC State-Wake Forest
  • Established three new annual matchups among the three new members – Cal-Stanford, Cal-SMU and SMU-Stanford

• Teams will not play at repeat sites in consecutive seasons.
• Mitigate travel.
  • None of the current 14 members will play in California in consecutive seasons.
  • Each of the 14 current teams will play three times in California over the next seven seasons.
    • During the seven years, the league’s current 14 teams will play either Cal OR Stanford twice and the other school once.
      • Cal, SMU and Stanford will play each other every year.
    • Optimize the percentage of games against teams that are within the closest proximity to each other.
    • Minimize the number of repeat trips to the same geographical area in each season.
• Protect premium television inventory – includes the “must play” annual matchups and those matchups occurring more than twice over the seven seasons.
• Continue with no divisions and the top two teams by conference winning percentage will meet in the annual ACC Football Championship Game

• • All 17 members will play a minimum of twice over the seven years.
  • 68 conference games are up from the 56 conference games in the current format.
    • Each team will play eight conference games every year – four home and four away.

Other Consideration included:

• Non-conference schedules that are set for years to come for all 17 schools, particularly in the 2024 season.