Reunions, potential pitfalls highlight the 2018 ACC football schedule
Highlights, and lowlights, of the 2018 ACC football schedule to ponder as you pass the 224 days until the season kicks off:
Remember me?
Hey, Virginia and N.C. State really are in the same conference. So are Duke and Clemson. Amazing.
The ACC killed off some its original matchups when it expanded in 2004. It only got worse in 2013 when it grew to 14 teams.
But every eight years, some of the old foes get together again, like a family reunion. The Wahoos and Wolfpack meet up for the first time since 2012. That’s also the last time the Blue Devils and Tigers played.
Pleased to meet you
Five years after it joined the league, Syracuse will face North Carolina on the football field.
Louisville joined the ACC in 2014 and is just now getting around to meeting Georgia Tech.
These are problems the ACC could fix with a rotation schedule but that’s not going to happen any time soon.
Check out anytime you want …
… but you can never leave, Jimbo Fisher. Mr. Big Bucks is making it rain at Texas A&M, to the tune of $7.5 million a year, but he couldn’t get away from Clemson.
Dabo Swinney will bring his fully-loaded Clemson squad to College Station on Sept. 8 for an ACC-SEC showdown.
Swinney has won the last three matchups with Fisher.
What about Notre Dame?
The ACC will let the Fighting Irish sample their milk again, without paying for it. Pitt and Florida State travel to South Bend, Ind. while Wake Forest and Virginia Tech get home dates with NBC’s team.
Syracuse gets the luxury of “hosting” Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium on Nov. 17, which is unlikely to be thawed out by then.
Tread lightly
West Virginia is the “Power 5” opponent on N.C. State’s nonconference schedule but that opener with James Madison could get sticky.
The Dukes won the 2016 FCS title and finished as the runner-up in 2017.
A trip to Toledo, 20-7 the past two years, for Miami won’t be a picnic, either.
UNC has three tough nonconference games – at Cal, at East Carolina and at home with UCF – to open the season.
Ready for primetime
Wake Forest is featured in half of the four Thursday night games. The Deacs host Boston College on Sept. 13 and go to N.C. State on Nov. 8.
UNC at Miami (Sept. 27) and Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech (Oct. 25) are the other two Thursday night games.
There are five Friday night games on the schedule Georgia Tech at Louisville (Oct. 5), Miami at Boston College (Oct. 26), Pitt at Virginia (Nov. 2), Louisville at Syracuse (Nov. 9) and Virginia at Virginia Tech (Nov. 23).
Yes, please
Miami’s nonconference schedule features a neutral-site opener with LSU (Sept. 2) and reunion with Butch Davis (Sept. 22), who is in his second season at Florida International.
Even Miami’s crossover games, Florida State and Boston College, should be fun. Much will be expected of Mark Richt’s third team after winning its first division title in 2017.
Hard pass
Somewhere Mike London weeps. When he was Virginia’s coach, the Cavaliers routinely played the most difficult nonconference schedule.
Bronco Mendenhall has had some tough games his first two years but this year’s slate out of the ACC – Richmond, Indiana, Ohio and Liberty – is the definition of “blah.”
Pitt, by the way, has the “My Athletic Director Hates Me” special in 2018 with an arduous run against Penn State, Central Florida and Notre Dame. Those three teams went a combined 34-5 last season.
Joe Giglio: 919-829-8938, @jwgiglio
2018 ACC football schedule
Week 1
Thursday, Aug. 30
Wake Forest at Tulane
Saturday, Sept. 1
Massachusetts at Boston College
Furman at Clemson
Army West Point at Duke
Alcorn State at Georgia Tech
Louisville vs. Alabama (Camping World Kickoff , Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Fla.)
North Carolina at California
James Madison at NC State Albany at Pitt
Syracuse at Western Michigan
Richmond at Virginia
Sunday, Sept. 2
Miami vs. LSU (AdvoCare Classic, AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas)
Monday, Sept. 3 Virginia Tech at Florida State
Week 2
Saturday, Sept. 8
Holy Cross at Boston College
Clemson at Texas A&M
Duke at Northwestern
Samford at Florida State
Georgia Tech at USF
Indiana State at Louisville
Savannah State at Miami
North Carolina at East Carolina
Georgia State at NC State
Penn State at Pitt
Wagner at Syracuse
Virginia at Indiana
William & Mary at Virginia Tech
Towson at Wake Forest
Week 3
Saturday, Sept. 15
Georgia Southern at Clemson
Duke at Baylor
Florida State at Syracuse
Georgia Tech at Pitt
Western Kentucky at Louisville
Miami at Toledo
UCF at North Carolina
West Virginia at NC State
Ohio at Virginia
East Carolina at Virginia Tech
Week 4
Saturday, Sept. 22
Boston College at Purdue
Clemson at Georgia Tech
North Carolina Central at Duke
Northern Illinois at Florida State
Louisville at Virginia
FIU at Miami
Pitt at North Carolina
NC State at Marshall
UConn at Syracuse
Virginia Tech at Old Dominion
Notre Dame at Wake Forest
Week 5
Thursday, Sept. 27
North Carolina at Miami
Saturday, Sept. 29
Temple at Boston College
Syracuse at Clemson
Virginia Tech at Duke
Florida State at Louisville
Bowling Green at Georgia Tech
Virginia at NC State
Pitt at UCF Rice at Wake Forest
Week 6
Friday, Oct. 5
Georgia Tech at Louisville
Saturday, Oct. 6
Boston College at NC State
Clemson at Wake Forest
Florida State at Miami
Syracuse at Pitt
Notre Dame at Virginia Tech
Week 7
Saturday, Oct. 13
Louisville at Boston College
Duke at Georgia Tech
Miami at Virginia
Virginia Tech at North Carolina
Pitt at Notre Dame
Week 8
Saturday, Oct. 20
NC State at Clemson
Virginia at Duke
Wake Forest at Florida State
North Carolina at Syracuse
Week 9
Thursday, Oct. 25
Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech
Friday, Oct. 26
Miami at Boston College
Saturday, Oct. 27
Clemson at Florida State
Duke at Pitt
Wake Forest at Louisville
North Carolina at Virginia
NC State at Syracuse
Week 10
Friday, Nov. 2
Pitt at Virginia
Saturday, Nov. 3
Boston College at Virginia Tech
Louisville at Clemson
Duke at Miami
Florida State at NC State
Georgia Tech at North Carolina
Syracuse at Wake Forest
Week 11
Thursday, Nov. 8
Wake Forest at NC State
Friday, Nov. 9
Louisville at Syracuse
Saturday, Nov. 10
Clemson at Boston College
North Carolina at Duke
Florida State at Notre Dame
Miami at Georgia Tech
Virginia Tech at Pitt
Liberty at Virginia
Week 12
Saturday, Nov. 17
Boston College at Florida State
Duke at Clemson
Virginia at Georgia Tech
NC State at Louisville
Miami at Virginia Tech
Western Carolina at North Carolina
Pitt at Wake Forest
Syracuse vs. Notre Dame (Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, N.Y.)
Week 13
Friday, Nov. 23
Virginia at Virginia Tech
Saturday, Nov. 24
Syracuse at Boston College
South Carolina at Clemson
Wake Forest at Duke
Florida at Florida State
Georgia Tech at Georgia
Kentucky at Louisville
Pitt at Miami NC State at North Carolina
ACC Championship game
Saturday, Dec. 1
Atlantic Division champion vs. Coastal Division champion (Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C.)
This story was originally published January 17, 2018 at 3:14 PM with the headline "Reunions, potential pitfalls highlight the 2018 ACC football schedule."