UNC, Duke college football schedules changing due to Liberty’s move to Conference USA
Liberty’s move to join Conference USA beginning next season is altering future football schedules for both North Carolina and Duke.
The Tar Heels and Blue Devils each agreed to contracts for three games each with Liberty when the school was competing as an independent.
Because the Flames will play eight CUSA games each season beginning in 2023, the contracts with UNC and Duke have been canceled and the games won’t be played.
UNC had been scheduled to play home games with Liberty in 2024 and 2031 with a game at Liberty in 2028. Instead, as announced last week, UNC will play N.C. Central on Sept. 24, 2024, with the Liberty games now off.
Duke had scheduled games with Liberty in Durham in 2025 and 2027 and in Lynchburg, Virginia in 2026. Duke senior associate athletics director Art Chase confirmed the series’ cancellation and he is talking with other schools to fill the schedule openings.
In 2025 the Blue Devils have nonconference games scheduled at Middle Tennessee and at Tulane as well as a home game with Illinois. In 2026, Duke is set to play at home with Tulane and at Illinois. The lone nonconference game on the 2027 schedule is at home with Notre Dame.
For UNC, its 2024 nonconference slate now includes a game at Minnesota in addition to home games with James Madison, Charlotte and NCCU.
In 2028, UNC has a game at South Carolina and a home game with James Madison scheduled. In 2031, the Tar Heels lone contracted nonconference game thus far is at Purdue.
The News & Advance newspaper of Lynchburg reported this week Liberty also canceled four future scheduled games against Virginia as well as games with Central Florida, Eastern Michigan and Miami (Ohio).
“Once we get to about 2027 and beyond, I think we’ve got really nice schedules,” Liberty athletics director Ian McCaw told the News & Advance “It will be a mix of continuing series like Virginia Tech and Old Dominion, and we have some games with App State, Coastal Carolina. There will be games that our fans are very excited about, regional rivalries that mean something to our fanbase.”
Duke and UNC, though, are no longer in the equation.