Who NC’s Big Four play in ACC’s new 18-game men’s basketball schedule matrix
The ACC’s return to an 18-game men’s basketball schedule for the first time since 2018-19 means a new breakdown of opponents this season.
It also means the end of at least one tradition that dates back more than a century.
After deciding earlier this month to trim the number of league games by two for the 2025-26 season, the ACC announced Wednesday each team’s slate of league opponents.
The new format assigns every school a primary partner that it will play twice every season. Duke-North Carolina, Wake Forest-N.C. State, Cal-Stanford and Virginia-Virginia Tech are among those matchups.
Every team will play a home-and-home series with another opponent that will change each season. The remainder of each team’s league schedule will be single games against 14 teams, with seven at home and seven on the road. That also means each school will have one league school it does not play in the regular season.
Because N.C. State and UNC will face each other just once this season, with that game at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, it will mark the first time since 1919 those rivals will not play a game in Chapel Hill.
Duke does not play Miami this season. The Hurricanes are now coached by former Blue Devils assistant coach Jai Lucas.
Here are the league foes N.C.’s big four ACC teams — Duke, NC State, UNC and Wake Forest — will play this season:
Duke
Primary partner (home and road): North Carolina
Rotating opponent (home and road): Louisville
Home only: Boston College, Clemson, Georgia Tech, SMU, Syracuse, Virginia, Wake Forest
Road only: California, Florida State, N.C. State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Stanford, Virginia Tech
NC State
Primary partner (home and road): Wake Forest
Rotating opponent (home and road): Virginia
Home only: Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia Tech
Road only: Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pitt, SMU
UNC
Primary partner (home and road): Duke
Rotating opponent (home and road): Syracuse
Home only: Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pitt, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Road only: California, Georgia Tech, Miami, N.C. State, SMU, Stanford, Virginia
Wake Forest
Primary partner (home and road): N.C. State
Rotating opponent (home and road): Virginia Tech
Home only: California, Clemson, Louisville, Miami, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse
Road only: Boston College, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Pitt, Virginia