The ACC has finalized the teams that will be playing eight league games from 2027 through 2032, per a report from Brett McMurphy of On3.
Beginning with the 2026 season, the ACC will play a nine-game conference football schedule. Due to previously scheduled non-conference games, only 12 members will play nine league games while the remaining five schools will play eight.
The 2026 schedule format is serving as a “bridge” or “transition” as the conference moves toward fully implementing a nine-game league schedule in 2027. Beginning in 2027, 16 teams will play a nine-game ACC schedule annually, with one team each season playing eight league games due to the odd number of conference members (17).
The report from Brett McMurphy indicates which of those teams will be playing eight ACC contests from the 2027 season to the 2032 season, which is only four schools — Clemson (2027, 2028), Georgia Tech (2029, 2031), Syracuse (2030), and Florida State (2032).
That leaves the following teams playing nine league games per season — Cal, Duke, Louisville, Miami, NC State, Pitt, SMU, Stanford, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest.
The four teams playing eight league games will have to schedule a minimum of two power non-conference opponents per season, while the nine-game playing schools will have to schedule at least one. That ensures that each ACC school plays at least 10 power foes per season.
The On3 report also states that the ACC is expected to revise its championship game tiebreakers in the near future due to some schools playing one more conference member than others. Non-conference games, including those against Notre Dame, will not count in the league standings.
