CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Atlantic Coast Conference announced its 2025 football schedule – the second season under the new scheduling model with 17 total teams – Monday night during the two-hour special ACC Huddle: 2025 Football Schedule Release show on ACC Network and simulcast on ESPN2.
The 73rd season of ACC Football features a record number of league games on Friday nights, the continuation of traditional rivalries, and five consecutive days of ACC Football over Labor Day Weekend. It includes important conference matchups and boasts the most challenging non-conference schedule in the nation.
The season will culminate with the 2025 ACC Football Championship Game on Saturday, December 6, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“There is already great anticipation for the 2025 ACC Football season, and today’s schedule announcement highlights both exciting conference games combined with our teams once again playing the toughest collection of non-conference opponents,” said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D. “We look forward to collaborating with our television partners to showcase every ACC Football game throughout the season.”
ACC Football on Friday Night
ACC Football is taking over Friday nights this season, as the schedule includes at least one conference team competing in a league-record 10 Friday night contests.
August 29 – Kennesaw State at Wake Forest
September 12 – Colgate at Syracuse
September 26 – Florida State at Virginia
October 17 – Louisville at Miami
October 17 – North Carolina at California *
October 24 – California at Virginia Tech *
October 31 – North Carolina at Syracuse
November 14 – Clemson at Louisville
November 21 – Florida State at NC State
November 28 – Georgia at Georgia Tech (Mercedes-Benz Stadium)
*Game will be either Thursday or Friday.
Annual Rivalries
As previously announced, the new scheduling model protects 16 annual matchups, including the three new annual matchups with the additions of California, SMU and Stanford in the summer of 2024. Nine weeks of the season will see at least one intra-conference rivalry contest, culminating with five annual games set for the last Saturday (November 29) of the regular season.
September 11 – NC State at Wake Forest
September 20 – NC State at Duke
October 4 – Miami at Florida State
October 4 – Boston College at Pitt
October 11 – Stanford at SMU
October 18 – Pitt at Syracuse
October 25 – Virginia at North Carolina
November 8 – Florida State at Clemson
November 22 – Miami at Virginia Tech
November 22 – Duke at North Carolina
November 22 – California at Stanford
November 29 – Boston College at Syracuse
November 29 – SMU at California
November 29 – North Carolina at NC State
November 29 – Wake Forest at Duke
November 29 – Virginia Tech at Virginia
Week 0 and Week 1 – Featuring Five Straight Days of ACC Football over Labor Day Weekend (Full Release)
All 17 ACC football programs will be featured throughout Week 0 and Week 1 of the 2025 college football season, with Labor Day Weekend highlighted by 16 games over five days, Thursday, August 28, through Monday, September 1.
The ACC will headline Sunday, August 31, with two pivotal early season matchups, as Miami will host Notre Dame at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, and Virginia Tech will meet South Carolina in the second of the two 2025 Aflac Kickoff games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta this season.
The ACC will once again anchor college football on Labor Day Monday to wrap up the opening weekend of ACC football as Coach Bill Belichick will make his debut for North Carolina as the Tar Heels host TCU. This will mark the 16th straight year (the exception being the 2020 COVID season) that the ACC has played on Labor Day and the 19th year since Florida State and Miami played in the inaugural Labor Day night game in 2005.
The slate for Saturday, August 30, is highlighted by three ACC/SEC matchups, including a neutral site tilt between Syracuse and Tennessee in the first of two Aflac Kickoff Games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, a battle of the Tigers when LSU visits Clemson, and a matchup of two historical programs when Florida State plays host to Alabama. Georgia Tech will travel to Colorado for an ACC/Big 12 showdown, California will hit the road to take on Oregon State and Virginia will play at home versus Coastal Carolina in the two teams’ season opener.
Exciting ACC Football Contests
ACC play will kick into high gear starting in Week 4 with several key matchups, including in-state non-conference rivalry contests with Miami hosting Florida and SMU at TCU, as well as conference showdowns with Syracuse at Clemson and NC State at Duke. The season further amps up with early pivotal conference matchups featuring Clemson at North Carolina, Miami at Florida State, Syracuse at SMU and Virginia at Louisville in Week 6.
Week 10 will see all 17 schools in action, highlighted by eight conference matchups, including North Carolina at Syracuse on Friday night (October 31), Miami at SMU, Duke at Clemson, Georgia Tech at NC State, Louisville at Virginia Tech, Pitt at Stanford, Virginia at California and Wake Forest at Florida State on Saturday (November 1), as well as Boston College hosting Notre Dame in non-conference play.
The following week, in Week 11, six conference matchups will be featured, including Florida State at Clemson and Syracuse at Miami (November 8).
A 2024 ACC Football Championship Game rematch between Clemson and SMU will take place in Week 8 on Saturday, October 18, as the Tigers will host the Mustangs in Death Valley in Clemson, South Carolina.
First-Ever Meetings to Come in Conference Play
Following the 2024 football season, which saw a total of eight first-time matchups across ACC play due to the addition of Cal, SMU and Stanford, the upcoming 2025 season will still have a handful of first-time meetings among ACC teams. Stanford will face off with Virginia, Florida State and Miami for the first time in the program’s 100-plus-year history in 2025, while California will take on Virginia and Louisville for the first time ever. Virginia, whose first football season in the ACC was in 1954, will be playing two of the three newest members of the league in 2025.
September 20 – Stanford at Virginia
October 18 – Florida State at Stanford
October 25 – Stanford at Miami
November 1 – Virginia at California
November 8 – California at Louisville
Challenging Non-Conference Slate
The ACC’s non-conference schedule continues to be the most difficult in the country. Not including the Virginia-NC State non-conference game in Week 2, the ACC will play 26 games against peer Power 4 Conference opponents and Notre Dame (10 versus the SEC, seven against the Big 12, three versus the Big 10, six against Notre Dame), the most of any conference. The ACC will also play three games against the Pac-12’s Oregon State and Washington State.
The non-conference schedule will also see ACC teams play 14 non-conference games against teams ranked in both the final 2024 College Football Rankings and 2024 Associated Press (AP) Top 25 Poll, highlighted by six games versus national runner-up in Notre Dame and one each against top-10 teams Georgia and Tennessee.
ACC teams will play 35 non-conference games against opponents that appeared in a bowl game last year, including eight against teams that made the 12-team College Football Playoff.
ACC teams are scheduled to play 16 non-conference games against teams in ESPN’s 2025 Way-Too-Early Top 25.
A total of 12 schools – Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Pitt, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, and Virginia Tech – are scheduled to play two Power Conference opponents (including Notre Dame) in non-conference play this season.
Games Against Notre Dame
In 2025, ACC teams will play a total of six non-conference games against Notre Dame. The schedule begins with Miami hosting the Fighting Irish at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, in Week 1, and concludes with Stanford welcoming Notre Dame at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California, in Week 14.
August 31- Notre Dame at Miami
October 11 – NC State at Notre Dame
November 1 – Notre Dame at Boston College
November 15 – Notre Dame at Pitt
November 22 – Syracuse at Notre Dame
November 29 – Notre Dame at Stanford
2025 ACC Football Championship Game
The 2025 ACC Football Championship Game will be played on Saturday, December 6, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. The ACC, Carolina Panthers, and the Charlotte Sports Foundation have an agreement to keep the championship game in Charlotte through the 2030 season.
About The ACC
The Atlantic Coast Conference, in its 72nd year and 18 members strong, stands as one of the most competitive and revered intercollegiate conferences in the nation. ACC members including Boston College, Cal, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Notre Dame, Pitt, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest are dedicated to upholding the league’s founding values of academic excellence, athletic competition at the highest level, and integrity. The ACC supports 28 NCAA sports, with 15 for women and 13 for men, and its member institutions span 12 states. In August 2019, the ACC and ESPN partnered to launch ACC Network (ACCN), a 24/7 national network exclusively devoted to ACC sports and original programming. For more information, visit theACC.com and follow the ACC on Instagram (@accsports), Twitter (@theACC) and Facebook (facebook.com/theACC).