The ACC Schedule is officially released one day after the conference teased fans with the ‘Specialty Games’ or the games that would not be played on a Saturday. The release came as a surprise to some who didn’t think that the official schedule would be released so quickly afterward.
The ACC schedule features all 17 teams, including the newcomers Stanford, California, and SMU. Without divisions, each school will have a unique schedule that doesn’t look much like anyone else.
The ACC Schedule is Making a Statement
With Florida State, Miami, North Carolina, and others still fighting to get out of the conference, the decision to release the official ACC schedule so early was a brilliant move by the conference. Instead of focusing and looking into the headlines around the schools wanting to leave, for the next few days, the focus will instead be on the future matchups, particularly with the newcomers.
The ACC is desperately trying to stay afloat, and by getting out the ACC schedule in front of the Big 12’s release in particular on this issue, they are doing themselves a huge favor.
ACC’s 2024 schedule pic.twitter.com/jAy7YgFv2x
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) January 24, 2024
The Big 12 has suggested they will be releasing their schedule next week.
Ranking the Top Game of Each Week
Next year, there will only be four Power Conferences, meaning in a way more opportunity for each conference to be showcased on TV. Whether or not that happens, or if the Big 10 and SEC just take up all the slots is still up in the air.
What we do know is that the top few games of the ACC will be featured on either ESPN, ABC, or ESPN2. Here is the best game of every week of the ACC schedule:
Week 0: Florida State vs Georgia Tech: This is the only game of the ACC schedule on Week 0, no naturally it takes the top spot.
Week 1: Clemson vs Georgia: Clemson may not be same team they were a few years ago, but the name brand is still there, and if Clemson can pull off the upset, they will be on top of the college football world again.
Week 2: SMU vs BYU: In a battle of two new P5 teams, this should be a really fun game that will be a rematch of the 2022 New Mexico Bowl, where BYU won off of a failed two-point conversion attempt by SMU.
Week 3: Pitt vs West Virginia: This should be a conference game. These two teams hate each other and it is one of underrated rivalries in college football. Maybe someday, one of these two teams will move to the other conference to allow it to happen.
Week 4: South Florida vs Miami: This one will get a lot of pushback, but USF is on their way back to be relevant, and Miami is trying to get back to an elite level. Miami needs to win this game, otherwise, oof…
Week 5: Louisville vs Notre Dame: Louisville is loading up in the transfer portal and looks like they could be one of the most improved teams from 2023. Notre Dame is, Notre Dame.
Week 6: Clemson vs Florida State: In what ultimately may be a precursor to the ACC Championship game, Clemson and Florida State will square off in Tallahassee in a game that could potentially feature two top ten teams. The ACC schedule didn’t shine away from big games, even it means top teams taking a few losses.
Week 7: Stanford vs Notre Dame: There aren’t a ton of great matchups this week, and Stanford certainly still doesn’t feel like an ACC team, but the Stanford vs Notre Dame is always a great game where an upset can always happen.
Week 8: Virginia Tech vs Boston College (Specialty Game): VT and BC will face off on a weeknight in a game that features two teams trying to get back to winning ways. Ultimately at the end of the season, both of these teams may look back at this game and blame it for making/missing a bowl game.
Week 9: Cal vs Oregon State: This game may be awkward. Oregon State is probably the better team, the team with more football prestige, and more passionate fans. Yet, the Beavers were the ones left out in the cold without a conference home.
Week 10: Florida State vs UNC: North Carolina is going to try to have a much better season in 2024 than they did last year, even without Drake Maye. To have a great season, they may need a marquee win against Florida State.
Week 11: Georgia Tech vs Miami: Yes, FSU is playing Notre Dame, but after the crazy finish last season between Miami and GA Tech how can this not be the game of the week. A word of advice, if up buy a score late, knee the ball!
Week 12: Syracuse vs Cal: You’ve got Syracuse, from New York, travelling to Berkeley, California, 3.5 miles away from the Pacific Ocean, playing in an Atlantic Coast Conference game. If that doesn’t tell you about where we are in college football, I don’t know what will.
Week 13 Wake Forest vs Miami: This game feels like an upset game that is going to be randomly really good. Also, there just aren’t a ton of great games this week. The ACC schedule has a few weeks where they seem to not want to play a lot of huge games (Wait until week 14!).
Week 14: Florida vs Florida State: There are plenty of other great games this week, but this game is always great, with the Seminoles winning the last two and seven of the last ten. Oddly, this game is rarely close, only being a one score game three times in the last 13 games.
Conclusion
The ACC schedule is full of many exciting games and will give viewers plenty to watch every week. If there is one issue with the schedule, it is the difficulty the top contenders are going to have to go through to be ranked high. But in a season where FSU missed the Playoff despite a perfect record, a tough schedule may be what it takes to get multiple ACC teams into the 12-team playoff.
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