ACC football schedule 2021 – what are the five things you need to know? What are the five things that matter?
ACC Football Schedule 2021: 5 Things You Need To Know
ACC Schedules, Analysis, Best/Worst Scenarios
Atlantic: Boston College | Clemson | Florida St
Louisville | NC State | Syracuse | Wake Forest
Coastal: Duke | Georgia Tech | Miami
North Carolina | Pitt | Virginia | Virginia Tech
And now we’re back to normal … we hope. There’s a real ACC schedule with all of the big games we’re used to (yay!) and there’s no Notre Dame as an official member this time around (boo!).
Here are five things about the schedule that matter including who misses the big teams from the other division, the non-conference analysis, the one big difference in this year’s slate, the winners and losers, and starting out with …
5. Who gets the rested teams?
Give (almost) every ACC team credit for at least having one nasty non-conference game on the schedule. Okay, that might be a bit much.
Give (almost) every ACC team credit for at least having one Power Five game of note on the slate to go along with the regular conference schedule. More on that in Part 3 of this, but that one key non-ACC battle gives every team at least a little bit of cover for one paycheck sure-win game against Cupcake A&M.
That game against an FCS team matters, and so does the midseason off-week. The time of those dates matter as much as the games/week off themselves.
ACC Atlantic
Boston College
The open date comes before: NC State, Oct. 16
The FCS scrimmage: Colgate, Sept. 4 before at UMass
Clemson
The open date comes before: at Syracuse, Oct. 15
The FCS scrimmage: South Carolina State, Sept. 11 before Georgia Tech
Florida State
The open date comes before: at UMass, Oct. 23
The FCS scrimmage: Jacksonville State, Sept. 11 before at Wake Forest
Louisville
The open date comes before: Boston College, Oct. 23
The FCS scrimmage: Eastern Kentucky, Sept. 11 before UCF
NC State
The open date comes before: at Boston College, Oct. 16
The FCS scrimmage: Furman, Sept. 18 before, Clemson
Syracuse
The open date comes before: at Louisville, Nov. 13
The FCS scrimmage: Albany, Sept. 18 before Liberty
Wake Forest
The open date comes before: at Army, Sept. 23
The FCS scrimmage: Norfolk State, Sept. 11 before Florida State
ACC Coastal
Duke
The open date comes before: at Wake Forest, Oct. 30
The FCS scrimmage: North Carolina A&T, Sept. 11
Georgia Tech
The open date comes before: at Virginia, Oct. 23
The FCS scrimmage: Kennesaw State, Sept. 11 before at Clemson
Miami
The open date comes before: at North Carolina, Oct. 16
The FCS scrimmage: Central Connecticut, Sept. 25 before Virginia
North Carolina
The open date comes before: at Notre Dame, Oct. 30
The FCS scrimmage: Wofford, Nov. 20 before at NC State
Pitt
The open date comes before: at Virginia Tech, Oct. 16
The FCS scrimmage: New Hampshire, Sept. 25 before at Georgia Tech
Virginia
The open date comes before: Notre Dame, Nov. 13
The FCS scrimmage: William & Mary, Sept. 4 before Illinois
Virginia Tech
The open date comes before: Notre Dame, Oct. 9
The FCS scrimmage: Richmond, Sept. 25 before Notre Dame
– The games against the teams from the other division
NEXT: Who misses the big boys from the other division?
4. Who misses the big boys from the other division?
Do you play Clemson, or do you get Syracuse?
Do you get North Carolina, or do you play Duke?
Every ACC team plays eight conference games with six against teams from their own division and two from the other side. This is a very, very big deal considering the massive disparity in talent and teams in the two divisions depending on the season.
Basically, this year, you don’t want Clemson from the Atlantic or North Carolina or Miami from the Coastal. So …
ACC Atlantic
Boston College
Coastal games:
So that means no …
Clemson
Coastal games: at Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech
So that means no … Duke, Miami, North Carolina, Pitt, Virginia, Virginia Tech
Florida State
Coastal games: Miami, at North Carolina
So that means no … Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, Pitt, Virginia, Virginia Tech
Louisville
Coastal games: at Duke, Virginia
So that means no … Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Pitt, Virginia Tech
NC State
Coastal games: at Miami, North Carolina
So that means no … Duke, Georgia Tech, Pitt, Virginia, Virginia Tech
Syracuse
Coastal games: Pitt, at Virginia Tech
So that means no … Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia
Wake Forest
Coastal games: Duke, at Virginia
So that means no … Georgia Tech, Miami, Pitt, Virginia Tech, (however, North Carolina is on the slate as a non-conference game)
ACC Coastal
Duke
Atlantic games: Louisville, at Wake Forest
So that means no … Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, NC State, Syracuse
Georgia Tech
Atlantic games: Boston College, at Clemson
So that means no … Florida State, Louisville, NC State, Syracuse, Wake Forest
Miami
Atlantic games: at Florida State, NC State
So that means no … Boston College, Clemson, Louisville, Syracuse, Wake Forest
North Carolina
Atlantic games: Florida State, at NC State
So that means no … Boston College, Clemson, Louisville, Syracuse, Wake Forest, (however, Wake Forest is on the slate as a non-conference game)
Pitt
Atlantic games: Clemson, at Syracuse
So that means no … Boston College, Florida State, Louisville, NC State, Wake Forest
Virginia
Atlantic games: at Louisville, Wake Forest
So that means no … Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, NC State, Syracuse
Virginia Tech
Atlantic games: Boston College, Syracuse
So that means no … Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, NC State, Wake Forest
NEXT: The non-conference games
3. The non-conference games
We’re back to the normal world of ACC non-conference game – we hope – which includes at least one really, really good game for almost every team. There’s also the Notre Dame factor in here as well, but that will be touched on in Part 2.
After already doing the look at the FCS game on everyone’s slate, here’s everyone’s Lame, Okay, and Solid non-conference dates among their three.
One note – Notre Dame is automatically in the Okay category, because it’s forced and not really a non-conference game, even though it technically is.
ACC Atlantic
Boston College
Lame: UMass
Okay: at Temple
Solid: Missouri
Clemson
Lame: UConn
Okay: at South Carolina
Solid: Georgia (in Charlotte)
Florida State
Lame: UMass
Okay: Notre Dame
Solid: at Florida
Louisville
Solid: Kentucky
Solid: UCF
Solid: Ole Miss (in Atlanta)
*UofL gets credit for stepping up
NC State
Lame (but not really): Louisiana Tech
Okay (but not really): USF
Solid: at Mississippi State
Syracuse
Lame: at Ohio
Okay: Liberty
Solid: Rutgers
Wake Forest
Lame: Old Dominion
Okay: at Army
Okay: at North Carolina (technically it’s a non-conference game)
ACC Coastal
Duke
Lame: at Charlotte
Okay: Kansas
Solid: Northwestern
Georgia Tech
Lame: Northern Illinois
Okay: at Notre Dame
Solid: Georgia
Miami
Warm: Appalachian State
Warmer: Michigan State
Disco: Alabama (in Atlanta)
North Carolina
Lame: Wake Forest (technically it’s a non-conference game)
Okay: at Notre Dame
Fiiiiine: Georgia State
Pitt
Lame: UMass
Okay: Western Michigan
Solid: at Tennessee
Virginia
Okay: Illinois
Okay: Notre Dame
More Okay: at BYU
Virginia Tech
Lame: Middle Tennessee
Okay: Notre Dame
Solid: at West Virginia
– The one big different thing in the 2021 schedule
NEXT: The one big different thing with the 2021 ACC season is …
2. Notre Dame, it was fun while it lasted
Can we get Notre Dame back in the ACC for real?
Yeah, so the Irish are back to their Friends With Benefits relationship with the ACC after moving in for a year and playing house, but it was just so much fun.
Of course it’ll be great to get the USC game back, but Notre Dame could have that with a full eight-game football schedule, too. And it’ll be wonderful to get the showdown against Wisconsin in Soldier Field in Chicago, and playing Cincinnati will be a blast – dear heavens is the Notre Dame schedule a bear – but the Irish gave the the ACC a real, live College Football Playoff-caliber program to boost up the conference.
North Carolina will be strong in 2021, but it’s North Carolina – it’ll probably lose to Virginia or Duke or something to blow it.
Miami will be a thing again, but it’s Miami – it’ll play footsie with the idea of being a player in the ACC race before getting annihilated some time in November.
So once again we’re back to Clemson and the other 13, which is fine. Clemson would be the going-away favorite to win a 119th straight ACC Championship – it’s actually on a six-game streak, but it doesn’t really matter at this point – even if Notre Dame was in the conference, but the absence will be felt.
Oh sure, the Irish will phone one in late at night against Virginia Tech, and they’ll send a suggestive text to North Carolina and fire over a balloon bouquet to Virginia. And they’ll make all nice-nice with Florida State to start the season and Georgia Tech late, but enough.
If you like it, put a ring on it. Be a full-on ACC football member already, Notre Dame.
It’s already playing five ACC games. Go ahead and ditch that date with Toledo, and you can be forgiven for blowing off Purdue and Navy. Or maybe we can all survive without that date with the Badgers – as fun as that might be – to lighten things up a bit.
It won’t be right and it won’t be fun this time around if the Irish go 5-0 in the ACC and then some sacrificial lamb get fed to Clemson in Charlotte on December 4th.
– ACC schedule winners and losers
NEXT: ACC schedule winners and losers
1. 2021 ACC schedule winners and losers
Before the fun gets started, the winners and losers in your 2021 ACC football schedule are …
Winner: Clemson
Now, to be fair, Clemson is a winner in the ACC scheduling world mostly because it doesn’t have to play itself, but there’s not even a No. 2 team in the ACC to deal with. Or a No. 3.
Of course, the Georgia game to kick things off is as good as there is in 2021, and getting back South Carolina on the road isn’t going to be a breeze, but there’s no Notre Dame, there’s no North Carolina, and there’s no Miami or Virginia Tech. The (most likely) second-best ACC team the Tigers will face before winning another conference title is Pitt on the road. Yippee.
Loser: Georgia Tech
Northern Illinois and Kennesaw State get the season going with a delightful pair of warm-up games, and then … ohhhhhhh, noooooooo.
Not only do the Yellow Jackets get Clemson from the Atlantic, but they get the game on the road to start the ACC season. Then, because that’s not fun enough, the North Carolina is a week later. The Miami game … on the road. Virginia … on the road. Oh yeah, and they get Notre Dame, and that’s … on the road. After all of that, at least they get a home game to finish everything up … against Georgia.
Winner (in September and October): Wake Forest
At Army on October 23rd. That’s it. That’s the only team in the first eight games for Wake Forest that went to a bowl game in 2020.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, so most of the ACC teams tapped out and didn’t want to play another game, but the Demon Deacons start with two teams that didn’t even play last year (Old Dominion and Norfolk State) and then get five of last year’s bottom six teams – not counting themselves – in the final ACC standings. However …
Loser (in November): Wake Forest
And then payment is due.
At North Carolina, NC State, at Clemson, and at Boston College (Boston in late November is certain to be a delightful 73 and sunny).
ACC Schedules, Analysis, Best/Worst Scenarios
Atlantic: Boston College | Clemson | Florida St
Louisville | NC State | Syracuse | Wake Forest
Coastal: Duke | Georgia Tech | Miami
North Carolina | Pitt | Virginia | Virginia Tech
