ACC athletic directors agreed Monday to move to a nine-game conference schedule after meetings in Charlotte, North Carolina, joining the other Power 4 leagues in going to nine conference games.
As part of the new scheduling model, league teams will now be required to play 10 Power 4 games. Most teams will begin playing nine conference games plus one Power 4 game in 2026.
Multiple ACC teams have return nonconference or neutral site nonconference games scheduled for next season, including Florida State at Alabama, Clemson at LSU, SMU at Baylor, Duke at Illinois, Georgia Tech at Colorado, North Carolina-TCU in Dublin, Ireland, and Virginia-West Virginia in Charlotte.
In a statement, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said athletics directors "overwhelmingly" supported the change from eight conference games to nine. Conversations about moving to a nine-game conference schedule ramped up after the SEC made the decision to move to nine league games last month. The SEC and Big 12 also are requiring conference teams to play 10 Power 4 games.
The Big 12 and Big Ten have already been at nine conference games.
"We have been incredibly intentional throughout our discussions on ACC football, including the future of our conference schedule," Phillips said in a statement. "This positions the ACC as one of only two leagues committed to having every team annually play a minimum of 10 games against Power 4 teams. There will be additional discussions and more details to be determined, but today's decision showcases the commitment and leadership of our ADs in balancing what is best for strengthening the conference and for their respective programs."
The new scheduling model will be presented to the faculty athletics representatives for formal adoption later this week.
The ACC has had discussions about playing nine games for more than a decade, but its unique scheduling partnership with Notre Dame and nonconference rivalry games for Florida State, Louisville, Clemson and Georgia Tech always made it difficult to move to nine.
The SEC and ACC had been the lone holdouts staying at eight games. But once the SEC moved to nine conference games, the likelihood of keeping eight conference games while playing a strong nonconference schedule against Power 4 teams started to dwindle. Simply put, with the other three Power 4 conferences at nine games, it would be harder to schedule as many marquee nonconference games in the ACC as it had in the past.
Unlike the other Power 4 conferences, the ACC has 17 league teams, so playing nine conference games is a bit more complicated. According to a source, starting in 2027 when the nine-game league schedule is fully implemented, 16 teams will play nine league games and one will play eight conference games plus two Power 4 nonconference games.
The ACC-SEC rivalry games between Florida-Florida State, Georgia Tech-Georgia, Clemson-South Carolina and Louisville-Kentucky are expected to continue. Because those schools already have an annual Power 4 nonconference game, they will have decisions to make about their future schedules.
But SEC teams have to make similar decisions, too. Georgia, for example, has games scheduled against Louisville in 2026 and 2027, and Florida State in 2027 and 2028. Florida has already canceled nonconference games against NC State (2026, 2032) and Cal (2026, 2027).
Notre Dame is a factor, too, as the Irish currently play five ACC games as part of its scheduling agreement with the league. In the years those four ACC teams play Notre Dame, they will have 11 Power 4 games. The situation grows further complex for Clemson. In May, Clemson and Notre Dame agreed to a 12-year scheduling agreement that will pit the two college football powers against one another annually through 2038.