Modern ACC Scheduling Is Awful

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – MARCH 14: Malik Thomas #1 of the Virginia Cavaliers guards Cameron Boozer #12 of the Duke Blue Devils in the second half during the finals of the men's ACC Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 14, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The ACC released the 2026-27 conference opponents on Thursday, and the first thing you realize is this: the unbalanced schedule sucks, has always sucked, and always will suck.

One way you can tell is this: we understand that this is the first time ever that neither Duke nor UNC will play NC State in Raleigh. That’s just wrong. State and UNC didn’t play in Raleigh in 1947, but Duke did. Toss out 1947 and this apparently goes back to 1910. What a shame.

We’re not going to look at every team’s draw, but we will look at a few that are expected to excel.

We’ll start with Duke, and with this caveat: the Blue Devils have dominated the league in recent years, but no one should want Duke to treat the ACC like Gonzaga treated the WCC for decades. We want a highly competitive league.

That said, the ACC gave Duke a tough road. Obviously, the Duke-UNC rivalry is going to be a staple, but with Virginia being home-and-home too, that’s four very tough games.

Duke will also go to BC, Clemson, Georgia Tech, and Wake Forest. However, there are also road games at Syracuse and Louisville. That’s a lot of tough games for the Blue Devils.

Compare that to what UNC got.

Again, Duke and UNC is a powerful rivalry and makes a lot of money, and a home-and-home with Louisville won’t be easy. But UNC gets Miami, SMU and Virginia at home, and the road games are at BC, Florida State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest. From May, that’s a much easier path than what Duke’s looks like, but of course, it may look quite different in February.

Louisville’s home-and home games are with UNC and SMU. The Cardinals get Clemson, Duke and Miami at home….

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/modern-acc-scheduling-awful-114400887.html

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Publish date : 2026-05-29 11:44:00

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