College Football

ACC Friday Football Schedule Gives Duke, NC State, Wake Forest Extra Spotlight In 2026

Five Friday ACC football games will involve North Carolina teams, including two each for Blue Devils, Wolfpack.

Published

May 18, 2026

Duke football coach Manny Diaz holds up the ACC championship trophy after the Blue Devils win over Virginia in the 2025 title game in Charlotte.

Duke Blue Devils head coach Manny Diaz holds up the championship trophy during the ACC Championship football game between the Virginia Cavaliers and the Duke Blue Devils on December 6, 2025 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. (Photo by John Byrum/Icon Sportswire)

Duke, NC State and Wake Forest will be featured this season as part of the ACC’s 15-game Friday night college football package.

The Blue Devils and Wolfpack will appear twice in Friday slots, while Wake Forest will play one Friday game. The ACC announced the schedule adjustments on May 15.

The North Carolina-relevant Friday ACC games are:

Richmond at NC State — Friday, Sept. 11
Miami at Wake Forest — Friday, Sept. 18
Duke at Virginia — Friday, Oct. 23
NC State at Stanford — Friday, Oct. 23
Clemson at Duke — Friday, Nov. 20

For NC State, the Friday schedule creates two very different opportunities: an early home showcase against an FCS opponent and a late-October cross-country ACC trip to Stanford.

Duke also gets two Friday appearances, including a home date with Clemson that could carry major conference implications depending on how the Blue Devils navigate the first half of the season. The Duke-Virginia contest in Charlottesville is a rematch of the 2025 ACC title game, won by the Blue Devils.

Wake Forest gets its Friday moment early, hosting Miami in Winston-Salem on Sept. 18. The Hurricanes are coming off their first-ever appearance in the College Football Playoff championship game.

UNC, which played twice on Friday and once on Monday in 2025, does not have a non-Saturday game this season.

Kickoff times and TV information from each Friday night contest will be available at a later date.

👉 See also:

Here is the complete ACC Friday Night slate of games:

Friday, Sept. 4
Miami at Stanford – 9 p.m., ESPN

Friday, Sept. 11
Rutgers at Boston College – TBA
Villanova at Louisville – TBA
Richmond at NC State – TBA
Norfolk State at Virginia – TBA

Friday, Sept. 18
Miami at Wake Forest – TBA

Friday, Sept. 25
Clemson at California – TBA

Friday, Oct. 2
Pitt at Virginia Tech – TBA

Friday, Oct. 9
Florida State at Louisville – TBA

Friday, Oct. 23
Duke at Virginia – TBA
NC State at Stanford – TBA

Friday, Nov. 6
Virginia Tech at SMU – TBA