An upcoming home-and-home football series between North Carolina and South Carolina is the latest casualty resulting from changes in ACC and SEC scheduling philosophies.
The two schools announced Friday that a 2028 game in Columbia, S.C. and a 2029 contest in Chapel Hill have been canceled. There are no plans to reschedule either meeting.
Both the SEC and ACC unveiled plans last summer to move to nine conference games instead of the traditional eight. That change has forced schools from both leagues to rework future football schedules to make room for the extra conference action. The ACC also is mandating its member schools play at least 10 “Power” conference schools (SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Notre Dame) each year.
UNC and South Carolina once were fierce conference rivals in the ACC from 1954 until the early 1970s. USC left the league, eventually joining the SEC after a period as an independent.
The teams last played in 2023 when the Tar Heels defeated the Gamecocks 31-17 in the Duke’s Mayo season kickoff game in Charlotte.
UNC currently has just two non-conference slots filled for 2028 – Kennesaw State and North Carolina A&T. Another 2028 non-conference contest against James Madison was moved from Sept. 23, 2028 to Aug. 30, 2031, according to FBSchedules.com.
The Tar Heels currently have no non-conference opponents for 2029 and just two for 2030, Kennesaw State and Notre Dame.
NC State and South Carolina mutually announced in February that games between their schools in 2030 (Columbia) and 2031 (Raleigh) were off the books.
The Wolfpack was supposed to play Florida this coming season, with a return game coming in 2032. But both of those games were cancelled back in 2024. NC State also has lost an upcoming series with Georgia, which had been scheduled for 2033 and 2034.
Even North Carolina schools not in the ACC have been impacted by the upgrade to nine-game conference schedules.
Wake Forest bumped East Carolina off its 2027 schedule, buying out a game that was supposed to take place in Greenville. This came on the heels of the Deacons also paying $750,000 to opt out of a 2025 game against Ole Miss.
ECU has not yet announced a replacement opponent for 2027. The Pirates, who play eight conference games in The American, currently have Western Carolina, Georgia State and Northwestern on their 2027 non-league slate.
Charlotte earlier lost a game for this season at Louisville. The 49ers replaced the Cardinals with Louisiana from the Sun Belt.
The Niners’ game this September at Ole Miss originally was scheduled to be played at Jerry Richardson Stadium. But Charlotte agreed to move the contest to Oxford, receiving a payout of more than $1 million in return.
Marquee games dwindling – but haven’t all disappeared
Fans are understandably frustrated at losing compelling games coming to their home stadiums. But all is not lost. There still are some intriguing non-conference matchups coming over the next decade:
- Duke, NC State, UNC and Wake Forest each will play multiple games against Notre Dame as part of an ongoing schedule agreement between the ACC and the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame will visit all four schools twice between now and 2037.
- NC State originally canceled a game at Appalachian State for this season to make room for a contest against Virginia (which was moved to Brazil). But the Pack put their road trip to Boone back on the books for 2028. The Mountaineers come to Raleigh this fall for what should be one of the most anticipated in-state showdowns of the year (Sept. 26).
- The Wolfpack, which played ECU in both 2024 and 2025, will travel to Greenville for an early season meeting in 2028.
- The 2034 season will bring a Labor Day North Carolina-South Carolina doubleheader when Appalachian State visits USC and ECU travels to Clemson. South Carolina is slated for a trip to Boone in 2033. We’ll see if that lasts.
- App State and Charlotte remain on each other’s schedules through 2030, including a Sept. 19 game this season in the mountains. App State also visits ECU this year and will host Boise State in 2027.
- Charlotte will play at Ohio State in 2029 and is set to face NC State in a home-and-home in 2030 and 2031.
- Duke plays home and away against TCU in 2028 and 2029, and has UConn on the schedule four times through 2030.
Future Non-Conference Opponents | North Carolina FBS
(Source: FBSchedules.com, various school websites and announcements)
Appalachian State Mountaineers
- 2026: Maine (Sept. 5), at East Carolina (Sept. 12), Charlotte (Sept. 19), at NC State (Sept. 26)
- 2027: Boise State (Sept. 4), at South Carolina (Sept. 11), at Charlotte (Sept. 18)
- 2028: Western Carolina (Sept. 2), Charlotte (Sept. 16), at Toledo (Sept. 23), NC State (Sept. 30)
- 2029: at South Carolina (Sept. 8), at Charlotte (Sept. 15)
- 2030: Toledo (Sept. 28), at Charlotte (TBA)
- 2031: at Liberty (Sept. 13)
- 2032: at Oregon State (Sept. 25)
- 2033: South Carolina (Sept. 3)
- 2034: at South Carolina (Sept. 2)
Charlotte 49ers
- 2026: The Citadel (Sept. 5), at Ole Miss (Sept. 12), at Appalachian State (Sept. 19), Louisiana (Sept. 26)
- 2027: at Ole Miss (Sept. 4), Elon (Sept. 11), Appalachian State (Sept. 18), at Old Dominion (Sept. 25)
- 2028: Charleston Southern (Sept. 2), at Appalachian State (Sept. 16)
- 2029: Wofford (Sept. 1), at Ohio State (Sept. 8), Appalachian State (Sept. 15), at James Madison (Sept. 22)
- 2030: Western Carolina (Aug. 31), at NC State (Sept. 7), Appalachian State (TBA)
- 2031: NC State (Sept. 6), Old Dominion (Sept. 20)
- 2032: at Louisiana (Sept. 18)
Duke Blue Devils
- 2026: Tulane (Sept. 5), at Illinois (Sept. 12), William & Mary (Sept. 26)
- 2027: at Rice (Sept. 4), Connecticut (Sept. 11), Notre Dame (TBA)
- 2028: TCU (Sept. 9), at Temple (Sept. 16), at Connecticut (Oct. 14)
- 2029: at TCU (Sept. 8), Middle Tennessee (Sept. 15), at Connecticut (Sept. 29)
- 2030: Connecticut (Aug. 31), Rice (Sept. 7), at Notre Dame (TBA)
- 2033: Notre Dame (Sept. 24)
- 2035: at Notre Dame (TBA)
East Carolina Pirates
- 2026: at Alabama (Sept. 5), Appalachian State (Sept. 12), at Old Dominion (Sept. 19), North Carolina Central (Sept. 26)
- 2027: Western Carolina (Sept. 4), Georgia State (Sept. 11), at Northwestern (Sept. 18)
- 2028: NC State (Sept. 2), Coastal Carolina (Sept. 9), Charleston Southern (Sept. 16), at Wake Forest (Sept. 23)
- 2029: Old Dominion (Sept. 15), Liberty (Sept. 22)
- 2030: Norfolk State (Aug. 31), at South Carolina (Sept. 7), at Old Dominion (Sept. 14)
- 2031: Old Dominion (Sept. 6)
- 2034: at Clemson (Sept. 2)
NC State Wolfpack
- 2026: Richmond (Sept. 12), at Vanderbilt (Sept. 19), Appalachian State (Sept. 26)
- 2027: North Carolina A&T (Sept. 11), Kansas State (Sept. 25), Louisiana Tech (Oct. 2)
- 2028: at East Carolina (Sept. 2), Vanderbilt (Sept. 16), Campbell (Sept. 23), at Appalachian State (Sept. 30)
- 2029: Troy (Sept. 1), at USF (Sept. 8), Notre Dame (Oct. 6)
- 2030: Charlotte (Sept. 7)
- 2031: at Charlotte (Sept. 6), at Notre Dame (Nov. 22)
- 2032: at Kansas State (Sept. 18)
- 2035: Notre Dame (Nov. 10)
- 2037: at Notre Dame (Oct. 3)
UNC Tar Heels
- 2026: vs. TCU in Dublin, Ireland (Aug. 29), East Tennessee State (Sept. 12), Notre Dame (Oct. 3), at Connecticut (Nov. 7)
- 2027: UCF (Sept. 4), at Purdue (Sept. 11), Connecticut (Sept. 18), North Alabama (Sept. 25)
- 2028: Kennesaw State (Sept. 9), North Carolina A&T (Sept. 16)
- 2030: Kennesaw State (Sept. 14), at Notre Dame (TBA)
- 2031: James Madison (Aug. 30), Purdue (Sept. 13), Notre Dame (TBA)
- 2036: at Notre Dame (Nov. 8)
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
- 2026: Akron (Sept. 3), at Purdue (Sept. 12), Merrimack (Nov. 7)
- 2027: Campbell (Sept. 2, 3 or 4), Tulane (Sept. 18), Notre Dame (Oct. 9 in Charlotte)
- 2028: Elon (Aug. 31 or Sept. 1), Purdue (Sept. 9), Connecticut (Sept. 16), East Carolina (Sept. 23)
- 2029: Norfolk State (Aug. 30), Georgia State (Sept. 15), Oregon State (Sept. 29), at Notre Dame (TBA)
- 2030: Maryland (Sept. 7), at Georgia State (Sept. 14)
- 2031: at Maryland (Sept. 6)
- 2032: at Notre Dame (TBA)
- 2037: Notre Dame (TBA)
