ACC to play 10 conference games, 1 nonconference game for football

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The Atlantic Coast Conference will follow a football schedule this fall that consists of 10 conference games and one nonconference game, the conference announced in a release Wednesday.

Those 11 games will be spread out over 13 weeks beginning the week of Sept. 7-12, with teams continuing to have two bye weeks during the season.

The ACC’s approach to the football schedule is similar to the conference-only scheduling format the Big Ten and Pac-12 are implementing, albeit with the extra nonconference opponent. Before Wednesday’s announcement, Syracuse had already lost two football opponents, Rutgers and Colgate, after the Big Ten’s scheduling pivot and Patriot League’s cancelation of fall sports.

“The Board’s decision presents a path, if public health guidance allows, to move forward with competition,” ACC Commissioner John Swofford said in the release. “We recognize that we may need to be nimble and make adjustments in the future. We will be as prepared as possible should that need arise.”

Under the ACC’s scheduling model, Syracuse will face Boston College, Duke, Georgia Tech, NC State and Wake Forest at home and play Clemson, Louisville, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh on the road. The Orange’s one nonconference game — which under ACC guidelines must be played in New York, Syracuse’s home state — hasn’t been released yet.

Fall Olympic sports, competitions that the ACC had previously delayed until Sept. 1, can begin games Sept. 10. Each team will follow a conference schedule with the NCAA’s minimum amount of games.

Regular-season meets for cross-country can be scheduled as normal, and the conference championship will take place in Cary, North Carolina on Oct. 30. The minimum is 10 games for volleyball and six games for men’s soccer, women’s soccer and field hockey.

Additional conference games won’t count in the standings, and any nonconference opponents must adhere to ACC medical standards, the release states.

“It is incumbent upon all of us in the Syracuse Athletics Department to strictly adhere to the protocols we and the ACC have in place,” Director of Athletics John Wildhack said in a statement.