Two hundred eleven days isn’t a long time in the great scheme of things. But it can feel like an eternity when you’re counting down the days until the start of a new college football season.
The anticipation began even before the confetti stopped floating down on Ryan Day and his Ohio State Buckeyes after their national championship victory against Notre Dame a week ago. And it’s been ramped up even higher now that the ACC has released its schedule for the 2025 season.
The ACC season begins with 5 straight days of games over Labor Day weekend, highlighted by 4 head-to-head matchups against SEC opponents, a renewal of the old Miami-Notre Dame rivalry and Bill Belichick’s highly-anticipated debut at North Carolina.
Knowing who and when each team is playing is nice, but it won’t help make the time until Week 1 go by any faster.
So to help you get through the next 211 days until college football is back, here’s a sneak peek at the 10 most anticipated opening week games involving ACC teams:
10. Stanford at Hawaii, Saturday, Aug. 23
The matchup itself isn’t much to write home about. The Cardinal are coming off 4 consecutive 3-win seasons and the Rainbow Warriors went 5-7 in 2024. But it’s college football. In Hawaii. A week earlier than everyone else gets started. After a long offseason, does it really matter who’s playing?
9. Cal at Oregon State, Saturday, Aug. 30
The Bears renew an old Pac-12 rivalry as they go on the road to begin what could be a pivotal season for coach Justin Wilcox’s future. Cal put a 44-7 hurting on the Beavers last season in Berkeley. Fernando Mendoza threw for a career-high 364 yards and 2 touchdowns in that game. But with his departure to Indiana and his expected replacement, redshirt freshman transfer Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, scheduled to make his first career start, the rematch could be much closer.
8. Virginia Tech vs. South Carolina, Sunday, Aug. 31
The second of 2 Aflac Kickoff games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta will be a study of contrasts. The Hokies were among the ACC’s biggest disappointments in 2024. The Gamecocks were among the nation’s biggest surprises. While Brent Pry’s Hokies will be looking to replace several key contributors, including star edge rusher Antwaun Powell-Ryland and leading rusher Bhayshul Tuten, South Carolina coach Shane Beamer returns most of the key elements – including Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback LaNorris Sellers – from a team that fell just short of a Playoff bid.
7. East Carolina at NC State, Thursday, Aug. 28
This was already going to be an emotional grudge match between in-state rivals. But the temperature was raised even higher after the Pirates stunned the Wolfpack with an 86-yard touchdown run in the final minute to secure a 26-21 Military Bowl victory in December. As if the loss wasn’t enough to raise State’s dander, the memory of the melee that followed, resulting in 8 ejections and an official with a cut under his eye, should only add to the intensity.
6. Georgia Tech at Colorado, Saturday, Aug. 30
The veteran Yellow Jackets will be the first to get a glimpse of how good a coach Deion Sanders is without his son Shedeur playing quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter playing virtually every snap on both sides of the ball. The power conference matchup is an opportunity for Tech, which returns dynamic quarterback Haynes King and has been ranked in several “way-too-early” preseason polls, to make an early splash similar to the one it achieved last year by knocking off Florida State in Ireland.
5. Syracuse vs. Tennessee, Saturday, Aug. 30
The Orange are riding a wave of momentum after winning 10 games in Year 1 under charismatic young coach Fran Brown. Building on that success, however, won’t be easy without quarterback Kyle McCord, leading rusher LeQuint Allen, record-setting tight end Oronde Gadsden and star linebacker Marlowe Wax. Brown earned a reputation as the nation’s top recruiter while he was an assistant at Georgia. His skills will be put to the test right out of the game in 2025 with his return to SEC country against Tennessee in Game 1 of the Aflac Kickoff at Mercedes-Benz.
4. Alabama at Florida State, Saturday, Aug. 30
It’s a shame we can’t go back and have these teams meet in December 2022, with the winner earning the Playoff bid the selection committee eventually awarded to the Crimson Tide at the expense of the then-undefeated ACC champion Seminoles. A lot has changed for both teams since then. And their 2025 season-opener won’t be nearly as consequential. But it should still be an interesting matchup as FSU looks to rebound from last year’s 2-10 disaster and Alabama tries to rally from an equally uncharacteristic 4-loss season. No doubt, Year 2 will be critical for Kalen DeBoer.
3. Notre Dame at Miami, Sunday, Aug. 31
Two old rivals meet at Hard Rock Stadium hoping to get off to a winning start in their pursuit of unfinished business. For the Irish, it’s winning the national championship that barely eluded them in 2024. For the Hurricanes, it’s earning the Playoff bid they cost themselves by losing to Syracuse in their regular-season finale. The stakes won’t be quite as high as they were during the infamous Catholics vs. Convicts showdown in 1988 when the Irish beat the defending national champion Hurricanes by a point to jumpstart their own title run. But it’s close.
2. TCU at North Carolina, Monday, Sept. 1
Labor Day night at Kenan Stadium promises to be as much of a spectacle as a football game as Bill Belichick makes his debut as UNC’s coach. That’s why ESPN chose it for its prime-time window on Labor Day night. It’s still too early to know what kind of team the 6-time Super Bowl winner will put together in his first foray into the college game. But you can bet the ratings will be off the charts as even the most casual fans tune in to find out. If anyone has an idea of what to expect, it’s Horned Frogs coach Sonny Dykes. That’s because his team dealt with a similar circus 2 seasons ago in Coach Prime’s first game at Colorado.
1. LSU at Clemson, Saturday, Aug. 30
For the second straight year, Dabo Swinney’s team will start the season with a high-profile battle against an SEC contender. It can only hope things turn out better than they did last season against Georgia. The game is a rematch of LSU’s 42-25 blowout of Clemson in the 2019 national championship game.
Beyond the coaches and brand names, this will be a quarterback showcase, too. Clemson’s Cade Klubnik and LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier each have Heisman and Playoff hopes in 2025. Those won’t be dashed on opening night, but they might be enhanced.
There are several factors working in the favor of the defending ACC champions in this Tiger vs. Tiger shootout. For starters, Clemson will be at home in its version of Death Valley. On top of that, LSU has a habit of losing season-openers. It’s dropped 3 straight under coach Brian Kelly, including back-to-back losses to Florida State in 2022 and 23.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
