ACC conference title game will no longer start opposite Big Ten
It appears the Atlantic Coast Conference has given up on trying to compete with the Big Ten off the football field, as well.
A week after Big Ten champion Indiana completed a perfect season and won the national championship with a win over ACC stalwart Miami in the College Football Playoff championship game, the ACC on Monday announced changes to its scheduling in 2026.
Perhaps chief among them: moving its conference championship game to a Saturday noon ET kickoff.
The ACC on Monday released the schedules for all 17 of its institutions for 2026, the first season in which the conference will begin migrating toward a nine-game conference schedule for all schools.
But the move of the conference title game was perhaps the most eye-opening announcement.
The ACC for years has played its title game at 8 p.m. ET on Championship Saturday, in direct conflict with the Big Ten title game. The most recent Championship Saturday, on Dec. 6, an average of 18.3 million viewers watched Indiana beat Ohio State in the Big Ten title game while an average of 3.9 million watched Duke beat Virginia for the ACC crown.
Additionally, the kickoff temperature for the ACC game in Charlotte, N.C., was 31 degrees. The hope is moving the game up eight hours in the day will make for a more pleasant outdoor atmosphere and improve attendance. The ACC will be the only Power 4 conference playing in the noon ET window.
The last time the ACC played its championship game in the noon window was 2008.
Among the other changes in the ACC schedule:
** A pair of international games in Week 0 with North Carolina State and Virginia opening the season -- and conference play -- in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 29 and North Carolina playing TCU in Dublin the same day.
** At least 19 games played on a Friday, with the potential to add more. That includes Florida hosting Florida State on Black Friday (Nov. 27).
** CFP runner-up Miami playing the first Friday game of the ACC season, at Stanford on Sept. 4.