Future arrives for Cal and Stanford as ACC releases the 2024-30 football schedule rotation
The Bay Area teams will play three conference games on the East Coast every season
The ACC announced on Monday a seven-year football schedule rotation that will begin next season, the first with Cal, Stanford, and SMU joining the 17-school behemoth.
The unveiling provided a glimpse into the reality of competing in a conference based in Charlotte and filled with unfamiliar opponents for the Bay Area teams.
Stanford will host conference games against Louisville, Virginia Tech, SMU, and Wake Forest next season.
Cal’s ACC home schedule includes Miami, N.C. State, and Syracuse, in addition to Stanford.
Yes, the long-standing Bay Area rivals will continue to play each year — in the ACC’s model, they are considered permanent opponents.
Both will play SMU, which is based in Dallas, in their annual home-and-away series.
The ACC cleverly created that three-team group of permanent opponents, reducing the number of times Cal and Stanford fly to the East Coast and the frequency with which East Coast teams visit the Bay Area.
The ACC has eight league games (four at home and four away). Because two games are always played within that three-team group, the Cardinals and Bears will only have three road games against Eastern Time Zone opponents each season.
(The travel requirements for sports such as basketball, baseball, and softball will be significantly greater.)
“We are extremely excited to welcome Cal, SMU, and Stanford to the ACC and look forward to having them compete beginning in the fall of 2024,” said ACC commissioner Jim Phillips.
“Throughout the entire scheduling model process, the membership was incredibly thoughtful and purposeful in building a creative, flexible and aggressive conference scheduling model while keeping the student-athlete experience at the forefront.”
Other important points:
— The full 2024 schedule, including dates, will be released on January 31.
— There will be no divisions in the ACC. The championship will feature the top two teams (based on winning percentage in conference games).
— Over the course of seven years, each of the 17 schools will play every other team at least twice.
— During the stretch, the 14 current ACC members will play three games on the West Coast.
That means the ACC’s two football powerhouses, Clemson and Florida State, will only make three trips to the West Coast over the course of the seven-year cycle.
Florida State will visit Stanford in 2025 and 2030, as well as Cal in 2027.
Clemson will pay visits to Cal in 2026 and 2030, as well as Stanford in 2028.
Here is the complete ACC home-and-away schedule for each school.
Cal
2024 Home: Miami, North Carolina State, Stanford, Syracuse Road: Florida State, Pittsburgh, SMU, Wake Forest
2025 Home: Duke, North Carolina, SMU, Virginia Road: Boston College, Louisville, Stanford, Virginia Tech
2026 Home: Clemson, Stanford, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest Road: North Carolina State, SMU, Syracuse, Virginia
2027 Home: Boston College, Florida State, Louisville, SMU Road: Georgia Tech, Miami, Pittsburgh, Stanford
2028 Home: Georgia Tech, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, Stanford Road: Florida State, Louisville, SMU, Wake Forest
2029 Home: Duke, Miami, SMU, Syracuse Road: Boston College, Clemson, North Carolina, Stanford
2030 Home: Clemson, North Carolina, Stanford, Virginia Road: Duke, Georgia Tech, SMU, Virginia Tech
Stanford
2024 Home: Louisville, SMU, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest Away: California, Clemson, NC State, Syracuse
2025 Home: Boston College, California, Florida State, Pitt Away: Miami, North Carolina, SMU, Virginia
2026 Home: Georgia Tech, Miami, NC State, SMU Away: California, Duke, Louisville, Wake Forest
2027 Home: California, Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse Away: Boston College, Clemson, SMU, Virginia Tech
2028 Home: Clemson, SMU, Virginia, Virginia Tech Away: California, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina
2029 Home: Boston College, California, Louisville, Wake Forest Away: Duke, Florida State, Pitt, SMU
2030 Home: Florida State, Georgia Tech, Pitt, SMU Away: California, NC State, Syracuse, Virginia
