The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1472609
TRACKING THE PACK JULY/AUGUST 2022 ■ 17 The ACC officially announced the elimination of its divisional structure for football and the traditional format of its conference championship game, while also releasing NC State's home and away matchups for the next four seasons. The ACC will move to a 3-5-5 scheduling model in 2023, meaning the Wolfpack will match up against the same three teams each year, with games against the re- maining 10 schools occurring on a rotating basis. NC State will play Clem- son, North Carolina and Duke every year. The Wolfpack will face each of the 10 other ACC programs twice over a four- year span, hosting and travel- ing to each university in that time period. At the end of each regular season, the top two teams in conference winning percentage will compete for the ACC title on the first Saturday of December. Notably left off the list of NC State's primary opponents is in-state rival Wake Forest, which will play Virginia Tech, UNC and Virginia each season. The Wolfpack will not play the Demon Deacons in 2025 or '26. That will end a series that has been contested every season since 1910. Only Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have played each other in more consecutive years than NC State and Wake Forest. The Pack leads the all-time series with the Deacons, 67-42-6. North Carolina, which is partnered with Duke and Virginia, has been NC State's originally scheduled regular- season finale since 2014. Clemson and NC State have competed annually in what has been referred to as the "Textile Bowl." Duke and NC State played each other for 90 consecutive years before divi- sional alignment in 2004 ended that streak. Since then, they have met just four times in what had become an an- nually exciting game. Between 1986 and 2003, 11 of the 18 games between the two were decided by less than a touch- down. ACC Scraps Football Divisions, Announces NC State's New Primary Schedule Partners NC State's Future ACC Slates 2023 Home — Clemson, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina Away — Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest 2024 Home — Duke, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Wake Forest Away — Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina, Pitt 2025 Home — Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech Away — Boston College, Duke, Louisville, Miami 2026 Home — Boston College, Duke, Florida State, Pitt Away — Clemson, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Syracuse Under the new ACC scheduling format, NC State football will play Clemson, North Carolina and Duke each year over the four-year span beginning in 2023. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN