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2026 Atlantic Coast Conference football season

The 2026 Atlantic Coast Conference football season, part of the 2026 NCAA Division I FBS football season, will be the 74th season of college football play for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The entire schedule was released on January 26, 2026.

The Duke Blue Devils are the defending conference champions, having defeated the Virginia Cavaliers in the 2025 ACC Championship Game.

Preseason

Recruiting classes

ACC Kickoff

The 2026 ACC Kickoff will be held in July at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown in Charlotte, North Carolina. Coverage of the three day event will be televised by the ACC Network.

Preseason media polls

Preseason ACC Player of the year

Source:

Preseason all-conference teams

Source:

Offense

Defense

Specialist

Preseason awards

All–American Teams

Preseason award watchlists

Head coaches

Coaching changes

Virginia Tech

In September of 2025 after an 0–3 start, Virginia Tech fired head coach Brent Pry. On November 17, 2025 James Franklin was announced as the Hokies next head coach after he was fired from Penn State in October.

California

In November of 2025, the California Golden Bears fired nine year head coach Justin Wilcox. On December 4, 2025, Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi was hired as the Bears next head coach.

Stanford

Tavita Pritchard was named Stanford's head football coach on November 28, 2025 to replace interim head coach Frank Reich.

Head coaching records

Notes:

  • Years at school includes 2026 season.
  • Coaches shown are the coaches who began the 2026 season as head coach of each team.

Rankings

Schedule

The schedule was released on January 25, 2026. The season will begin on August 29, 2026, with four ACC games in Week 0, including a conference matchup between NC State and Virginia. The regular season will end with the ACC Championship Game on December 5, 2026.

Regular season

Week Zero

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Week Four

Week Five

Week Six

Week Seven

Week Eight

Week Nine

Week Ten

Week Eleven

Week Twelve

Week Thirteen

Week Fourteen

Championship Game

Head-to-head matchups

× – Matchup not played in 2026<br> Updated before the season.

ACC vs other conferences

ACC vs Power Four matchups

The following games include ACC teams competing against "Power Four" conference teams from the Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC, as well as Notre Dame. All rankings are from the AP Poll at the time of the game.

Note:† Denotes Neutral Site Game

ACC vs Group of Six matchups

The following games include ACC teams competing against teams from the American, C-USA, MAC, Mountain West, and Sun Belt, as well as the Pac-12.

ACC vs FBS independents matchups

The following games include ACC teams competing against FBS independents UConn or UMass (but excluding independent Notre Dame, which appears in the Power Four section above).

ACC vs FCS matchups

The Football Championship Subdivision comprises 13 conferences and two independent programs.

Records against other conferences

Regular season

Post Season

Postseason

Bowl games

Awards and honors

Player of the week honors

All-conference teams

Source:

First team

Second team

Third team

ACC individual awards

ACC Player of the Year

ACC Rookie of the Year

ACC Coach of the Year

ACC Offensive Player of the Year

ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year

Jacobs Blocking Trophy

ACC Defensive Player of the Year

ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year

All-Americans

Consensus All-Americans

Currently, the NCAA compiles consensus all-America teams in the sports of Division I FBS football and Division I men's basketball using a point system computed from All-America teams named by coaches associations or media sources. Players are chosen against other players playing at their position only. To be selected a consensus All-American, players must be chosen to the first team on at least half of the five official selectors as recognized by the NCAA. Second- and third-team honors are used to break ties. Players named first-team by all five selectors are deemed unanimous All-Americans. Currently, the NCAA recognizes All-Americans selected by the AP, AFCA, FWAA, TSN, and the WCFF to determine consensus and unanimous All-Americans.

Associated Press

AFCA

FWAA

The Sporting News

WCFF

Television Selections

The Atlantic Coast Conference has television contracts with ESPN, which allow games to be broadcast across ABC, FOX, NBC, CBS, TNT, ESPN2, ESPNU and ACC Network. Streaming broadcasts for games under ACC control are streamed on ESPN+. Games under the control of other conferences fall under the contracts of the opposing conference.

Home game attendance

NFL draft

The 2027 NFL draft will be held in Washington, D.C.. The following list includes all ACC players in the draft.

List of selections

Total picks by school

References