ACC announces plans for 2020 football season

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - The Atlantic Coast Conference has unveiled its plans for the 2020 football and fall Olympic sports seasons in light of the continuing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Following Wednesday’s announcement, FSU’s conference schedule will feature home games against Clemson, Georgia Tech, UNC, Pittsburgh and Virginia while will hit the road for Duke, Louisville, Miami, NC State and Notre Dame.

Under the new schedule, FSU loses home games against Wake Forest and Boston College and loses a trip to Syracuse.

The conference says the first games of the year will take place during the week of September 7-12, and each team is slated to play 11 games; 10 against other ACC teams and one non-conference opponent.

For non-conference games, the conference says it must be played “in the home state of the ACC institution,” further adding that all non-ACC opponents must meet “the medical protocol requirements,” agreed upon by the conference.

The 2020 ACC season will be 11 games played over 13 weeks (two bye weeks per team) and will be played under one division. Football-independent Notre Dame will also play a 10-game “conference” schedule and will be allowed to compete in the ACC title game, according to the conference.

The conference says their conference title game will still be played at Bank of America Stadium on either December 12 or Dec. 19 and will feature the top two teams based on conference winning percentage.

The full plan from the ACC is as follows:

• The season’s first games will take place the week of Sept. 7-12
• The 2020 scheduling model includes 11 games (10 plus one: 10 conference and one non-conference)
• All non-conference game opponents, selected by the respective school, must be played in the home state of the ACC institution, and all non-conference opponents must meet the medical protocol requirements as agreed upon by the ACC
• The 11 games will be played over at least 13 weeks with each team having two open dates
• There will be one division
• Notre Dame will also play a 10-game conference schedule and be eligible to compete in the 2020 ACC Football Championship Game
• All television revenue for the 2020 season, including Notre Dame’s home games broadcast by NBC, will be shared equally by all 15 institutions
• The ACC Football Championship Game will be played on either December 12 or 19 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, and will feature the top two teams based upon highest conference-game winning percentage
• All 15 teams will continue to be part of the ACC’s bowl selection process; should Notre Dame win the ACC Football Championship Game they would be eligible for the Orange Bowl, if not selected as a College Football Playoff semifinal team
• The 2020 ACC Football week-by-week schedule and television selections will be released in the future

As it is laid out, FSU’s 2020 schedule will not differ too much from its pre-pandemic slate; despite having three non-conference games, only one was scheduled in a non-ACC state (at Boise State in Idaho) and the Noles’ conference slate was uninterrupted beginning with their ACC opener on October 3 against NC State.

The conference says it’s updated schedule will be released at a future date.

For a breakdown of how the ACC is handling fall Olympic sports, click here.

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