On Tuesday, the ACC announced its new 3-5-5 scheduling format for football, which will be in place from 2023 through 2026. Virginia Tech has three annual opponents: Pitt, Virginia and Wake Forest.
At the league's spring meetings in May, commissioner Jim Phillips discussed the model with the conference's athletic directors. As of June 28, it's now official: the ACC is doing away with divisions, meaning every school will play twice over a four-year period. Here's the full breakdown of primary opponents for each school:
The model is ideal. In the past, Virginia Tech had Boston College as a cross-division rival. Outside of that, it saw the other Atlantic Division teams once every seven years. VT played at Clemson and at Florida State just twice since joining the conference in 2004. Louisville entered the league in 2014, but Tech has only seen the Cardinals once: in Cardinal Stadium in 2020 (COVID season).
The Hokies won't have the Eagles as a cross-division rival anymore, but they also won't see Coastal Division teams like Miami, North Carolina, Duke and Georgia Tech every year. In fact, none of those schools are on Tech's 2023 schedule.
Instead, Virginia Tech plays NC State, Pitt, Syracuse and Wake Forest at home. Boston College, Florida State, Louisville and Virginia are on the road. It'll be the first time that the Hokies haven't seen Miami since 1991, when they were in the Big East together. It will also mark the first time VT hasn't played UNC and Duke since 2003, and the second for GT (2020, COVID year).
While Virginia Tech will get the three latter schools in 2024, it won't see the Hurricanes until 2025 - a two-year gap - before playing them again in 2026. It's strange to see that rivalry, one that was extremely captivating at its peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s, not renewed by the ACC. The same can be said for ending the Wake Forest-NC State relationship.
However, the model sets up the Hokies and Demon Deacons as annual opponents, and outside of The Triangle institutions, it's the closest two ACC schools are to one another (120 miles). Throw in a very North Carolina-centric alumni base, and trips to Winston-Salem might be very convenient for the Tech faithful.
Future Schedules
The conference announced the 2024, 2025 and 2026 schedules as well. With that, here's a look at who Virginia Tech will play in the ACC over that three-year span:
2024:
Home - Clemson, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Virginia
Away - Duke, North Carolina, Pitt, Wake Forest
2025:
Home - Boston College, Florida State, Pitt, Wake Forest
Away - Miami, NC State, Syracuse, Virginia
2026:
Home - Duke, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia
Away - Clemson, Georgia Tech, Pitt, Wake Forest
The non-conference schedules for the upcoming four seasons have been set already, too. As a reminder (click here for Tech Sideline's future schedules page):
2023: Old Dominion (Sept. 2), Purdue (Sept. 9), at Rutgers (Sept. 16), at Marshall (Sept. 23)
2024: vs. Vanderbilt (Aug. 31 in Nashville), Marshall (Sept. 7), at Old Dominion (Sept. 14), Rutgers (Sept. 21)
2025: vs. South Carolina (Aug. 31/Sept. 1 in Atlanta), Vanderbilt (Sept. 6), Old Dominion (Sept. 13), James Madison (Sept. 20)
2026: VMI (Sept. 5), Old Dominion (Sept. 12), at Maryland (Sept. 19), BYU (Sept. 26)