The college football season doesn’t officially begin for another week. But don’t tell that to Florida State, NC State, Virginia, Stanford or North Carolina.
All five ACC schools are scheduled to play Saturday as part of the clumsily titled Week 0. The Tar Heels face TCU in Dublin, Ireland, Stanford hosts Hawaii, the Seminoles get a visit from New Mexico State and the Wolfpack and Cavaliers square off against each other in a game relocated to Charlottesville after a deal to play in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil fell through.
They’re not exhibitions. They’re the real thing. And for better or for worse, the results of those early matchups could potentially define the course of their entire seasons by the time Week 1 finally rolls around.
It’s not the optimal situation. In a perfect world, it would be much more advantageous for UNC, NC State and Virginia to ease into the new season by fattening up on some poor cupcake more interested in the numbers on the guarantee check than the scoreboard.
That’s not how it works these days.
Fortunately for all of the Week 0 participants, changes to the way college football is administered have also altered the importance associated with such difficult opening game tests. With an expanded 12-team Playoff and automatic qualifiers for conference champions, they’re no longer make-or-break propositions.
And yet, for each in their own individual way, the consequences are still enormous for each.
Let’s start with Chapel Bill Belichick and the Tar Heels.
The game against TCU is a rematch of last year’s opener in which UNC was on the the painful end of a 48-14 beatdown. It was the first of many embarrassing performances in a 4-8 season that didn’t come close to living up to the hype that preceded it.
Although the buildup to this year’s clash hasn’t been nearly as intense, the spotlight will be just as bright once the teams take the field in Dublin. Beyond the novelty of the location and the fact that, as the first game of the new season, it will be the only nationally televised game being played in its noon time slot, there’s the issue of the turmoil surrounding the Tar Heels’ program.
With general manager Michael Lombardi having been placed on administrative leave over an “human resources complaint” by a university employee, defensive coordinator Steve Belichick – the head coach’s son – away from the team dealing with an undisclosed medical issue and an upcoming schedule that includes tests against Clemson, Notre Dame, Pitt and arch-rival Duke coming up following a Week 2 breather with East Tennessee State, UNC could be staring at a 1-5 start and the beginning of the end of Belichick’s tenure if it doesn’t beat TCU.
It’s a possibility Belichick is facing in familiar fashion.
“We’re not worried about games in November, December, October, whenever they are,” the six-time Super Bowl champion coach said. “When we get to them, we get to them. Right now, we’re focused on TCU and getting ready for the game. Prepare as well as possible. Go out there and play to our maximum potential and when that game’s over, then we’ll turn the page and move onto the next opponent.”
The same holds true for both Virginia and NC State.
The Week 0 matchup will serve as the season opener and ACC opener for both teams. Originally scheduled for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the game remained in Week 0 through an NCAA waiver after being relocated to Charlottesville.
The teams will meet for the second consecutive season. The 2025 matchup was a non-conference contest, while this year’s game will count in the ACC standings as the league transitions to a nine-game conference schedule.
Still, there’s something to be said for being alone on top of the ACC standings before everyone else plays a game. It’s an especially big deal for the Wolfpack, whose reasonable schedule and returning core – led by dynamic third-year starting quarterback CJ Bailey – have become a trendy pick to get over the 10-win hump and contend for its first ever trip to the conference championship game.
If that sounds familiar, it should. It’s been a familiar theme throughout coach Dave Doeren’s 14-year tenure at NC State. The problem is that while the Wolfpack is usually good for seven, eight and sometimes even nine wins per season, its results have never fully been able to match the optimism.
“What you think in preseason doesn’t mean you’re picking the results at the end of the season,” Doeren said last week. “You’ve got to earn it.”
A Week 0 win on the road against last year’s regular season champion would be a good first step toward that end. But it won’t guarantee that this will finally be the year things turn out differently for NC State and its long-suffering fans.
If nothing else, it will at least delay the inevitable “same old Wolfpack” talk a loss would certainly evoke.
Is that fair? Of course it’s not. But that’s the way things work in college football these days.
So let the games begin. Even before the season officially begins.
Week 0 – ACC Football Schedule
(All Times Eastern Time)
Saturday, August 29
North Carolina vs. TCU | Noon ET | ESPN (Aer Lingus College Football Classic – Dublin, Ireland)
NC State at Virginia | 3:30 p.m. ET | ESPN
New Mexico State at Florida State | 7 p.m. ET | The CW
Hawaii at Stanford | 7 p.m. ET | ACC Network
–photo courtesy of UNC Athletics