The ACC released the conference opponents for the 2026 season, and let's just say, it's not going to sit well with a lot of fanbases. You can count Virginia Tech as one of those fan bases.
Virginia Tech will be one of 12 schools playing a nine-game ACC slate, while five others will only play eight. I mean, what could go wrong? The five schools playing only eight ACC games are Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, and North Carolina. Next fall is a transition year from eight to nine games, according to the ACC.
Virginia Tech to play five road ACC games, four at home
So with the new scheduling model, each team will be required to play at least 10 games against Power Four competition, meaning one non-conference Power Four game for the schools playing the full nine-game conference slate, and two for any teams playing eight. Virginia Tech will travel to Maryland in September for its 10th Power Conference game in 2026 against the Big Ten foe.
As far as Virginia Tech's conference schedule goes, its home games will be against Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, Stanford, and Virginia. Their road games are Boston College, California, Clemson, Miami, and SMU. The Mustangs from SMU are the new addition to the schedule, while Stanford replaces North Carolina State, which was originally on the Hokies' schedule.
Breaking down Virginia Tech's schedule and it's one that is going to drive the fanbase crazy. The travel that they have is going to be insane. They travel as far north as possible to BC, as far west as possible to Cal, as far south as possible to Miami, and then to Texas to play SMU. Their trip to Clemson is going to feel refreshing. What a first season for James Franklin in Blacksburg.
At first glance, the travel looks like it has to be up there, excluding Cal and Stanford, with the most in the ACC in 2026. It shouldn't come as a surprise, given the way things have gone recently under Jim Phillips. The dates for each team's schedules will be released in January.