3. The non-conference games
We’re back to the normal world of ACC non-conference game – we hope – which includes at least one really, really good game for almost every team. There’s also the Notre Dame factor in here as well, but that will be touched on in Part 2.
After already doing the look at the FCS game on everyone’s slate, here’s everyone’s Lame, Okay, and Solid non-conference dates among their three.
One note – Notre Dame is automatically in the Okay category, because it’s forced and not really a non-conference game, even though it technically is.
ACC Atlantic
Boston College
Lame: UMass
Okay: at Temple
Solid: Missouri
Clemson
Lame: UConn
Okay: at South Carolina
Solid: Georgia (in Charlotte)
Florida State
Lame: UMass
Okay: Notre Dame
Solid: at Florida
Louisville
Solid: Kentucky
Solid: UCF
Solid: Ole Miss (in Atlanta)
*UofL gets credit for stepping up
NC State
Lame (but not really): Louisiana Tech
Okay (but not really): USF
Solid: at Mississippi State
Syracuse
Lame: at Ohio
Okay: Liberty
Solid: Rutgers
Wake Forest
Lame: Old Dominion
Okay: at Army
Okay: at North Carolina (technically it’s a non-conference game)
ACC Coastal
Duke
Lame: at Charlotte
Okay: Kansas
Solid: Northwestern
Georgia Tech
Lame: Northern Illinois
Okay: at Notre Dame
Solid: Georgia
Miami
Warm: Appalachian State
Warmer: Michigan State
Disco: Alabama (in Atlanta)
North Carolina
Lame: Wake Forest (technically it’s a non-conference game)
Okay: at Notre Dame
Fiiiiine: Georgia State
Pitt
Lame: UMass
Okay: Western Michigan
Solid: at Tennessee
Virginia
Okay: Illinois
Okay: Notre Dame
More Okay: at BYU
Virginia Tech
Lame: Middle Tennessee
Okay: Notre Dame
Solid: at West Virginia
– The one big different thing in the 2021 schedule