Deondre Francois and Florida State open the season against Alabama in Atlanta and finish things off in Gainesville against in-state rival Florida
How has the ACC remodeled its football product in recent years? By playing the best.
And eventually beating the best.
Clemson is the defending national champion, the league’s second title winner in the past two years. Few have embraced the take-on-all-comers mentality in the non-conference season like Dabo Swinney’s crew.
Florida State is on the short list of favorites to win it all in 2017, and the Seminoles have perhaps the biggest non-conference challenge of all this fall.
Related: Way Too Early Ranking of the Most Intriguing ACC Non-Conference Games of 2017
Here is a ranking of the ACC’s non-conference schedules, from most difficult to easiest.
1. Florida State
Sept. 2 vs. Alabama (in Atlanta)
Sept. 9 vs. ULM
Nov. 18 vs. Delaware State
Nov. 25 at Florida
FSU-Alabama on opening weekend? It’s tough to envision a more intriguing Week 1 game in recent memory. The Noles’ season-ending trip to Florida is nothing to sneeze at, either, considering Bama and UF have met in the SEC Championship Game in each of the past two seasons.
2. Georgia Tech
Sept. 4 vs. Tennessee (in Atlanta)
Sept. 9 vs. Jacksonville State
Sept. 16 at UCF
Nov. 25 vs. Georgia
The Yellow Jackets get a pair of SEC East teams and, for good measure, travel to UCF, which experienced one of the biggest turnarounds in the nation last season under first-year head coach Scott Frost. JSU, meanwhile, is consistently one of the best teams in the FCS. (Whose top half is regularly better than lower-end FBS programs.)
3. Pitt
Sept. 2 vs. Youngstown State
Sept. 9 at Penn State
Sept. 16 vs. Oklahoma State
Sept. 30 vs. Rice
Speaking of FCS, Youngstown State was the FCS runner-up last season. Of course, the headliners here though are rival Penn State and Oklahoma State, the latter of which could be the Big 12 favorite. The Nittany Lions will undoubtedly have revenge on their minds at home after the Panthers essentially kept them out of the College Football Playoff last season.
4. Clemson
Sept. 2 vs. Kent State
Sept. 9 vs. Auburn
Nov. 18 vs. The Citadel
Nov. 25 at South Carolina
Two SEC teams, including an Auburn team that could be a sleeping giant in the SEC next season? Few teams consistently challenge themselves the way Clemson does, and this year is no different. South Carolina won’t be a pleasant environment, either, after last year’s 56-7 embarrassment in Death Valley.
5. NC State
Sept. 2 vs. South Carolina (in Charlotte, N.C.)
Sept. 9 vs. Marshall
Sept. 16 vs. Furman
Oct. 28 at Notre Dame
NC State has taken all sorts of flack for its non-conference schedule under head coach Dave Doeren era, as it hadn’t even played a Power Five team under him until last season’s Notre Dame game — which was mandated by the ACC. The Pack get the Irish again (hopefully in non-hurricane conditions this time) and also open with a neutral-site SEC foe.
6. Wake Forest
Aug. 31 vs. Presbyterian
Sept. 16 vs. Utah State
Sept. 23 at Appalachian State
Nov. 4 at Notre Dame
Wake is moving up in the world under head coach Dave Clawson, and it faces a stiff challenge here outside of ACC play: Two road games — and don’t think for a second that Appalachian State is a pushover. Utah State has been one of the tougher Group of Five programs as well.
7. Miami
Sept. 2 vs. Bethune-Cookman
Sept. 9 at Arkansas State
Sept. 23 vs. Toledo
Nov. 11 vs. Notre Dame
No one plays more random road games than Miami — see: Appalachian State last year — and this year’s trip to Arkansas State falls in line with that. Notre Dame will be better — although it still beat Miami last year — and Toledo provides a nice MAC challenge.
8. Virginia Tech
Sept. 3 vs. West Virginia (in Landover, Md.)
Sept. 9 vs. Delaware
Sept. 16 at East Carolina
Sept. 23 vs. Old Dominion
The Sunday primetime opener against WVU is a terrific headliner, but there’s not a whole lot of punch elsewhere for the defending Coastal champs. East Carolina has historically played the Hokies well, and Delaware is among the better FCS programs, but neither of those wins would move the needle.
9. Boston College
Sept. 1 at Northern Illinois
Sept. 16 vs. Notre Dame
Sept. 30 vs. Central Michigan
Nov. 18 vs. UConn (at Fenway Park)
Nothing jumps off the page here for Boston College, but there are also no FCS teams or bottom-of-the-barrel FBS teams. BC should take care of Central Michigan and UConn, but neither are layups for the Eagles, who seem to have found the right mix this season for a program of their stature.
10. Virginia
Sept. 2 vs. William & Mary
Sept. 9 vs. Indiana
Sept. 16 vs. UConn
Sept. 22 at Boise State
That trip to Boise State looks frightening — especially after what the Broncos did in Charlottesville in 2015 — and it undoubtedly puts the Cavaliers’ slate over the top when compared to other lower-ranked ACC teams here. But the rest of this? Largely a snoozefest.
11. Duke
Sept. 2 vs. NC Central
Sept. 9 vs. Northwestern
Sept. 16 vs. Baylor
Nov. 11 at Army
Duke plays two Power Five teams, which, like last year, is a step up from most previous years. Still, Baylor will likely be rebuilding in head coach Matt Rhule’s first year, so we don’t know what to expect from the Bears. That trip to much-improved Army could be challenging, though.
12. North Carolina
Sept. 2 vs. Cal
Sept. 16 at Old Dominion
Oct. 7 vs. Notre Dame
Nov. 18 Western Carolina
Much like Virginia Tech, potential Coastal threat UNC doesn’t have much to show here. Hosting Notre Dame is juicy, and a trip to Old Dominion is, well, something, but the general slate doesn’t really move the needle.
13. Louisville
Sept. 2 vs. Purdue (in Indianapolis)
Sept. 23 vs. Kent State
Sept. 30 vs. Murray State
Nov. 25 at Kentucky
The Cardinals play two Power Five teams. They are Purdue and Kentucky. Be better, Louisville. You’re all grown up now.
14. Syracuse
Sept. 2 vs. CCSU
Sept. 9 vs. Middle Tennessee
Sept. 16 vs. Central Michigan
Sept. 23 at LSU
You have to praise Syracuse for traveling to Death Valley, but the other three games are so underwhelming that the LSU trip just isn’t enough to push the Orange out of the bottom spot here.
— Written by Matt Fortuna, who is part of the Athlon Contributor Network and spent six seasons covering college football for ESPN.com. Fortuna’s work has been honored by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) seven times. Follow him on Twitter @Matt_Fortuna and like his Facebook page.
