We often look at the ACC’s OOC games, but what about the best conference matchups for the season?
Let’s rank the top 10 best conference games, starting with 6-10.
6) Clemson at Duke – September 4, 2023
This is the Labor Day game where the nation watches the ACC. Duke is coming off a 9-4 season and has their football fans as excited about football as they’ve been in years. Clemson is coming off an 11-3 season with an ACC Title that had their fans ready to fire some of their coordinators, and the OC got fired. Now Garrett Riley controls the offense now with QB Cade Klubnik at Clemson. I’m really eyeing this game early in the year to see where these teams are at.
7) Miami at Florida State – November 11, 2023
Miami and Florida State should never be outside the top 3 ACC matchups. They just can’t get on the same page of being good at the same time. Right now the Noles are the ones carrying the intrigue in this game. I fully expect FSU to be very good this season. Miami is the question. That said this rivalry just has too much history to ever be ignored, and it is always a good time to talk about those games from the 80s and 90s when this rivalry peaked.
8) Wake Forest at Duke – November 2, 2023
I love regional rivalries. For one thing, the games always have great atmospheres. Wake Forest vs Duke is one of those types of games. Last year was a 34-31 thriller, and both are coming off 8+ win seasons and are expected bowl caliber or better type teams. If there’s a game on this list that looks like it is headed to a shootout, I’d guess this one.
9) Virginia Tech at Virginia – November 25, 2023
We all know about the tragic events that led to the cancellation of last year’s Virginia Tech and Virginia games. I don’t expect this year to be a matchup of great teams. It actually might be between two lower-tier ACC teams. We’ll see, but the fact that this great rivalry will be renewed, and we’ll see the battle for the Commonwealth Cup should make for a special day no matter what the records are. While Virginia Tech has dominated the series for the last 20+ years, there have been a number of competitive wild games.
10) Louisville at Georgia Tech – September 1, 2023
I like this game because Louisville comes in as a darkhorse pick to play in the ACC Title game, and Georgia Tech is trying to turn the corner from the stench of the Geoff Collins era with Brent Key in his first full season in Atlanta. The game is also being at Mercedes-Benz stadium which should be a lot of fun for the players and fans. It also has an exclusive TV window on the Friday of the first big weekend of College Football.
