The ACC is following in the footsteps of the SEC with its latest decision regarding future football scheduling. In a statement released on Monday, the ACC announced it will move to a nine-game conference schedule and will require each conference member to play at least one non-conference game against a school from another power conference. Could that mean Penn State may be getting a few calls from ACC schools in the near future?
As far as regional ties are concerned, Penn State would figure to be a good fit for future non-conference scheduling by ACC members such as Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Boston College, Virginia, and Virginia Tech. On the surface, that feels like a big opening for Penn State’s future scheduling efforts to get some more attractive options lined up. Given the assortment of games on the schedule this season with Nevada, FIU, and Villanova, fans are hoping to see some more interesting games in the future.
Penn State does have a future home-and-home series with Syracuse that will be played in 2027 (at Penn State) and 2028 (at Syracuse), but the Orange are the only power conference opponent on Penn State’s non-conference schedule through 2028 at the moment.
Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi has weighed in on still wanting to play Penn State again, but the Panthers already have an extended series lined up with West Virginia that will seemingly satisfy Pitt’s non-conference scheduling requirement for a while. So we can probably forget about any renewal of the in-state rivalry between Penn State and Pitt.
In a sense, Virginia may still owe Penn State a game in Happy Valley after backing out of a previous back half of a home-and-home scheduling agreement to play Oregon instead. And a home-and-home with Virginia Tech was scrubbed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so it would be nice to see Penn State and Virginia Tech get this one back on the schedule. Unfortunately, Virginia Tech’s power conference non-conference requirement will be fulfilled through 2037 with games lined up against Maryland, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, BYU, South Carolina, and Alabama over the next decade plus.
The truth is, most ACC schools will probably not have a reason to be giving a school like Penn State anytime soon. A number of ACC schools already have locked in with an opponent from the SEC at the end of the season for an in-state rivalry game (including Clemson, Louisville, and Florida State), and a number of other schools already have non-conference schedules filled up for a while.
But the ACC mandating more games against power conference opponents may keep the door open for future Penn State scheduling efforts.
