Top 10 ACC non-conference games for 2024 college football season in expanded 17-team league (2024)

This is one of the best Georgia Tech teams in years, but it faces an uphill battle for bowl eligibility against an absolute gauntlet in 2024. The Yellow Jackets have a brutal non-conference slate that features clashes against college football elites, Notre Dame and Georgia. The Fighting Irish will present the Yellow Jackets with a ton of problems in Atlanta on Oct. 19, but Brent Key and Co. won't be a bigger underdog in any game than at rival Georgia in the regular-season finale. Georgia hasn't lost at home since 2021 and hasn't fallen to its in-state foe since Barack Obama was in office.

Georgia Tech is the only ACC team inourtoughest overall schedule ranking, and it ranks No. 6 overall.

Louisville has the tough trip to Lexington against rival Kentucky in the regular-season finale, but the Fighting Irish will be a tougher out for the Cardinals this fall. Louisville took last season's matchup at home but lost several key contributors from that game, including quarterback Jack Plummer and running back Jawhar Jordan.

Notre Dame figures to be much better on offense in 2024 after hiring Mike Denbrock from LSU and adding quarterback Riley Leonard from Duke.

Auburn made the trip out west last season and eeked out a 14-10 win at Cal.The Golden Bears get their shot at revenge at Jordan-Hare Stadium this fall. The Tigers have 16 returning starters from last season and mademajorupgrades at severalkeypositions via high school recruiting and the transfer portal. Five-star receiver Cam Coleman has earned rave reviews from camp and should be a tough matchup for a Cal secondary that ranked second-to-last in the Pac-12 in passing yards allowed last season (298.0). The distance and cultural differencesbetween these schools make this series so interesting as non-conference foes.

Kentucky has long been a thorn in Louisville's side. The Wildcats smashed their in-state rival four straight times during a low period for the Cardinals program from 2018-22 and clipped their wings during a breakout season under Jeff Brohm in 2023. Both squads lost key playmakers to the NFL this offseason and had to replace quarterbacks through the transfer portal. However, both squads are bowl-caliber, and fans can expect tensions to run high in the 2024 regular-season finale.

Clemson dominated this rivalry for years, winning seven straight from 2014-21. South Carolina punched back in 2022 with a thrilling 31-30 win in Death Valley and smelled blood in the water last fall. The Tigers ultimately pulled out a gritty 16-7 win on the Gameco*cks home turf, putting pressure on Shane Beamer and Co. in 2024. Confidence in Beamer and Dabo Swinney has started to wane, making next year's matchup a must-win for the two head coaches.

Florida leads the all-time series 37-28-2, but has dropped two straight to Florida State. The Gators travel to Tallahassee for the regular-season finale in 2024, capping off a ridiculous five-game stretch featuring trips to Georgia and Texas and home games against LSU and Ole Miss. Will Billy Napier and Co. rise to the occasion or crumble once again? The two Sunshine State programs have trended in opposite directions in recent years, but the games have remained exciting. The last three games have been decided by an average of 7.3 points.

The Duke's Mayo Classic in Charlotte is one of the most intriguing matchups of Week 2.The two programs have met just three times over the years, and the Volunteers took the last matchup by two touchdowns in 2012. Dave Doeren has turned the Wolfpack into a consistent winner, and the program flexed its newfound NIL muscles in the first portal window. However, that won't be enough to make the Wolfpack the favorite. Tennessee is returning a ton of defensive talent and rosters one of the nation's brightest young stars at quarterback in former five-star Nico Iamaleava.

Florida State has won just twice in South Bend, and the most recent victory was more than 20 years ago.The clash with the Fighting Irish comes at the tail end of a brutal stretch that features consecutive games against Clemson,Duke,MiamiandNorth Carolina.Including Notre Dame, this stretch will determine whether Florida State makes another run at the ACC championship or falls short of becoming the first Seminoles team to win back-to-back conference titles since 2013-14.

A once-bitter rivalry that's fallen by the wayside renews in 2024 and is among the headliners of a jam-packed Week 1 slate in college football. The two in-state programs have met just twice since 2010, and the Hurricanes haven't won in Gainesville since 2002. Both Mario Cristobal and Billy Napier are entering their third years on the job after underwhelming first and second-year campaigns and are looking to start strong in what should be pivotal years for both.

This one is a no-brainer. Georgia checked in at No. 2 in our post-spring top 25 poll, the highest-ranked opponent the ACC will face in the regular season. Clemson draws the Bulldogs in the opener. Atlanta isn't Athens, but it's still firmly in Dawg territory, and oddsmakers put Georgia as a 13.5-point favorite to accommodate. The spread seems high, even if Clemson has lost some of its shine in recent seasons. It's the second matchup between Kirby Smart and Dabo Swinney. Smart took the first one, 10-3, in 2021.