The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) announced that they would be playing an 11-game football season with 10 of the 11 games being conference games.
The lone non-conference opponent has to be an in-state opponent. So, games like the Virginia Cavaliers versus the Georgia Bulldogs in Atlanta have been scrapped.
Divisions will be defunct for the 2020 season with the top two teams (based off win percentage) in the conference going to the ACC Championship game.
For the Cavaliers and the Virginia Tech Hokies that means only a few schools are available to serve as non-conference opponents this year which would be the likes of Old Dominion (ODU), Liberty and Virginia Military Institute.
Virginia Tech will play host to games versus Boston College, Clemson, Miami, N.C. State and Virginia and they will go on the road for games against Duke, Louisville, North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Wake Forest.
Originally, the Hokies had four non-conference games scheduled (Liberty, North Alabama, Penn State, Middle Tennessee State), with the lone road game being against Middle Tennessee State. All those games except the game versus Liberty (both teams season opener) have been canceled.
The Cavaliers had four non-conference games versus UConn, VMI, Georgia and ODU. VMI and ODU fall in line with the new scheduling rules the ACC has set in place which means that Virginia could play either VMI or ODU.
VMI, members of the Big South, have had only one game canceled this year (versus Princeton) and it could be two if Virginia decides for their non-conference game to be against ODU.
ODU has had only one game canceled for this upcoming season and that is for the game versus Hampton as the school has suspended fall sports. ODU is scheduled to host two home games versus ACC opponents this year in Wake Forest and Virginia.
Liberty, an FBS independent, has had to cancel at least one game this year, a home game versus N.C. A&T. To satisfy the requirement of playing one non-conference in-state team their game versus the Hokies is likely to stay in place.
FBS independent the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will join the conference for the 2020 season.
