NC State’s 2026 home-opener moved up to Friday

TAMPA, FL - DECEMBER 19: NC State Wolfpack linebacker Caden Fordham (1) celebrates after a defensive stop during the Gasparilla Bowl between the Memphis Tigers and the NC State Wolfpack on Friday, December 19, 2025 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL (Photo by Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

This morning the ACC finalized its Friday night schedule for the 2026 season, and NC State will play two Friday games this fall, including its home-opener against Richmond. When the league released the schedule back in January, this part of it wasn’t set.

NC State had three games listed as “FRIDAY OR SATURDAY” on the initial release: Stanford, Cal, and Duke. The Pack will play at Stanford on a Friday, while the other two—both home games—have been set for Saturdays. Playing Stanford a day earlier isn’t detrimental, as State is coming off a bye for that one, so no worries there.

There are four games on Friday, Sept. 11, which is odd, but the ACC’s release says that NC State, Louisville, and UVA requested to have their respective games moved up a day. (In NC State’s case, this gives the staff an extra day of prep for Vanderbilt the following week.) What this means from a TV coverage perspective is anyone’s guess at this point.

It’s not super ideal from an exposure perspective to have four games kicking off in the same window (all four are east coast games), but then again, these are mostly tomato can matchups.