The ACC announced that it would move to a nine-game conference schedule last August. With the decision, which was agreed upon by the athletic directors of all programs, they joined the rest of the Power 4 conferences in adopting the same schedule. However, in adjusting to the new schedule, one of its programs will now be forced to pay a huge sum to Texas Tech as compensation.

NC State and Texas Tech agreed to play a home-and-home series in 2015. The first part of that matchup was played in 2022, when the Wolfpack hosted the Red Raiders. However, due to the change in the conference schedule, NC State had to let go of its return matchup at Lubbock. As a result, they will pay Joey McGuire’s team $1 million in compensation for the cancellation.

In the 2022 matchup, NC State beat Texas Tech 27-14, but given the difficulty of the schedule, the program thought it was wise to cancel this series rather than one between Kansas State, NC A&T, and Louisiana Tech. Along with this, NC State has also canceled other future home-and-home series: Florida in 2026 and 2032, South Carolina in 2030 and 2031, and the Georgia Bulldogs in 2033 and 2034.

But that’s not all. The program still has to cancel some other non-conference games. In the 2028 season, the Wolfpack still has four non-conference games on its schedule: away games against the East Carolina Pirates and the Appalachian State Mountaineers, and home games against the Vanderbilt Commodores and the Campbell Fighting Camels.

Discussions about ACC programs playing nine games have been on for over a decade; notwithstanding, the scheduling partnership with Notre Dame and non-conference rivalry games against Florida, Louisville, Clemson, and Georgia Tech made progress difficult. Earlier, the SEC and ACC were the conferences that played eight games. But after the SEC decided to move to nine league games, the ACC followed suit.

It would have been very unfavorable if the other three Power 4 conferences played nine games while the ACC stayed at eight, as it was unlikely that ACC programs could keep up with eight conference games while playing a solid non-conference schedule against Power 4 teams. The eight-game schedule would only limit ACC programs from fixing as many befitting non-conference games as they have done in previous years.

A fresh challenge for the ACC is having just 17 league teams, which puts it in a unique position compared to other Power 4 conferences. Playing nine conference games will not be possible for all 17 teams. 16 teams will play nine league games starting in 2027 when the nine-game schedule is fully implemented, while one team will play eight conference games and two Power 4 non-conference games.

Joey McGuire and Texas Tech also canceled the 2027 fixture

NC State is not alone in this cancellation spree; Joey McGuire and the Red Raiders also canceled their September 11 trip to North Texas in 2027. The fixture was canceled to ensure the Red Raiders maintained at least six home games in 2027. This left them in search of a replacement power conference opponent for the 2027 season and another non-conference game to replace North Texas

“We have actively been working on our 2027 football schedule for several weeks now and hope to have a new agreement with a power conference and FBS school finalized soon,” Texas Tech Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt said.

The Big 12, unlike the ACC, had been playing in a nine-game conference since 2011. And since his appointment as the Red Raiders head coach, Joey McGuire has a 25-12 record against conference opponents.