The ACC finally released its full football schedule Monday night for the 2025 season and includes when all eight of North Carolina’s league games will be played.
The Tar Heels open the season at home against TCU on Labor Day night on ESPN. It will be the only game taking place and gives Bill Belichick’s team a chance at getting some early national attention.
The same goes for the start of ACC play, as the Heels host defending champion Clemson on October 4.
UNC will get an open date before the class with the Tigers after playing four consecutive weekends to begin the season. After opening with the Horned Frogs, UNC heads to Charlotte on September 6, host FCS member Richmond on September 13, and visit UCF on September 20.
The annual season-ending game with NC State will take place at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh on November 29. In fact, UNC’s last three games are against fellow Big Four members, as the Tar Heels visit Wake Forest on November 15 and host Duke on November 22.
Nine of UNC’s games are in the state of North Carolina, but the three that aren’t are all long distances. Carolina visits UCF on September 20, California on October 16 or 17, and Syracuse on October 31. Ironically, the last time UNC played at Syracuse in football was 2018, which is also the same season the Tar Heels opened the campaign at Cal.
It should be noted the date has not been settled yet for the game at Cal, as ESPN will later decide if the game will be on Thursday October 16 or Friday October 17.
UNC will host Stanford as an ACC member for the first time. It’s also the first regular season meeting with the Cardinal since a 37-34 UNC loss in Palo Alto in 1998. Stanford visited Kenan Stadium the season before with the Tar Heels winning 28-17. The teams played in the Sun Bowl in 2016 with Stanford winning.
The ACC Championship game is slated for December 6 in Charlotte.
More Notes:
*As noted, the year UNC last played at Cal and Syracuse was in 2018, but it also had a game in Florida that season, as the Tar Heels lost at Miami on a Thursday night. With a game at UCF, it means the Heels have games in New York, California, and Florida this season.
*This won’t be the first time UNC has hosted TCU in a season-opener at Kenan Stadium. The Tar Heels beat the Frogs 27-17 on September 3, 1994, to kick off that campaign.
*Clemson’s visit to Kenan Stadium will be its first since the epic 2019 game that came down to UNC failing to convert on a two-point conversion with 17 seconds remaining in a game the Tigers won 21-20.
*With Georgia Tech not on Carolina’s schedule, it marks the first time since 1979 the Heels will not play the Yellow Jackets outside of the Covid season in 2020. Tech and UNC were scheduled to play that season but Covid forced a revamping of the schedule and they did not play each other.
*UNC’s visit to Central Florida remains part of a four-game series the schools scheduled only that the first two games were cancelled because of a hurricane in 2018 and Covid in 2020. UCF was originally slated to visit UNC last season but that was moved to 2027.
*For the second time in four seasons, UNC will play three true road games in its home state. In addition to playing at Wake Forest and NC State, the Tar Heels visit Charlotte. In 2022, Carolina played at Appalachian State, Wake Forest, and Duke. The Heels also played three true road games in-state in 2007 (ECU, Wake, State).
UNC’s 2025 Schedule
Sept. 1 – TCU (Monday night, ESPN)
Sept. 6 - @ Charlotte
Sept. 13 – Richmond
Sept. 20 - @ UCF
Sept. 27 – OPEN
Oct. 4 – Clemson
Oct. 11 – OPEN
Oct. 16/17 - @ California*
Oct. 25 – Virginia
Oct. 31 - @ Syracuse
Nov. 8 - Stanford
Nov. 15 - @ Wake Forest
Nov. 22 – Duke
Nov. 29 - @ NC State
*Will be determined later if it’s a Thursday or Friday night
