Heel Tough Blog: 2026 Schedule Breakdown

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The 2026 schedule for the ACC was released on Monday evening, meaning that the Tar Heels 2026 schedule is now final. In what will be an important season for Bill Belichick and his staff, the Tar Heels will face one of the more difficult schedules in the country. Here’s a breakdown of the slate that is on the horizon for this fall.

August 29th: vs. TCU

For a second straight season, the Tar Heels will open the season with a matchup with the Horned Frogs, but this one will take place in Dublin, Ireland. This is an important game on many levels for the team, considering it will be one of the easier games on the schedule, but also because of how bad seasons have been for teams that have lost this game. The loser of the Aer Lingus hasn’t made a bowl game since the inaugural edition of the game, so this is a must-have for the Tar Heels.

September 12th: East Tennessee State

Regardless of what happens in Ireland, the Tar Heels will have a chance to recover against East Tennessee State. Anyway you look at it, this should be a win for the team in a season where there won’t be many guaranteed victories.

September 19th: @ Clemson

This begins what will be a very difficult conference schedule for the Tar Heels. The Tigers are losing a bunch of major contributors, including quarterback Cade Klubnik, so this is the right time to catch the Tigers. Even still, this is a team that demolished the Tar Heels this past season in what was considered a down year, so this will be a tough one to start with.

October 3rd: Notre Dame

The’ difficult schedule continues by welcoming what is expected to be one of the best teams in all of college football in 2026 to Chapel Hill. With CJ Carr returning at quarterback and the defense set to return a lot of major contributors, this could be the toughest game on the schedule for this Tar Heel team.

October 10th: @ Pittsburgh

This has a chance to be one of the more winnable games in conference play but it still won’t be an easy matchup. While the team does have to replace a lot on defense, they will have Mason Heintschel and some key offensive pieces that will return to make this a dangerous team in the ACC this season. Expect this to be a tricky game for the Tar Heels.

October 17th: @ Duke

This is one of the easier games on the schedule because of what the Blue Devils are losing this offseason, but it is still a road game in a rivalry where the Tar Heels have lost the last two matchups. In the quest to make a bowl game with this difficult schedule, this feels like a must-have for the Tar Heels.

October 24th: Syracuse

This is another game that looks like a must-win for the Tar Heels. The Orange should be much better than they were for most of this season with the return of Steve Angeli from Syracuse and a year of experience under the belt for a roster that was very young this past season. Even though they might be better, this is still a game that the Tar Heels should be able to win, especially since it is at home.

October 31st: Miami

The Tar Heels have had the Hurricanes’ number since they joined the ACC, but this might be one of the best Miami teams ever to roll into Chapel Hill. The team is losing a lot from the group that just played in the National Championship game, but the team has done a good job of reloading through the portal, including what might be an upgrade at quarterback. This game is right up there with the Notre Dame game when it comes to the toughest tests on the schedule.

November 7th: @ Connecticut

The Tar Heels go back out of conference for the final time when they face the Huskies in East Hartford. The team was a consistent bowl team under Jim Mora Jr., who left this offseason, so there are some questions about what the program will be now, but the hire of Jason Candle was a very solid one. This won’t be an easy matchup, but it will be crucial for this team to win if they want to get to a bowl game.

November 14th: Louisville

Louisville is another team that is losing a lot to the portal, but has done some nice work to reload. The Cardinals don’t have the sure thing at quarterback, but there is plenty of upside for Lincoln Kienholz and Jeff Brohm has been extremely successful with developing quarterbacks under his watch. The good news is that this game is at home, but this is another team that should compete once again to make it to Charlotte. 

November 21st: @ Virginia

The Cavaliers were in the ACC Championship this past season and they have a chance to be pretty solid again in 2026. They will have to decide between Beau Pribula and Eli Holstein at quarterback, but those are two viable options that should help this team compete for a bowl game and maybe even hit the eight win mark again. The Tar Heels almost beat them this past season so nothing is off the table, but this will be yet another tough game on this schedule.

November 28th: NC State

The Tar Heels will close out this difficult slate like they do every year now with NC State. Once again, the team will be looking to end what is now a five-game winning streak for the Wolfpack and this is another game that feels important if you are going to make a bowl game. Until it happens, though, it’s hard to have any faith that the Tar Heels will win this game.

Projected Record: 4-8 (2-6)