LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – The Atlantic Coast Conference on Wednesday voted to begin its 2020 football season the week of Sept. 7-12, eliminating non-conference games in favor of a 10-game league schedule, plus one other game, for each of its teams.
In a historic decision, the ACC also will essentially admit Notre Dame as a conference member for the COVID-altered 2020 season only, allowing the Fighting Irish to play a league slate to fill out a schedule decimated by the national coronavirus landscape.
For the University of Louisville, it means that football season will begin on Sept. 12, tentatively, and will end as scheduled with the annual rivalry game against the University of Kentucky the weekend before Thanksgiving.
In between, it will be anything but business as usual.
Updates regarding 2020 Fall Sports and Football have been announced. More info: https://t.co/hBruzjsX0M pic.twitter.com/ebSMVryD2Y
— The ACC (@theACC) July 29, 2020
Louisville’s five home opponents are FSU, Miami, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. The road opponents are BC, GT, Notre Dame, Pitt and UVA.
“I’m thrilled with the positive news coming from the Atlantic Coast Conference about moving forward with a new scheduling model for the 2020 season," Louisville coach Scott Satterfield said. "The proposed home and away schedule is extremely challenging, but very exciting at the same time. We now have a clear direction about the upcoming football season, and our program is just looking forward to beginning those preparations next week.”
The Cardinals originally were slated to begin the season on Wednesday, Sept. 2, against North Carolina State, in Cardinal Stadium. Instead, the Cardinals won't play the Wolfpack at all this season, nor will they play defending league champion Clemson, with drops off the schedule in this format.
The ACC will compete in a single 15-team division, with the top two finishers squaring off in the ACC Championship game in Charlotte.
Louisville does not yet have a date for its opening game. Originally the Cards were to have opened during Kentucky Derby week.
As of yet, no plans for fans in attendance at games have yet been unveiled.
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