The ACC and ESPN Thursday announced six 2017 football games in the first three weeks of the season that will be nationally televised on either ESPN or ABC, with the conference playing a prominent primetime role in the opening weekend.
The complete ACC television schedule for the first three weeks of the 2017 season, including additional national exposures, will be announced at a later date.
In all, the ACC has four primetime national exposures on ESPN or ABC in the season’s first three weeks. Three of those occur on the opening weekend when Florida State faces Alabama on Saturday, Sept. 2, in the first of two Chick-fil-A Kickoff Games this year at the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The game will have an 8 p.m. kickoff and will be nationally televised by ABC. The game will be the fifth meeting between the two teams but the first since 2007.
The game between the Seminoles and Crimson Tide is one of three ACC games on ABC or ESPN that day. Clemson, the defending national champion, opens its season at home against Kent State of the Mid-American Conference in a noon game that will be nationally-televised by ESPN. NC State begins 2017 facing SEC foe South Carolina in the Belk College Kickoff Game from Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, in a game televised by ESPN with a 3 p.m. kickoff. The Wolfpack and Gamecocks are meeting for the 58th time, but first since 2009.
On Sunday, Sept. 3, Virginia Tech faces Big 12 foe West Virginia at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, in a game that will be nationally televised on ABC with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. The Hokies and Mountaineers, longtime rivals, are meeting for the 52nd time, but the first since 2005.
The ACC concludes Labor Day weekend with its annual appearance on Labor Day Monday Night, as Georgia Tech battles SEC opponent Tennessee in the second Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, also at the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Yellow Jackets and Volunteers will renew their longtime rivalry on ESPN with an 8 p.m. kickoff. Georgia Tech and Tennessee are meeting for the 44th time, but the first since the two schools ended their annual series in 1987.
The conference will also have another blockbuster primetime exposure on Saturday, Sept. 16, when Florida State hosts arch-rival Miami at Doak S. Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida. The game will have an 8 p.m. kickoff and will be nationally televised by ABC. The Seminoles and Hurricanes are meeting for the 62nd time in a series that began in 1951 and has been played consecutively since 1969.
Saturday, Sept. 2
- Kent State at Clemson, ESPN, Noon
- NC State vs. South Carolina, ESPN, 3 p.m.
Belk College Kickoff Game, Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C. - Florida State vs. Alabama, ABC, 8 p.m.
Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Ga.
Sunday, Sept. 3
- West Virginia vs. Virginia Tech, ABC, 7:30 p.m. (previously announced)
FedEx Field, Landover, Md.
Monday, Sept. 4
- Tennessee vs. Georgia Tech, ESPN, 8 p.m.
Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Ga.
Saturday, Sept. 16
- Miami at Florida State, ABC, 8 p.m.
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Chris Graham
