Everyone in the football food chain used to have their place. Friday night was for high school football, no matter what state you live in. Saturday was college football. And then Sunday, and Monday were for the NFL. Then money crept in. Both the NFL and college football added Thursday nights into their television viewing package. Now the ACC is celebrating its intrusion into Friday nights, putting further attention squeeze on high school football.
Friday Nights No Longer Just For High School Football
The conference sent out a press release last week announcing the further expansion of its schedule, for TV purposes. “ACC To Own Friday Nights This Fall,” the statement declared. The week two game featuring Louisville against James Madison moved off its original Saturday scheduled date to Friday night, September 5th. “Atlantic Coast Conference football is set to dominate Friday nights this fall, with a league-record 12 games scheduled on Fridays.”
Twelve Friday night games in a 12-week schedule. There will be a couple of weeks with no Friday night games and other weeks with multiple Friday night games. Ironically, Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, a day that is a college football tradition and not a significant day for high school football, only has one scheduled conference game.
The Schedule
List of ACC Games on Fridays in 2025
August 29 – Georgia Tech at Colorado
August 29 – Kennesaw State at Wake Forest
September 5 – James Madison at Louisville
September 12 – Colgate at Syracuse
September 26 – Florida State at Virginia
October 17 – Louisville at Miami
October 17 – North Carolina at California
October 24 – California at Virginia Tech
October 31 – North Carolina at Syracuse
November 14 – Clemson at Louisville
November 21 – Florida State at NC State
November 28 – Georgia at Georgia Tech (Mercedes-Benz Stadium)
The Power Two Conferences Leave Friday Nights For Others
No one is going to mistake this for being Texas, where Friday night football is legendary. However, it also makes it clear where the ACC is in the big picture of conference competition. In recent years, it has been the MAC or other smaller conferences that have further moved their games into weekdays, seeking the attention of the television audience. Now, as Friday nights become a new element, at the expense of the traditional high school days, the SEC is not moving its games. The Big 10 is not moving its games. The Big 12 has moved some. And the ACC has moved more than anyone else, with a dozen mostly non-prime matchups in an effort to find more eyes for its games.
Main Image: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
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