Courtesy: ESPN
The 2013-2014 college football season just recently wrapped. But as many will note, it’s never too early or late to talk football. Keeping that in mind, ESPN has announced the early details for coverage of its 2014 ACC Football schedule. The upcoming schedule includes a prime time game on Labor Day, five Thursday night games, and three on Fridays this coming Fall. More games will be announced as the 2014-2015 ACC season nears.
ESPN’s 2014 ACC college football coverage kicks off fittingly with Louisville (in its ACC debut) taking on Miami (Fla.). The game is scheduled for an 8pm kickoff, Monday, September1st. The Labor Day showdown marks the second consecutive year that a new ACC member school will make its debut in the conference’s leading Monday showdown. Last year, new member Pittsburgh fell in its Labor Day debut to eventual NCAA college football champion Florida State. Louisville has weathered “The U” in the two schools last two meetings, including a 36-9 manhandling of the Hurricanes in the 2013 Russell Athletic Bowl and an equally sound 31-7 thrashing of Miami in the teams’ last regular season meeting in 2006.
ESPN’s ESPN College Football Primetime, which broadcasts every Thursday night, will include five ACC matchups in the upcoming season. Two of those games will feature the Virginia Tech Hokies. The Hokies have played more Thursday night games—27 to be exact—than any other program. And that streak continues in the 2014 season with matchups against Pittsburgh on October 16th and Miami (Fla.) on October 23rd. Along with its ongoing streak, Virginia Tech has also played at least one Thursday night game each year since 2002. That is the longest streak among every team.
The third of the currently announced slate of Thursday night broadcasts will see Louisville taking on defending National Champion Florida State on Thursday, October 30th. Clemson will face the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest on November 6th for the fourth of ESPN’s current slate of Thursday night ACC broadcasts. The fifth of the first slate of games will see Duke taking on in-state rival North Carolina on November 20th. Both teams are coming off of winning seasons in the 2013-2014 ACC season. Duke’s Coach Cutcliffe brought the Blue Devils to a surprising 10-4 record and an appearance in the Chic-Fil-A Bowl. North Carolina made its appearance at the Belk Bowl in Charlotte, defeating the University of Cincinnati.
ESPN’s current Friday ACC broadcast schedule includes games between Boston College and Pittsburgh (September 5th), Louisville at Syracuse (October3rd), and Virginia at Virginia Tech on Black Friday, November28th. The current schedule of ACC games across the ESPN Family of networks is listed below.
The 2014 ACC Labor Day, Thursday and Friday schedule (additional selections to be announced):
| Date | Time (ET) | Game | Network |
| Mon, Sep 1 | 8 p.m. | Miami (Fla.) at Louisville | ESPN |
| Fri, Sep 5 | TBD | Pittsburgh at Boston College | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| Fri, Oct 3 | TBD | Louisville at Syracuse | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| Thu, Oct 16 | TBD | Virginia Tech at Pittsburgh | ESPN |
| Thu, Oct 23 | TBD | Miami (Fla.) at Virginia Tech | ESPN |
| Thu, Oct 30 | TBD | Florida State at Louisville | ESPN |
| Thu, Nov 6 | TBD | Clemson at Wake Forest | ESPN |
| Thu, Nov 20 | TBD | North Carolina at Duke | ESPN |
| Fri, Nov 28 | TBD | Virginia at Virginia Tech | TBD |
More information and updates on ESPN’s ACC football schedule for 2014 is available online at http://www.facebook.com/CFBonESPN, http://espn.go.com/ncf/index and http://twitter.com/espncfb. To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it. Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.
