NC State football schedule: What we know

The ACC has announced that the 2023 NC State football schedule will be released, along with the rest of the league’s slates, on Jan. 30. Fans can watch on the ACC Network at 7 p.m. to find out who is playing who and when.

There are a few things already known about the NC State football schedule, however. Here are some of the details.

The Non-Conference Opponents (And Likely Dates)

NC State football is expected to start the 2023 season like the Pack did in 2022, on the road. This time at Connecticut. Sources indicate to The Wolfpacker that the exact day of the week may not be set in stone, however.

Connecticut went a surprising 6-6 in the regular season last year in year one under former NFL and UCLA head coach Jim L. Mora. The Huskies then lost in the Myrtle Beach Bowl to Marshall, who is also on the NC State football schedule.

When the Marshall game was announced, the Thundering Herd’s press release indicated that game would be Oct. 7. Marshall is replacing Cincinnati on the schedule, and the Bearcats are footing much of the bill to make the game happen. Cincinnati needed to drop a non-conference game as part of the move to the Big 12 for next season.

Marshall, who stunned Notre Dame on the road in Week 2, won 6 of 7 games to end the year and finish with a 9-4 record. They are likely to be a trendy choice going into 2023 as a Group of Five team to watch.

NC State is also playing what has become an annual contest against a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) opponent. Next year’s opposition is not an attractive one, even for by FCS standards — a VMI squad that went 1-10 and lost 8 games by at least 18 points.

The last non-conference game will be at home against Notre Dame, and odds suggest that will be the home opener for NC State football in 2023. Many dates for Notre Dame are already known, but those against NC State, Pittsburgh, Duke and Louisville are not.

However, the Wolfpack is the only one of those four believed to not yet have an opponent for Sept. 9. Duke is hosting Lafayette, Louisville welcomes Murray State and Pittsburgh has a notable contest at home against Cincinnati.

Notre Dame has only visited NC State once, the well-remembered Hurricane Matthew game in 2016 that the Pack prevailed 10-3.

An Impressive Home Schedule

Notre Dame and Marshall are both quality home games for NC State, but fans have multiple other options to warrant the price of a season ticket package.

Odds suggest archrival North Carolina, coming to Carter-Finley in 2023, will continue as the regular season finale. The switch was made when former Duke head coach David Cutcliffe advocated to move the Blue Devils-UNC game up in the schedule to improve attendance both among fans and recruits for a marquee date every-other-year at Wallace-Wade Stadium in Durham.

Over the past two years, the NC State-UNC game has been on Friday after Thanksgiving and delivered strong ratings, suggesting that the ACC’s TV partners are likely going to want to continue that trend. The double-overtime win for NC State had an estimated 3.61 million viewers this year.

Traditional ACC power Clemson is also coming to Raleigh, as are Louisville and Miami, the latter the last team left in the conference that head coach Dave Doeren has yet to beat after 10 seasons in Raleigh.

That ranks as one of the best home schedules in recent history for Carter-Finley Stadium.

Travel-Friendly Schedule For Local NC State Football Fans

Diehard NC State fans and families of the players should be able to see a lot of games, not just the home ones. After the road contest at Connecticut, every other game is within a driving distance for those living in North Carolina.

Two of the four road ACC games are against in-state rivals Wake Forest and Duke. The other two are just across the border at Virginia and Virginia Tech. Needless to say, the travel budget for NC State football should be very manageable in 2023.

As for the first ACC contest this year, odds suggest Sept. 23 against Clemson, Louisville, Virginia or Wake Forest, provided that the UNC game remains the regular season finale.

And a reminder, this is the first year since 2002 there will be no divisions in the ACC.