Marty Gordon
The Atlantic Coast Conference has announced its football schedule of games for Week 0 and Week 1.
The lineup features five consecutive days of ACC Football over Labor Day Weekend, ensuring unparalleled action for fans to open the 2025 college football season.
The 2025 football season kicks off with seven ACC teams opening with Power 4 non-conference opponents, including Notre Dame, and five others with FBS foes over Week 0 and Week 1. The ACC’s Labor Day Weekend is anchored by a Sunday football doubleheader on August 31 featuring both Miami and Virginia Tech against top-25 competition.
The opening week concludes with North Carolina playing host to TCU on Labor Day Monday, Sept. 1, as Bill Belichick makes his coaching debut on a familiar night.
The Sunday night showdown between Miami and Notre Dame will kick off at 7:30 p.m. on ABC and the North Carolina against TCU primetime matchup on Monday night will start at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.
The ACC will headline Sunday, Aug. 31, with two pivotal early season matchups, as Miami will host Notre Dame at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, and Virginia Tech will meet South Carolina in the second of the two 2025 Aflac Kickoff games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta this season.
The ACC will once again anchor college football on Labor Day Monday to wrap up the opening weekend of ACC football as Coach Bill Belichick will make his debut for North Carolina as the Tar Heels host TCU. This will mark the 16th straight year (the exception being the 2020 COVID season) that the ACC has played on Labor Day and the 19th year since Florida State and Miami played in the inaugural Labor Day night game in 2005.
The Labor Day Weekend action begins on Thursday, Aug. 28, with NC State playing host to in-state foe East Carolina.
Friday, Aug. 29, will see the debut of new Wake Forest head football coach Jake Dickert as the Demon Deacons host Kennesaw State in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for the two teams’ season openers.
The slate for Saturday, Aug. 30, is highlighted by three ACC/SEC matchups, including a neutral site tilt between Syracuse and Tennessee in the first of two Aflac Kickoff Games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, a battle of the Tigers when LSU visits Clemson, and a matchup of two historical programs when Florida State plays host to Alabama. Georgia Tech will travel to Colorado for an ACC/Big 12 showdown, California will hit the road to take on Oregon State and Virginia will play at home versus Coastal Carolina in the two teams’ season opener.
Concord preseason #3
The Concord University baseball team has been picked to finish third in the Mountain East Conference South Division with the announcement of the MEC Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The roster includes five former players from Christiansburg High School and is coached by a CHS Alum, Drew Bailey.
Concord finished last spring with a record of 26-20, but did miss the MEC Tournament after going 16-14 in league games. The Maroon and Gray were exceptional at home with a mark of 21-8. Individually, Christiansburg’s Junior outfielder Dawson Gragg batted .321 with three home runs and 28 RBI. Four-year starter MJ Hunter sported a .301 average to go with 28 more RBI and a team-best 13 stolen bases.
Lemley, McMillan Preseason All-ACC
Virginia Tech softball continues to earn preseason accolades as seniors Emma Lemley and Cori McMillan were named to the Preseason All-ACC team.
Lemley has shined in her three seasons so far at Virginia Tech. The Forest, Va., native recorded a 2.64 ERA in 2024 with 158 strikeouts. She went 13-5 over 127.1 innings pitched and held opponents to just a .189 batting average.
Throughout her career, Lemley has a 2.95 ERA and 653 career strikeouts. She earned her 50th career win in last season’s NCAA Regional game against San Diego State (May 17). Lemley garnered back-to-back Second Team All-ACC honors in 2023 and 2024 and was also the 2022 ACC Freshman of the Year.
McMillan, a 2024 NFCA Second Team All-American, was instrumental in the Hokies’ NCAA Tournament run last season. Batting .379, McMillan set the single-season home run record with 21 and also set the single-season program record slugging percentage (.869).
Commonwealth Clash food drive
On Saturday, Feb. 15, Smithfield, the presenting sponsor of the Commonwealth Clash, is challenging all attendees of the UVA vs. Virginia Tech basketball game to bring in nonperishable food items for donation to support The Market of Virginia Tech. And the Commonwealth-based brand will also be donating an additional $5,000.
Since the 2014-2015 academic year, the brand has partnered with the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech in the rivalry between the schools across all school-sponsored sports — becoming the presenting sponsor of the Smithfield Commonwealth Clash in the 2021-2022 season. But for Smithfield, this sponsorship means more than just promoting athletics, it also supports the local communities surrounding UVA and Virginia Tech, including each school’s food pantry.
Supported by a $1.5 million donation from alumni couple Hema and Mehul Sanghani, the program launched in 2020 to provide up to 115 students at a time with weekly grocery shopping. The Market’s top preferred foods are rice, pasta, peanut butter, canned chicken or tuna, canned soup and granola bars.
Hokie softball ranked
Virginia Tech is ranked in all four major preseason polls ahead of the start of the 2025 campaign.
Virginia Tech is ranked No. 16 by D1 Softball, No. 17 by NFCA/GoRout, No. 18 by ESPN.com/USA Softball and No. 22 by Softball America.
The Hokies finished the 2024 campaign at 40-14-1 and advanced to a fifth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The Hokies finished the 2024 season ranked No. 20 in the RPI – its fourth straight season with a top 25 RPI.
Tech also shattered eight single-season team records last year, including program-highs in batting average (.342), home runs (115) and slugging percentage (.633). The Hokies finished third in the ACC standings as well at 18-6, its fifth straight season finishing in the top five in the conference.
ACC sponsorship
The ACC, ACC Network and Disney have announced T. Rowe Price is an official sponsor of the league. The relationship is part of a multi-year agreement with T. Rowe Price also becoming the exclusive title sponsor of the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament through 2027.
As the official wealth management sponsor of the ACC, T. Rowe Price will have a significant presence at numerous events throughout the season. This includes events on ACC Network (ACCN), as well as during ACC Championship events.
As a large global asset management company known for investment excellence, retirement leadership, and independent proprietary research, T. Rowe Price serves millions of clients globally.
McClung back for possible three-peat
Reigning two-time NBA slam dunk contest champion Mac McClung will compete in this year’s event at All-Star Weekend in San Francisco, sources tell ESPN.
McClung, who signed a two-way contract with the Orlando Magic in October, will look to claim the first dunk contest three-peat.
The return of McClung means the four-man field is set. McClung will compete against San Antonio Spurs rookie Stephon Castle, Chicago Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis and Milwaukee Bucks second-year player Andre Jackson, Jr.
No player has ever won three consecutive dunk contests, though Nate Robinson is a three-time champion. A guard, McClung led the G League in scoring with 25.7 points per game in 2023-24, and was named G League MVP for the Osceola Magic.
RU fifth in Big South poll
Mercer received seven of the nine first-place votes and finished with 79 points to win the Big South Women’s Lacrosse crown in 2025. The Bears enter the 2025 campaign with seven letterwinners and four starters returning from the 2024 squad that won the regular-season title with an 8-0 Big South record. Since becoming associate members in 2022, Mercer is 25-1 in Big South matches and a perfect 6-0 in the conference tournament with three championship crowns.
High Point finished second in the preseason poll with 73 points and collected the two remaining first-place votes. Associate member Furman was third with 62 points, while associate member Wofford finished fourth in the voting with 55 points. Radford followed in the fifth spot at 41 points. Longwood landed in sixth-place with 35 points, and Winthrop received 26 points for the seventh position in the poll. Presbyterian College placed eighth with 22 points, with Gardner-Webb (ninth, 12 points) rounding out the preseason ranking.