UNC’s 2023 football schedule has been released

The full 2023 North Carolina football schedule was released Monday night by the ACC. It was highlighted by the season opener versus South Carolina in Charlotte, a Big Ten non-conference game with Minnesota at Chapel Hill, a rematch with in-state foe Appalachian State, and a road contest in Clemson. This is the first time the Tar Heels have played Clemson since 2014. Carolina will also play Syracuse for the first time since 2020.

UNC Leadership Coach mac brown He commented on Carolina’s schedule briefly Monday afternoon during a press conference at the Keenan Soccer Center.

“We’ve already got one of the toughest schedules in our school’s history when they open up with South Carolina at Charlotte,” Brown said. The conference is as tough as any schedule in the country.

“When you see the ACC schedule tonight, you’ll see that they haven’t done us any favors. It’s really, really hard. We start hard and finish with an incredibly difficult schedule. So I’m disappointed. I told them I didn’t like it. I didn’t think it was fair. But That’s what it is and that’s what we got in. So you’ll see what I’m talking about tonight. It won’t take you long to figure it out.

The 2023 season is the first season without a split as the ACC transitions to a 3-5-5 model. This model features four teams with permanent/primary opponents, after which each team will play the remaining ten teams in the conference twice every four years, once on the road and once at home. This model ultimately meant that every ACC team would play every other conference opponent in its home field at least once every four years.

UNC’s case or perennial opponents that will face each season in this new format are Duke, NC State, and Virginia.

In 2023, North Carolina will take on Duke, Miami, Syracuse and Virginia at home and Clemson, Georgia Tech, NC State and Pete on the road.

With the ACC eliminating its divisions, the two teams with the highest winning percentage in the conference will compete in Charlotte in the ACC championship game.

Below is the UNC schedule for 2023:

Sept. 2 – South Carolina (Charlotte Bank of America Stadium)

September 9 – Application Status

Sept. 16 – Minnesota

September 23 – in Pete

September 30 – off

October 7 – Syracuse

Oct 14 – Miami

October 21 – Virginia

Oct. 28 – at Georgia Tech

November 4 – Campbell

November 11 – Duke

November 18 – in Clemson

November 25 – in North Carolina

Notes:

North Carolina is 35-20 all time vs. South Carolina. The Tar Heels last faced the Gamecocks in the 2021 Duke’s Mayo Bowl, losing 38-21 to UNC. North Carolina head coach Mack Brown earned his first win for UNC in the 2019 matchup with South Carolina at Bank of America Stadium. The 24-20 Tar Heel win also marked Sam Howell’s first collegiate start.

– UNC is 2-1 all-time vs. App State, the only loss of 2019 at Kenan Stadium when the Mountaineers beat the Tar Heels 34-31 in a thrilling contest. The 2023 match will be the third in a series of three matches full of drama. In 2022, UNC played in Boone for the first time and escaped Kidd Brewer Stadium with a 63-61 win. The Mountaineers scored 40 points in the fourth quarter.

– Carolina’s game with Minnesota on Sept. 16 in Chapel Hill will be the first time the Tar Heels and Gophers will face each other.

– UNC is 3-3 all-time vs. Syracuse and most recently defeated Dino Babers’ Orange 31-6 in the 2020 COVID season.