GREENSBORO, NC — The Atlantic Coast Conference announced plans Wednesday to stage 11 football games for each school with a schedule that will include Notre Dame, which is giving up its storied independence in a year rocked by the coronavirus pandemic.

The ACC’s 14 university presidents approved a plan for an 11-game schedule, including one nonconference game, and for pushing back both the first week (to Sept. 7) and the league championship game (from Dec. 5 to either Dec. 12 or 19).

University of Louisville Vice-President and Director of Athletics Vince Tyra said, “We are encouraged with the ACC announcement today regarding fall sports competition. While the health and safety of our student-athletes is our top priority, we have multiple models under review for as many Cardinals fans as possible to attend games this fall. We will continue to monitor the health climate and work with local and state officials to communicate fan protocols as we get closer to the start of the season. Fans can visit gocards.com/2020 for the most up-to-date information, and we’ll certainly be reaching out soon.”

The ACC will eliminate its traditional divisional format this season and the two teams with the best winning percentages in conference play will meet in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the league championship game.

UofL's head football coach Scott Satterfield said “I’m thrilled with the positive news coming from the Atlantic Coast Conference about moving forward with a new scheduling model for the 2020 season. The proposed home and away schedule is extremely challenging but very exciting at the same time. We now have a clear direction about the upcoming football season, and our program is just looking forward to beginning those preparations next week.”

Notre Dame, which competes in the ACC in all sports except football and hockey, will play in a football conference for the first time in the 133-year history of the proudly independent program — if the season is played. The COVID-19 pandemic is threatening to wipe out the fall season, but the biggest conferences are taking steps to try to mitigate potential disruptions to somehow play football.

Notre Dame already had a scheduling agreement with the ACC that puts five or six games with the league on the Fighting Irish schedule every year. They had six this season, including Clemson, Duke, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Louisville, and Pitt. Added to that will be home games against Florida State and Syracuse and road games against North Carolina and Boston College.

Notre Dame lost three games on its original schedule against Big Ten and Pac-12 opponents when those conferences decided to play only conference games. The Big 12 and Southeastern Conference have not announced any changes to their football schedules.

The ACC and Notre Dame also agreed to equally share TV revenue – including the Fighting Irish’s deal with NBC as an independent – among the 15 schools.

The ACC said the nonconference game must be played in the ACC school’s home state – a move intended to save traditional in-state rivalries such as Georgia-Georgia Tech, Florida State-Florida, and Clemson South Carolina.

Additionally, any nonconference opponent must meet medical protocol requirements set forth by the ACC.

2020 competition for both football and the ACC's Olympic Sports is included below.

• The season’s first games will take place the week of Sept. 7-12
• The 2020 scheduling model includes 11 games (10 plus one: 10 conference and one non-conference)
• All non-conference game opponents, selected by the respective school, must be played in the home state of the ACC institution, and all non-conference opponents must meet the medical protocol requirements as agreed upon by the ACC
• The 11 games will be played over at least 13 weeks with each team having two open dates
• There will be one division
• Notre Dame will also play a 10-game conference schedule and be eligible to compete in the 2020 ACC Football Championship Game
• All television revenue for the 2020 season, including Notre Dame’s home games broadcast by NBC, will be shared equally by all 15 institutions
• The ACC Football Championship Game will be played on either December 12 or 19 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, and will feature the top two teams based upon highest conference-game winning percentage 
• All 15 teams will continue to be part of the ACC’s bowl selection process; should Notre Dame win the ACC Football Championship Game they would be eligible for the Orange Bowl, if not selected as a College Football Playoff semifinal team
• The 2020 ACC Football week-by-week schedule and television selections will be released in the future.

• Fall Olympic Sports competition may begin on Thursday, Sept. 10
• Team sports will play a conference schedule that meets the NCAA minimum amount of games: field hockey (6), women’s soccer (6), men’s soccer (6) and volleyball (10)
• Schools will continue to schedule regular season cross country competitions at their discretion
• Any additional games against conference opponents or non-conference opponents are at the respective school’s discretion and all opponents must meet the ACC’s medical standards
• Any additional games against conference opponents that are beyond the conference-mandated schedules would not count in the ACC standings
• The schedule for ACC Fall Championships 
  • The cross country championships will be held at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. on October 30, and include all fifteen member schools
  • The field hockey championship will be held at Duke University on November 5, 6 and 8
  • The women’s soccer championship will include the top four teams and be held at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. on November 6 and 8, as previously announced
  • The men’s soccer championship will include the top four teams and be held at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. on November 13 and 15
• Television selections via the ACC’s partnership with ESPN and ACC Network will be made in the future.

• Competition in the sports of swimming and diving, indoor track and field and fencing will be postponed until at least September 10 
• Fall competition in the sports of men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s tennis, rowing, men’s and women’s lacrosse, softball and baseball has been canceled
• Student-athletes in golf and tennis continue to be eligible to compete unattached 
• Teams in all sports may continue practice at their institution’s discretion