Virginia · ACCNC State-Virginia game moves from Brazil to Charlottesville
An ACC waiver keeps Saturday's 3:30 p.m. ET Week 0 matchup on the calendar at Virginia's Scott Stadium after the planned Rio de Janeiro event fell through.
AUG 29, 2026
NC State and Virginia won't be making history in Rio de Janeiro after all. The two schools will play their Week 0 game as a conference matchup Saturday, Aug. 29, at 3:30 p.m. ET, relocated to Virginia's Scott Stadium after an ACC waiver kept the original date intact.
The event organizer, Athlete Advantage, told the ACC and both schools in June that the international game could not be conducted. NC State explained the shift in a statement:
"Following an extensive review with operational partners and international stakeholders, the 2026 NC State at Virginia football game, originally scheduled to be played in Brazil, will be relocated to Charlottesville, Virginia, for this conference matchup. This change follows communication from Athlete Advantage, which informed the ACC and participating schools that the event could not be conducted."
The game was once a nonconference home-and-home, set up before the ACC expanded to a nine-game league schedule this season. That change turned it into a conference matchup — and turned a neutral-site novelty into a real home game for Virginia.
The Cavaliers went 11-3 overall and 7-1 in the ACC last season, losing only in the conference title game. NC State finished 8-5, 4-4. Now Virginia opens at home against a team it could see again in the league race, with quarterback Beau Pribula — who beat out fellow transfer Eli Holstein for the job — facing NC State's CJ Bailey.
The ACC said the waiver "preserves the original date for the conference matchup," crediting NC State, Virginia, the NCAA and ESPN for keeping it on the schedule. Virginia hosts; NC State travels — a small footnote to what was billed as the first college football game played in South America.