The new Atlantic Coast Conference debuts on August 24 in Ireland, when Georgia Tech faces Florida State in Dublin, Ireland. 

But that 8,174-mile round trip doesn’t mean that either team will be among the most-traveled schools in the 17-team football conference this season. 

That title goes to the University of California – Berkley. The Cal Bears join Stanford and SMU as newcomers to the no-longer-geographically accurate ACC in 2024. 

That gives the ACC teams in three different time zones. 

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The Cal Bears drew the short -  or long–end of the travel itinerary this season. Cal makes five road trips this season, including 4 against ACC teams. 

Cal will travel 20,660.7 miles according to bookies.com data compiled by using Google Earth to measure the miles from each team’s home stadium to its respective game site. The Bears will cross 26 time zones.

Cal’s longest round trip will come when it visits Wake Forest. That round trip covers 4612.18 miles and six time zones. In all, the Bears will leave the Pacific Time Zone for each road game. Those games include a stop at SEC-member Auburn on Sept. 7. Given the scheduled make-up, the Bears won’t be able to stack any of their eastbound trips.  
 

ACC Travel Team-By-Team Miles Traveled In 2024

Here is the team-by-team miles-traveled breakdown of all 17 ACC teams. Teams are listed by most-to-least miles traveled, along with the number of time zones crossed, the average mileage of each road trip, and their odds to win the ACC at BetMGM. 

Clemson, FSU Co-Favorites To Win 17-Team ACC

Stanford has six road games this season. But it will be able to combine a Sept. 20 game at Syracuse and a September 28 game at Clemson. That two-stop trip covers 5296.49 miles. In all, the Cardinal football team travels 14017.59 miles this season.

Conversely, Clemson enjoys the easiest ACC schedule when it comes to travel this season. The Tigers are co-favorites to win the conference with Florida State. Those teams range from +250 to +350 depending on the book. As always, shop around for the best price. 

Clemson won’t leave the Eastern Time Zone. Its travels cover just 2471.78 miles. The Tigers’ schedule includes the Aflac Kickoff Game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Clemson is a 13.5-point underdog at DraftKings. The five Clemson road trips average just 494.356 miles. 

The shortest road trip in the ACC remains the same – the 17.04-mile back-and-forth journey between the football stadiums between Duke and North Carolina. This year, Duke plays host in the intrastate rivalry. Duke visits NC State this season, making the 36.62-mile round trip. And the road team in the North Carolina – NC State game makes a 40.04-mile journey back-and-forth. This year, the game will be at North Carolina on Nov. 30. 

Legacy Games Breakdown, Odds & Travel 

The new ACC football schedule protects 16 annual matchups. That includes 13 which have become staples on the ACC calendar for those schools who have been with the conference since its founding in 1953, or subsequently joined before this season. Three others were added featuring Cal, Stanford, and SMU. 

Here’s a rundown of the annual protected matchups on this year’s schedule, listed by date, matchup, point spread (where available) and round-trip miles traveled:

ACC Schedule Details For 2024-2030 Seasons

The 17-team ACC football schedule formula will hold through 2030. With 17 schools, there will be 68 intra-conference matchups each football season. The two teams with the best winning percentage within conference play will meet in the ACC Championship Game at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, on the first Saturday of December each season. That date is December 7 in 2024. 

The new alignment calls for each team in the conference to play eight conference games per season, with each team playing each other at least twice during the current 7-season approved formal. 

The 14 legacy teams in the ACC will travel to California each three times over the next seven seasons. None will travel to California in back-to-back seasons. That drives much of the disparity in mileage between the two California schools and their Eastern Time Zone counterparts. 

Notre Dame remains an ACC school for every sport but football. The Irish play 5 ACC football teams this year: Louisville, Stanford, Georgia Tech, Florida State, and Virginia.