By Billy McGee – @iambillymcgee
As the 2026 men’s college soccer season gets closer, teams are beginning to release their schedules for the season, giving a glimpse into what’s in store for this fall. Here’s a look at some of the top non-conference games this season for some of the top ACC teams.
Nine ACC teams finished the 2025 season ranked in the top 50 RPI. Of those teams, Virginia, North Carolina, Duke, and Syracuse do not have their schedules out yet. Here are the notable non-conference games for the other five.
Stanford – The Stanford Cardinal finished the 2025 season ranked #12 in RPI and lost to the eventual National Champions, Washington, in the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament. They are hosting Denver and San Diego as part of their non-conference slate, taking on Denver on August 23 and San Diego a few days later on August 27. Both Denver and San Diego made the tournament last season, both losing in the Round of 32.
- Denver at Stanford – Aug 23
- San Diego at Stanford – Aug 27
NC State – The National Championship runners-up, NC State has a handful of notable non-conference games, going on the road to face Florida Atlantic on August 30 and UNC Greensboro on October 7, before hosting Kansas City on October 11. All three teams made the tournament last season, with FAU knocked out in the First Round, Kansas City losing to Stanford in the Round of 32, and UNC Greensboro eliminated by NC State in the round of 16, 2-0.
- NC State at Florida Atlantic – Aug 30
- NC State at UNC Greensboro – Oct 7
- Kansas City at NC State – Oct 11
Clemson – After a disappointing end to their 2025 season, losing to Western Michigan in the First Round of the tournament, the Tigers have a difficult non-conference schedule for 2026. They will be taking on three teams that made the tournament last season, hosting Furman on August 20, going on the road to UCF on September 1, and hosting North Florida on September 15, as well as hosting Georgia Southern on October 6, who didn’t make the tournament but finished the season ranked No. 34 in RPI.
- Furman at Clemson – Aug 20
- Clemson at UCF – Sep 1
- North Florida at Clemson – Sep 15
- Georgia Southern at Clemson – Oct 6
Notre Dame – The Fighting Irish will have their hands full with three high-profile non-conference games early in their season. They open their season on August 20 by going to Indiana, who made the tournament last season as the No. 6 seed before losing to Saint Louis, who Notre Dame will be facing at home on August 28. They will also be hosting Michigan on September 5, a rematch of the First Round of the tournament, where Notre Dame won 1-0.
- Notre Dame at Indiana – Aug 20
- Saint Louis at Notre Dame – Aug 28
- Michigan at Notre Dame – Sep 5
Wake Forest – The Demon Deacons didn’t make the NCAA Tournament in 2025, but finished the season ranked No. 45 in RPI. Their 2026 campaign begins against two other teams who finished in the top 50 in RPI last season, hosting both San Francisco and VCU on August 20 and August 23, respectively. On top of those home games, they will have two road non-conference games against teams that made the tournament last year, going to play Akron on August 28 and Elon on October 24.
- San Francisco at Wake Forest – Aug 20
- VCU at Wake Forest – Aug 23
- Wake Forest at Akron – Aug 28
- Wake Forest at Elon – Oct 24
