Auburn football won’t play North Carolina football this season in Atlanta.
Auburn football will have to play North Carolina football at some other time.
With the SEC reportedly going conference-only this fall, that means many high-profile games have been canceled, including the Sept. 12 date between the SEC West’s Auburn Tigers and the ACC Coastal’s North Carolina Tar Heels. These two contending teams were to meet at Mercedes-Benz Stadium as the third of three Chick-fil-A Kickoff games this year. Now, that isn’t happening.
While the ACC has one non-conference game built into its 11-game schedule, it comes with a major caveat. If Auburn wanted to still play North Carolina, they would have to do so within the North Carolina borders. Why would Gus Malzahn’s team go to Chapel Hill to face a team that’s as good as them? Unless Auburn University can get a 2-for-1 on the hardwood, no way they do this.
Based on ACC’s nonconference requirement (must be in held school’s home state), these games can not be played:
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 29, 2020
Virginia vs. Georgia, UNC vs. Auburn & FSU vs. West Virginia (all in Atlanta)
Notre Dame at Navy
UNC at UCF
Va Tech at MTSU
Pitt at Marshall
Wake Forest at ODU
BC at KU
Auburn football isn’t playing North Carolina football this season any more.
Semi-realistically, the only way Auburn will play North Carolina this year on the gridiron is if the Tigers win the SEC Championship, the Tar Heels win the ACC Championship and they meet in the Sugar Bowl in the 2021 College Football Playoff. It’s not out of the realm of possibility, as these are two top-20 programs entering the 2020 NCAA season. That’d be insane if this transpired.
North Carolina must adjust to its 10-game ACC schedule. The Tar Heels’ home games will be vs. the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who will be a full-time ACC member in 2020, the North Carolina State Wolfpack, the Syracuse Orange, the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Getting Notre Dame and Virginia Tech at home is huge, as all five games are winnable.
As for the Tar Heels’ road dates, they will be at the Boston College Eagles, at the Duke Blue Devils, at the Florida State Seminoles, at the Miami Hurricanes and at the Virginia Cavaliers. The Miami road date will be tough. While the Florida State date could be challenging, keep an eye on the Virginia road date up in Charlottesville as a potential trap game for the Tar Heels.
Overall, North Carolina can go anywhere from 10-0 in an absolute, best-case scenario in ACC play, but are probably more likely to go somewhere in the 8-2 or 7-3 range. It should be a great year for Mack Brown’s team, regardless of how weird this college football season gets.
As for Auburn, we’re going to have to wait and see what the SEC’s schedule looks like when it comes out. It will surely be revamped with so many cancellations. Will the SEC go division-less as well? It’d be cool to see the Tigers play former rival teams they rarely play any more, such as the Florida Gators or the Tennessee Volunteers. Will they lose an SEC West foe or two in the process?
This is a fluid situation, so we shouldn’t be surprised Auburn won’t play North Carolina in 2020.
For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.