North Carolina Tar Heels
· 2026-06-29
The North Carolina Tar Heels and South Carolina have canceled their 2028 and 2029 home-and-home football series.
South Carolina will pay the North Carolina Tar Heels $1 million by August 2026 for the cancellation.
The decision was made due to the SEC and ACC moving to a nine-game conference schedule in 2026.
This change limits the number of non-conference opponents to three per season for the Tar Heels.
The original game contract stated that if the canceling team's conference mandates an additional conference game, the cost would reduce from $1.5 to $1 million.
The North Carolina Tar Heels are scheduled to play their next game against the TCU Horned Frogs on August 29, 2026.
The Tar Heels were initially set to play at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia on September 2, 2028.
The Gamecocks would have then traveled to Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill on September 1, 2029.
South Carolina had previously canceled another ACC series with Miami that was slated for the 2026 and 2027 seasons.
The SEC requires every team to schedule at least one high-quality non-conference game from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, or Notre Dame each season.
Clemson and South Carolina's annual matchup fulfills this requirement for the Gamecocks.
The cancellation of the series will impact the North Carolina Tar Heels' schedule and recruiting efforts.
The Tar Heels will need to find new non-conference opponents to fill their schedule.
The team's athletic director, Bubba Cunningham, signed a letter on April 29, formalizing the cancellation.
The letter was sent by South Carolina athletic director Jeremiah Donati on April 16.
The North Carolina Tar Heels will receive $1 million from South Carolina by August 1, 2026.
This payment is a result of the cancellation of the home-and-home series.
The Tar Heels are preparing for their upcoming season, with their first game against the TCU Horned Frogs on August 29, 2026.