We’re wasting no time in 2026 getting right to the important games on the schedule, and there is pressure on both NC State and Virginia to get off on the right foot. If getting to the ACC title game is going to be a possibility for both, then winning what looks pretty close to a toss-up game is rather critical.
Vegas has pegged NC State as a 5.5-point underdog heading to Charlottesville, while SP+ likes UVA by five. The game going from a neutral site to a road site was rather unhelpful for the Pack,
and for this development I think it’s fair to blame the entire country of Brazil.
But we’ll see what kind of crowd UVA has on hand for this one—crowd noise isn’t likely to be one of State’s top five problems in this matchup.
As always with these first-week games, much will come down to who minimizes the inevitable hiccups and avoids serious disaster. There might not be much difference between these teams otherwise.
