We’ve been given a late-May gift ahead of the 2026 football season — more game times. On Wednesday, three additional games on Virginia’s football schedule were given their kickoff times and TV designations, bringing the total to four, with the NC State game in Brazil already set to begin the ’26 campaign.
With the official start times for UVA’s matchups with Norfolk State, West Virginia, and Duke now set, here’s an up-to-date look at the kickoffs that have been scheduled:
- Saturday 8/29 vs. NC State (Rio De Janeiro) – 3:30 PM on ESPN
- Friday 9/11 vs. Norfolk State – 7:00 PM on ACC Network Extra
- Saturday 9/19 vs. West Virginia (Charlotte) – 7:30 PM ACC Network
- Friday 10/23 vs. Duke – 7:00 PM on ESPN
The Norfolk State game was
bumped to Friday back in mid-April, and with the ACC announcing that the Duke game will be on a Friday as well, the schedule now has just four Saturday home games. Having multiple Friday games definitely isn’t ideal for attendance numbers and overall tailgating potential, given the finite number of opportunities during the college football season. 7:00 PM also means a traffic nightmare around the area before both of those games, but it is what it is. 7:30 or even 8:00 PM might have been the best options for these Friday games; either way, Michael Vick’s return to Charlottesville as head coach of the Spartans and a chance at some form of ACC Championship payback against the Blue Devils are both set.
UVA’s trip down to Charlotte to face West Virginia, on the other hand, is game-time perfection. A primetime, warm-temperature, renewed border rivalry has an awesome ring to it. The tailgate-ability of this game is off the charts, with the stadium right in the middle of downtown Charlotte. A solid kick that should also allow plenty of time for fans to make the trip South, and gives anyone at home one heck of a nightcap after a Florida State-Alabama 3:30 game, along with Lane Kiffin’s return to Ole Miss (also at 7:30) as intriguing games on an otherwise average slate.
