Brad Brownell did not hide his frustration on Wednesday when Clemson learned it will not face North Carolina in ACC play this season.
Speaking at the 2026 ACC Tipoff at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown, the Clemson coach made clear he believes the league missed the mark by leaving out one of its most familiar annual matchups. It will be the first time the Tigers and Tar Heels have not met in the regular season since the 1950-51 campaign.
"I don't like it. I said it last year with Virginia: I hate that we don't play everybody.
I don't understand. If we're gonna play 18 games, why not play everybody once and a partner twice?"
Brownell said about Clemson not facing North Carolina during league play. "That's just my opinion.
My opinion apparently doesn't mean a whole lot, and it probably shouldn't. But I'll reiterate that in spring meetings."
Clemson and North Carolina are both expected to be tournament teams, and both have been central to the ACC since the league’s beginning. Yet this year’s schedule leaves Clemson without a meeting against the Tar Heels, even though the conference now has 18 teams and an 18-game slate.
Brownell’s gripe is rooted in the way the schedule was built. With Notre Dame in the league, he pointed out that an 18-team conference schedule could have been arranged so every team played once, with one permanent rival getting a second game. Clemson’s likely permanent rival in that setup would be Georgia Tech, which is less than 100 miles away and has been recognized as Clemson’s permanent basketball rival moving forward.
Instead, the ACC added a second repeat opponent, which created a “no play” situation for every team. Clemson will see Florida State twice, but not North Carolina at all.
That omission runs against what Brownell sees as one of the league’s biggest selling points. Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia and Wake Forest have all been part of the ACC since the conference was formed, and Brownell argued those matchups should remain on the calendar every year. He said coaches and players come to the ACC to compete against programs like North Carolina, making the loss of the rivalry game especially hard to swallow.
This is not a new complaint from Brownell, either. He said he has raised the issue every season since taking over at Clemson, and his message on Wednesday was no different: the ACC had the chance to get the 18-game schedule right and, in his view, blew it.
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