Dave Doeren has given NC State fans a little more clarity on the 2027 football schedule, and it comes with a familiar ACC heavyweight right out of the gate.
Speaking on the Ovies & Giglio Podcast last week at ACC Kickoff, the Wolfpack coach said NC State will open the 2027 season against Clemson. Doeren was talking about the current setup for the next two seasons when he made the reveal.
"Next year we open with Clemson," Doeren said when discussing starting the season against Virginia in Charlottesville. "So we'll have back-to-back openers this way."
The matchup brings the Textile Bowl back into the spotlight, and it arrives with some recent history behind it. NC State has taken two of the last four meetings against Clemson, but the Wolfpack still has not won in Death Valley since 2002. The last meeting came in 2024, when Clemson rolled to a 59-35 win.
There is still some uncertainty around exactly where and when the 2027 opener will land. When the ACC announced future opponents in 2023, the game was originally set for Carter-Finley Stadium. But with the conference moving to nine league games for most teams starting in 2026, schedules have shifted across the board, and there is no clear confirmation yet that the original setup will stay intact.
What is known is that NC State already has three home games locked in early in the 2027 season: N.C. A&T on Sept.
11, Kansas State on Sept. 25 and Louisiana Tech on Oct. 2.
That leaves Week 0 and Week 1 open on paper, while Clemson also has Sept. 2 available. On the calendar, the game would seem to fit best in Week 1.
Clemson has not opened a season with a road ACC opponent since its 28-7 loss to Duke in 2023.
If the matchup does stay on the schedule as originally planned, NC State would get a marquee season opener and a chance to chase a three-game home winning streak against Clemson.
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The concerts come as NC State athletics works through a projected deficit and looks for ways to broaden its revenue base beyond the usual game-day model. Corrigan has pointed to Carter-Finley as part of that answer, and the university is also examining other possibilities such as naming rights and sponsorships tied to the stadium. For a department trying to stabilize its finances, the challenge is no longer just filling seats on football weekends, but figuring out how to make the building pay off all year long. [Read more 🡒]
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The ACC picture only sharpens the point, with NC State checking in as the conferences second-youngest roster and a cluster of national powers also leaning on early-career players. That kind of profile can be a sign of a program building toward something bigger, but it also means the Wolfpacks ceiling in 2026 may depend on how quickly that youth settles in, especially with so many of the sports elite teams already proving that young rosters can still win at a high level. [Read more 🡒]