01/15/26 12:18:00
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01/15 12:17 CST VaTech drops meeting with JMU, top nonconference foe in
Franklin's 1st season, to fit in 9 ACC games
VaTech drops meeting with JMU, top nonconference foe in Franklin's 1st season,
to fit in 9 ACC games
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) --- Virginia Tech canceled its football game against James
Madison scheduled for September because of the Atlantic Coast Conference's move
from eight to nine conference games beginning in 2026.
The teams had been set to play Sept. 26 in Blacksburg. JMU confirmed Thursday
it would receive $800,000 from Virginia Tech as a cancellation penalty. The
schools said they would work to schedule a future game.
James Madison, which qualified for the College Football Playoff, would have
been the Hokies' premier nonconference opponent in coach James Franklin's first
season. The change leaves the Hokies playing VMI at home Sept. 5, Old Dominion
at home Sept. 12 and at Maryland on Sept. 19.
JMU filled its Sept. 26 opening with a road game against San Diego State.
The ACC announced it would go to a nine-game conference schedule to align with
power-conference peers in the Big 12, Big Ten and Southeastern conferences.
Virginia Tech is among 12 of the football-playing members who will play nine
conference games next fall while the remaining five stay at eight. Next season
will operate as a bridge to accommodate conference games already on the books,
with the plan to have 16 of 17 teams playing nine football games regularly by
2027.
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