On Monday it was Week 1 matchups.

Tuesday came the midweek games.

Wednesday, the ACC finally got around to releasing the rest of its 2024 football schedule, ending what had to be the slowest schedule rollout in the history of college football schedule rollouts.

But at least the schedule is out and we now know who will be playing where and when in 2024.

Here are some of the things to look forward to during the expanded league’s 1st season with new members California, Stanford and SMU:

Welcome to the ACC

The ACC sure has an interesting way of making its newest members feel welcome. The first official conference game for Cal and SMU will be against defending league champion Florida State.

The Bears travel to Tallahassee in Week 4 while the Mustangs host the Seminoles the following week. If that isn’t tough enough for SMU, which is coming off a title of their own after winning the American Athletic Conference in 2023, coach Rhett Lashlee’s team will have to turn right around and play the other ACC Championship Game participant, Louisville, on the road.

Stanford draws a much less taxing ACC debut at Syracuse in Week 4, although the Cardinal will have to travel all the way across the country to play the Orange.

Travel will be an issue for a lot of teams in the newly expanded All Coast Conference.

Cal will rack up the most frequent flier points with 19,192 round-trip miles getting to and from ACC road games at Florida State, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest and SMU. Stanford could potentially get a break if the Cardinal decides to stay on the East Coast for consecutive road games at Syracuse and Clemson. But if they make 2 separate trips, their mileage will be 16,538 while SMU will cover 9,851 miles.

Weekend warriors

Fifteen of the ACC’s 17 teams in 2024 are scheduled to play at least 1 game on a Friday or Saturday night. Six of them – Boston College, Duke, NC State, Stanford, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest – were “blessed” with 2 each.

Only 2 teams escaped the weeknight curse and will play traditional schedules in which all their games are on Saturdays.

Clemson’s exclusion likely has something to do with the school’s request to avoid hosting weeknight home games because of logistical concerns such as traffic and parking on a day in which school is in session. Virginia was likely left out of the equation because its team isn’t very good and would be a ratings anchor.

The good news for those teams that do have midweek dates is that the ACC arranged its schedule to prevent anyone from having to play on short rest either before or after a Thursday or Friday game.

Hi, remember me?

DJ Uiagalelei and Manny Diaz didn’t leave their previous ACC schools under the best of circumstances.

DUJ was basically run out of Clemson in 2022 after losing to rival South Carolina and being benched in favor of Cade Klubnik in the ACC Championship Game. Diaz was fired as Miami’s coach and replaced by Mario Cristobal in 2021 despite leading the Hurricanes to 3 straight bowls.

Both will get an opportunity for a little payback this season.

After spending a season at Oregon State, Uiagalelei is back in the ACC at Florida State. He’ll get to face his old team when the Tigers come to Tallahassee on Week 6. Diaz was hired by Duke to fill its coaching vacancy after the departure of Mike Elko. He’ll get his shot at revenge when he takes his Blue Devils to Miami in Week 10.

Another homecoming will take place in Week 11 when Diaz’s Blue Devils play at NC State. Wolfpack running back Jordan Waters previously played at Duke while former Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott will return to Death Valley as Virginia’s head coach in Week 8.

Bye, bye

Not counting Week 0 games – including Florida State vs. Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland – this year’s regular-season college football schedule beings on Aug. 31 and will cover 14 weeks rather than the usual 13.

That means everyone other than the Seminoles and Yellow Jackets will get 2 open dates.

That’s good news for 4 of the holdover ACC teams scheduled to play in California. Miami (Week 6 at Cal), Virginia Tech (Week 7 at Stanford), Wake Forest (Week 9 at Stanford) and NC State (Week 8 at Cal) will all get a week off to help recover from their jet lag.

Syracuse and Louisville aren’t as fortunate. The Orange is at Cal and the Cardinals are at Stanford on Nov. 16. They’re both at home the following week against UConn and Pittsburgh, respectively.

Florida State will have the earliest open date in Week 3. The Seminoles, who have an extra open date because of the Week 0 game, will also have the latest week off in Week 13 – along with Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, NC State and Virginia Tech. The Yellow Jackets will also have the shortest span between open dates, just a single week in Weeks 10-12.

Irish advantage

Louisville finally ended Notre Dame’s 30-game regular-season winning streak against ACC opponents last season. Preventing the Irish from starting a new streak in 2024 won’t be easy.

And not just because they’ll have another former ACC star playing quarterback for them.

Four of the games scheduled against conference teams will be played in South Bend. Including the most important matchup – on Nov. 9 against Florida State – after the weather turns cold.

The 1 game that isn’t being played at Notre Dame is in Week 7 against Georgia Tech. It’s in Atlanta. But not on the Yellow Jackets’ home field. Rather, it’s at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which is big enough to fit plenty of Irish fans and negate whatever homefield advantage Brent Key’s team might have had.

The other 3 games against ACC teams are a Week 5 rematch against Louisville, Week 7 against Stanford and Week 12 against Virginia.

This year’s Louisville?

While the Cardinals had a solid team that earned its 10 wins and trip to the ACC Championship Game last season, they also benefited from a regular season schedule that avoided both eventual league champion Florida State and traditional power Clemson.

In 2024, Syracuse is the team that hit the scheduling lottery.

New coach Fran Brown’s job of rebuilding the Orange will get a boost from not having to play either the Seminoles or Tigers in his rookie season. Between the schedule and a strong transfer class, headed by former Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord, Syracuse has a shot at being the most improved team in the conference next season.

While the Orange has been blessed with the league’s softest schedule, the prize for the toughest goes to Georgia Tech. Brent Key’s team will bookend the season with an opener against Florida State and a finale against Georgia. In between, the Yellow Jackets will also have to face Notre Dame, along with ACC rivals Louisville, Duke, UNC, Virginia Tech, Miami and NC State.

Odds and ends

Florida State will find out early if it will be returning to Charlotte for another shot at the ACC championship on Dec. 7. The Seminoles’ first 2 games are against conference opponents, Georgia Tech and Boston College. Their final league game will be in Week 10 against UNC. FSU’s final 3 games are against Notre Dame, Charleston Southern and Florida. …

After opening the season at Minnesota, North Carolina won’t play another game outside its home state until traveling to Virginia in mid-October. The Tar Heels’ only road game during an 8-week stretch between Sept. 7 and Oct. 26 will be at neighboring rival Duke. …

The ACC’s nonconference schedule continues to be among the most difficult in the country. In addition to 26 games against Power Conference opponents (11 versus the SEC, 5 versus Big Ten, 5 versus Notre Dame, 4 versus Big 12, 1 versus Oregon State), the ACC will play 10 nonconference games against teams ranked in the final 2023 Associated Press Top 25 poll.