UNC and UCF scheduled a two-game home-and-home series in 2016 that is scheduled to begin this fall. Before the first of those games can even reach kickoff, the series has been extended with two additional games.
Now a four-year home-and-home series spanning a seven-year span, both schools will get two home games out of the scheduling agreement. The two additional games added to the agreement will be played Sept. 21, 2024 at North Carolina and Sept. 20, 2025 at UCF.
Adding home-and-home deals like this against power conference opponents is a major win for UCF, because there are not many power conference schools willing to schedule road games against non-power conference programs. To get two out of the deal is a nice get for the Knights. UCF will face two ACC opponents this season with a home game against Pitt in addition to the road game at UNC in non-conference play. UCF will also face two power conference opponents in 2019 (Stanford, at Pitt), and 2020 (UNC, at Georgia Tech). UCF is one of the top Group of Five conferences and has taken strides in scheduling by being able to get home games against power conference opponents (just recently hosted Maryland, for example) instead of loading up the non-conference slate with road games against power conference opponents.
North Carolina is required by the ACC to schedule at least one game per year against another power conference opponent. UCF does not satisfy the requirement without an exemption from the ACC, but UNC has the requirement satisfied in 2018 with a road game at California and in 2019 with a unique non-conference tilt against Wake Forest of the ACC (part of a two-year agreement with another game in 2021 at home). As it stands now, UNC still needs one power conference opponent lined up for the 2020 season unless a road game at UCF is given a pass.
North Carolina will host UCF on Sept. 15 of this year, but the Tar Heels will not make the return trip to Orlando until the opening week of the 2020 season (previously announced as Sept. 12, 2020, but UCF currently lists that game as “Week 1,” suggesting the date may be flexible). The two schools have never faced each other on the football field before.
