UVA football reveals 2023 schedule

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Atlantic Coast Conference released the 2023 football schedules for its member institutions on Monday. Virginia’s slate features 12 regular-season games, including six home games and a neutral site contest. Starting times for all contests, and the home games designated for Homecomings and Family Weekend, will be announced at a later date.

The Cavaliers’ home slate at Scott Stadium includes games against James Madison (Sept. 9), NC State (Sept. 22), William & Mary (Oct. 7), Georgia Tech (Nov. 4), Duke (Nov. 18) and its Smithfield Commonwealth Clash game with Virginia Tech (Nov. 25). The match-up with the Wolfpack will be a Friday night contest.

After opening the season against Tennessee (Sept. 2) in Nashville, Tenn., at Nissan Stadium, UVA will play road games at Maryland (Sept. 16), Boston College (Sept. 30), North Carolina (Oct. 21), Miami (Oct. 28) and Louisville (Nov. 9). The game with the Cardinals will be a Thursday night meeting.

Schedule Notes

Virginia faces six teams that appeared in bowl games last season – Louisville (Fenway Wasabi), Duke (Military), North Carolina (Holiday), Maryland (Duke’s Mayo), NC State (Duke’s Mayo), Tennessee (Capital One Orange).

The Tennessee game marks the first time the Cavaliers have opened a season at a neutral site since facing Notre Dame to start the 1989 season at the Meadowlands in New Jersey for the Kickoff Classic. It is UVA’s first game at Nissan Stadium since Virginia won the 2005 Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl and the first game in the Music City since playing Ohio at Vanderbilt in 2018 due to Hurricane Florence.

James Madison appears on the UVA schedule for the first time since 1983. The two Commonwealth universities have met just three times with each game played at Scott Stadium.

The James Madison game will mark the 500th game played at Scott Stadium. UVA’s all-time record at the facility stands at 283-204-12.

The Cavaliers matchup with Maryland is the first meeting between the programs since the 2013 season when the Terrapins were still members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. It will be the 79th meeting between the mid-Atlantic foes who met every year between 1957 and 2013.

UVA’s Friday night match-up with NC State marks the first time since the 2021 season the Cavaliers have hosted a home game on a Friday night.

The Cavaliers and William & Mary are playing for the 39th time. The two schools have played every other year since 2009 with the exception of the 2013 season.

UVA travels to Chestnut Hill to play at Boston College for the first time since the 2010 season. The game will be just the eighth all-time contest between the ACC opponents (BC joined the league in 2005). That is the least-played ACC series for Virginia. UVA has visited every other ACC opponent since 2010.

Virginia’s Nov. 9 Thursday game at Louisville follows a Nov. 4 Saturday home game against Georgia Tech. It marks the first time since the 2006 season that UVA plays a Thursday game after a Saturday contest. That season the Cavaliers played Western Michigan at home on Sept. 16 and traveled to Georgia Tech for a Thursday game on Sept. 21.

The Commonwealth Clash with Virginia Tech will be the 104th meeting between the two schools. The Cavaliers and Hokies did not play in 2022 when UVA cancelled its final two games of the season following the shooting deaths of three players who had returned to Grounds from a school-related trip.

The 2023 season marks the return to a single division of play for the Atlantic Coast Conference. Between 2005 and 2022 the ACC champion was determined by a meeting of the winners of the Atlantic and Coastal Divisions. The ACC used a single-division format in 2020 when Notre Dame competed as a conference member due to the pandemic.

Last June, the ACC announced a new scheduling model based on a 3-5-5 structure whereby each team will play three primary opponents annually and face the other 10 league teams twice during the four-year cycle, once at home and once on the road. Virginia’s three primary opponents are Louisville, North Carolina and Virginia Tech.

Season Tickets

Fans interested in becoming season ticket members can place a $50 per seat deposit to security priority access to seat locations for the 2023 season. Season tickets start at $129.  A representative of the Virginia athletics ticket office will contact deposit holders in February to discuss available seats.

Current season ticket members can renew their seats and any applicable parking passes or Cavalier chairbacks starting today by signing into their ticketing account or contacting the ticket office at 434-924-8821. Season ticket members have until March 31 to renew their membership.

New for 2023, season ticket members can take advantage of an extended six-installment, interest-free payment option and have first access to purchase tickets to the opener against Tennessee in Nashville, Tenn. (Sept 2) as well as purchase additional tickets to the Commonwealth Clash against Virginia Tech (Nov. 25). Last season, Virginia Athletics incorporated additional benefits for season ticket members including the CavCard which provides discounts to local partners, access to pre-sales at John Paul Jones Arena and special opportunities to attend other Virginia athletic events for free.

There will be no price increases for 2023 season tickets, as some customers will even receive a slight decrease in their season ticket prices. Virginia Athletics added a new fan friendly price point with the Select option at $165 as well as reduced the ticket price on 35 percent of the seats within Scott Stadium. Additionally, the Cavalier Chairback and parking passes remain the same price as last season.