Three ACC Centers Named to 2026 Rimington Watch List
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Three Atlantic Coast Conference centers were named Thursday to the 2026 Rimington Trophy Preseason Watch List, which recognizes the top center candidates in NCAA Division I football.
Duke's Matt Craycraft, Pitt's Ryan Carretta and SMU's Joshua Bates represent the ACC on the 40-player list, which was compiled by the Rimington Trophy committee in partnership with Pro Football Focus using school nominations and PFF's play-by-play grading data. The list may grow during the season based on players' performance.
The award, presented annually to the nation's most outstanding center, is named for two-time consensus All-American Dave Rimington. The winner is chosen using first- and second-team All-America selections from the Walter Camp Foundation, Sporting News and the Football Writers Association of America.
2026 Rimington Trophy Watch List — ACC Selections
Matt Craycraft, graduate, Duke
Ryan Carretta, redshirt junior, Pitt
Joshua Bates, redshirt junior, SMU
ACC Football Notes
The ACC has scheduled 25 non-conference games this season against Power Four opponents and Notre Dame, more than any other conference. That slate includes nine games against the SEC, five against the Big Ten, five against the Big 12 and six against Notre Dame. About two-thirds of the ACC's non-conference games come against Power Four or bowl-eligible opponents, and all 17 ACC teams will play at least 10 games against Power Four or Notre Dame competition. Three of the five FBS teams playing 11 or more such games are ACC members. The non-conference schedule also includes 12 games against teams ranked in ESPN's 2026 way-too-early Top 25, and 12 more against teams that finished in the final 2025 College Football Playoff rankings or AP Top 25. Twenty-nine of the ACC's non-conference games, involving 23 different teams, are against 2025 bowl participants.
The conference will again headline Labor Day weekend with its "Five Days of ACC Football" slate, featuring 14 teams in 12 games from Thursday, Sept. 3, through Monday, Sept. 7. SMU's game at Florida State on Labor Day marks the ACC's 17th consecutive year of Labor Day football, excluding 2020, and its 20th since 2005. The league also leads all conferences with five Power Four non-conference games in Week 1.
The ACC will play a record 15 games on Fridays in 2026, including nine over the season's first six weeks and four in Week 2 alone. The league will have at least one Friday night game in each of Weeks 8, 10, 11, 12 and 13, and Thanksgiving week will close with Florida at Florida State on Black Friday.
The conference has produced 11 or more bowl-eligible teams in each of the past three seasons, the longest active streak in the country. Last season, seven ACC teams won nine or more games, a single-season record for the conference, while nine teams won at least eight games, tying the FBS high and setting another ACC record. In 2024, four ACC teams finished with 10 or more wins for the first time in league history.
The 2026 ACC Football Championship Game is set for noon ET Saturday, Dec. 5, on ABC at Bank of America Stadium. It will mark the 14th straight year and 18th time overall that the title game has aired on ABC; the game has been broadcast on ABC or ESPN every year since the championship began in 2005. It remains the only Power Four conference title game played at noon.