West Virginia and Tennesssee To Meet Again In Duke's Mayo Classic in 2028

May 7, 2021 by CFP Staff and Charlotte Sports Foundation

Charlotte, N.C. – The Charlotte Sports Foundation (CSF) today announced that the University of Tennessee will play West Virginia University in the 2028 Duke’s Mayo Classic in Charlotte. West Virginia will be designated the home team for the game at Bank of America Stadium. The game is set for Saturday, September 2, 2028. The kickoff time and ticket information will be announced at a later date.

This is the second regular season matchup in Charlotte between the Volunteers, from the Southeastern Conference, and the Mountaineers, from the Big 12 Conference. The two teams played at Bank of America Stadium on September 1, 2018 in front of 66,793 fans. It was the first and only time the two schools have faced off on the gridiron.

The Duke's Mayo Classic is a season-opening game that began in 2015 as the Belk Kickoff Game and witnessed South Carolina edging North Carolina 17-13. After a one-year hiatus, the Belk Kickoff returned in 2017 with South Carolina defeating NC State 35-28.

West Virginia and Tennessee met for the first time ever in the 2018 Belk Kickoff and saw the Mountaineers roll to a 40-14 triumph.

In 2019, North Carolina and South Carolina rekindled their 2015 matchup, but this time the Tar Heels took home a 24-20 victory.

Due to the Covid pandemic, the 2020 game that was suppose to match Notre Dame with Wake Forest was canceled.

This year, there are two games on Labor Day weekend in Charlotte. The first pits East Carolina against Appalachian State on September 2. The ECU Pirates hail from Greenville in the western half of the state while Appalachian State is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains town of Boone.

The second kick-off game this year is on September 4 and will feature Clemson against Georgia. Though the campuses are only 75 miles apart, these teams haven't met on the gridiron since 2014. Georgia has dominated the series with a 42-18-4 record and, believe it or not, Clemson is 1-6 in the last 7 games played since 1991.

There isn't currently a game scheduled for next season and, other than the 2028 Tennessee-WVU game,  the only future Duke's Mayo Kickoff game has South Carolina and North Carolina in Charlotte for a rubber match in 2023.