WVU, Tennessee Move Date for Future Neutral Site Game in Charlotte

On Wednesday, the West Virginia and Tennessee athletic departments announced that their neutral site game schedule in Charlotte, North Carolina, for 2028, the Duke’s Mayo Classic, has been moved from Sept. 2, 2028, to Aug. 26, 2028.

The game has been on the books since the spring of 2021, but with college football slightly altering its calendar, games will be played earlier starting next season.

Plenty of good times in Charlotte

Sep 19, 2026; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers payers sing “Country Roads” after defeating the Virginia Cavaliers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

1999: vs. East Carolina L 23-30
2002: vs. Virginia L 22-48 (Continental Tire Bowl)
2008: vs. North Carolina W 31-30 (Meineke Car Care Bowl)
2018 vs. Tennessee: W 40-14
2023 vs. North Carolina W 30-10 (Duke's Mayo Bowl)
2026: vs. Virginia W 38-27

The Mountaineers are 4-2 all-time in Charlotte, but have won each of their last four trips to the Queen City, including a couple of weeks ago in a pretty comfortable 38-27 win over then 25th-ranked Virginia. In that game, West Virginia rushed for 257 yards and had a number of explosive plays in the passing game. Defensively, Zac Alley's unit shut things down after giving up 14 points in the opening quarter. They allowed 13 points the rest of the game, six of which came late when the game was already decided.

The last battle in Charlotte with the Vols

These two met for the first time in 2018, and it was a flat-out dominating performance by the Mountaineers. They out-gained the Volunteers 547-301, thanks to a huge day from the hometown QB Will Grier, who completed 25-of-34 pass attempts for 429 yards and five touchdowns. WVU won the game going away, 40-14.

Charlotte is always going to be a place that West Virginia fans take over because it is one of the largest alumni bases in the country for WVU, it's an area where many West Virginians have moved to, and it's also an easy trip down the interstate.

WVU AD Wren Baker plans to keep Charlotte in mind when scheduling in the future stating, "It’s always a place we do really well, so that’s a place we have really tried to plant our flag. You want to do what’s right by the state and community, but certain neutral-site games give you an opportunity to draw revenue, to hit a broader audience, to play an opponent that maybe doesn’t have it in their schedule to do two games."

West Virginia currently has non-conference games scheduled against Youngstown State on September 9th and Akron on September 16th in 2028. Assuming the entire schedule shifts, those dates could be moved in the near future as well.

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