​N.C. State football vs. Virginia was set to be played in Brazil, but will now be played in Charlottesville.ACC commissioner Jim Phillips says there was “serious doubt about whether the city and the area involved would be able to pull this game off.” That led to the move back to ACC country in Charlottesville, where the Wolfpack and Cavaliers will kick off in Week 0 at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn December 2025, N.C. State announced it would be a part of the first college football game in South America in a game against Virginia dubbed “College Football Brasil.” The teams were set to play at Nilton Santos Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.“We have tried to broaden our reach. And one example is how we’re using Week 0 and so, the Brazil game was something that Virginia and N.C. State kind of came together on, and we started to talk about that opportunity,” Phillips said Wednesday, July 15, in Charlotte to open the league’s “ACC Kickoff” preseason football media days.RANKING PACK’S OPPONENTS: Ranking NC State football’s opponents from easiest to toughest ahead of 2026 season“You have a sponsor, there has to be some support in a country, in another country, to be able to pull this game together. And things seem to be going along well over the course of the last seven or eight months. But very truthfully, I think it was in May, there was some serious doubt about whether the city and the area involved would be able to pull this game off.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“It was an educated decision that you could leave it to chance, and maybe there is an issue with the field, maybe there’s an issue with some logistical pieces of put on that or bring it to you back home and have it be a true ACC conference game on somebody’s home field, and that’s what we determined was best. So that was the first step.”In June, N.C. State and Virginia announced the league game would be moved back to America.The universities made the announcement on Wednesday, June 3, with N.C. State saying the decision followed “extensive review with operational partners and international stakeholders,” along with “communication from Athlete Advantage, which informed the ACC and participating schools that the event could not be conducted.”According to the original game contract signed by the two parties, N.C. State is due to be paid a $1.5 million cancellation fee by Athlete Advantage. The Wolfpack was set to receive $2 million for playing the game in Brazil.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFor Phillips, it was important to keep that matchup in Week 0.“That would have been a real disadvantage to those student-athletes. Very pleased that the NCAA took that information on and then decided that we could stay at Week 0,” Phillips said.“The international piece is big. We’ve gone to Ireland several times. We want to go to a couple other places. … To sprinkle the college game out internationally is great. This year I’ll be N