Vanderbilt canceled its 2028 road game at NC State and will pay the Wolfpack a $1 million cancellation fee, removing the return trip from a scheduled home-and-home series. The move changes Vanderbilt's future slate while leaving this Saturday's game in FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. on the calendar.
The canceled date was set for Sept. 16, 2028 at Carter-Finley Stadium, and Vanderbilt filled it by scheduling Virginia for that same day at home. The Commodores and Wolfpack were first set to begin the series on Saturday, with the return game following in 2028, so the fee effectively bought Vanderbilt out of that road trip.
Vanderbilt and NC State have met three times, with the Commodores leading the series 2-1 after games in 1946, the 2012 Music City Bowl and the 2016 Independence Bowl. The cancellation trims NC State's 2028 non-conference schedule to two games, with East Carolina on Sept. 2 and Appalachian State on Sept. 30, while Vanderbilt's 2028 slate still includes home games against Tennessee State on Sept. 2 and Akron on Sept. 23.
What remains unclear is why Vanderbilt chose to pull out of the trip after the series had already been arranged. What is clear is the cost: a $1 million fee, a changed 2028 schedule and a home game against Virginia on the same date Vanderbilt once was due in Charlotteville for the return leg in 2031.
