ACC trivia: What was the 1st ever game played between current conference members?

[NoKyCard]

This poll was previously posted without including the correct answer! It has now been corrected. I won't count previous incorrect answers against you supposedly knowledgeable fans, provided you won't count incorrect poll questions against a fan who poses as a supposedly knowledgeable pollster! Thanks to the moderator for removing my incorrect version of this poll.

The ACC wasn't formed until 1953. But teams from the current conference were playing games against each other on a regular basis long before that. But there's always a first, and not surprisingly, this one occurred in the 1880's.

 

[NoKyCard]

One astute pollster got this one right.

Ans: North Carolina vs Wake Forest. NC played both Wake Forest and Duke in 1888, but met Wake Forest on Oct 18, before visiting Duke on Nov 27. You might say that both these games were historical precedents for additional reasons. The Wake Forest game was the opening game of the season for both teams that year, on a Thursday, and at a neutral site, Raleigh, making it perhaps the original “Kickoff Classic”. The Duke game was also a weekday game, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, no doubt establishing the tradition of Thanksgiving and football. Perhaps ESPN was doing their original market testing!