Florida State's 2026 football schedule is now set with the announcement Monday of dates for the eight ACC games this fall.
The Seminoles will open the regular season against New Mexico State and play their first ACC game vs. SMU at Doak on Labor Day (Sept. 7).
FSU’s biggest games are spaced out in the back half of the schedule, with a road trip to Miami on Oct. 17 and a bye week before hosting Clemson on Oct. 31. The Seminoles play host to Florida on Nov. 27 (Black Friday).
The home-and-home series against Alabama is the first road game, Sept. 19, in Tuscaloosa.
FSU will have three shorter weeks, playing at Louisville and at Pittsburgh on a Friday night.
Aug. 29 — New Mexico State
Sept. 7 — SMU (Labor Day)
Sept. 19 — at Alabama
Sept. 26 — Central Arkansas
Oct. 3 — Virginia
Oct. 9 — at Louisville (Friday)
Oct. 17 — at Miami
Oct. 31 — Clemson
Nov. 7 — at Boston College
Nov. 13 — at Pittsburgh (Friday)
Nov. 21 — NC State
Nov. 27 — Florida (Friday)
FSU will pay New Mexico State a $1.4 million guarantee for the game. The school will also pay Central Arkansas a $450,000 guarantee.
Early thoughts on FSU’s schedule
What’s good about the schedule? FSU has two bye weeks and the second one separates rivalry games (at Miami and Clemson). According to FBSSchedules.com, there are only five games on Week 0 (Aug. 29) and FSU-New Mexico State is one of them. If Mike Norvell wanted an early start to camp (plausibly July 29) to buy on-field time with a new-look roster, this is very good. FSU will have a national standalone game with SMU on Labor Day, and we’ll see how the Black Friday schedule shapes up but FSU-Florida will be in the spotlight.
What’s not ideal about the schedule? FSU plays three games on a short week and two of them will be on the road (Louisville and Pittsburgh). For a program that has struggled to win ACC road games, the logistics could be an issue. On a personal note, I’m not wild about Friday night games — that night should be for high school football. FSU fans could also find travel for the SMU game on Labor Day challenging if they plan to work (and their children need to be in school on Tuesday).
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