FSU Basketball Mostly Announces 2026 Non-Conference Schedule, Including 6 SEC Teams

Florida State football is right around the corner, but people might be anticipating basketball season more.

Luke Loucks closed his first season as the head coach on a strong note, leading FSU to 10 wins in their final 13 games, and they were a couple of inches away from knocking off Duke in the ACC Tournament to extend their season.

They built on that momentum by investing heavily in a new roster, bringing in a top-20 recruiting class and a load of talented transfers. That has people very excited for next season.

Florida State has mostly announced its 2026 non-conference schedule, and once again, it's a challenging list. I say mostly because they have the 29th marked as TBD. The ACC schedule should be revealed sometime in September.

Florida State’s non conference schedule is (mostly) here #Noles

Three exhibition games against SEC teams #Noles pic.twitter.com/8pan4RFXGI
— Austin Veazey (@EasyVeazeyNG) August 6, 2026

Florida State's 2026-27 Non-Conference Schedule

October 10th: vs Mississippi State (Exhibition, Neutral Site, Pensacola, FL)
October 14th: vs Auburn (Exhibition, Ballin' in Boutwell Event, Birmingham, AL)
October 24th: vs LSU (Exhibition)
November 2nd: vs Florida A&M (Neutral Site, Tampa, FL)
November 6th: vs Troy
November 10th: vs Florida
November 13th: vs Texas A&M Corpus Christi
November 20th: vs Green Bay
November 24th: vs UNC Asheville
November 29th: TBD
December 1st: at Tennessee (ACC/SEC Challenge)
December 5th: vs Dayton
December 12th: vs Texas A&M (Neutral site, Houston, TX)
December 16th: vs Jacksonville
December 20th: vs Houston (Neutral site, Jacksonville, FL)
December 22nd: vs Bethune-Cookman

For those keeping track, those are six games against SEC teams: Mississippi State, Auburn, LSU, Florida, Tennessee, and Texas A&M.

The first three are exhibition games, but they have some unique characteristics. Former Florida State forward Thomas Bassong transferred to Mississippi State after some NIL disputes with FSU. He said he never wanted to leave after he and FSU agreed to a price, but the price changed, and he's now at Mississippi State.

Jan 31, 2026; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles forward Thomas Bassong (3) during the second half against the Stanford Cardinal at Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Auburn is in its second year with new head coach Steve Pearl after Bruce Pearl stepped down just before the start of the 2025-26 season. They ended up winning the NIT.

LSU currently lists four players on their active roster, as most of the people they had committed were older overseas players who may not be eligible under the new rules.

In the regular season, it's pretty similar to last year's schedule. Houston, Texas A&M, and Dayton are all return games from last year, while Tennessee is part of the ACC/SEC Challenge.

It is a little humorous that they will play Jacksonville at home, then travel to Jacksonville to play Houston.

I expect the game on November 29th will be another buy game. December is a brutal stretch, but it will be interesting to see who gets announced for that game.

The preseason exhibitions will give them a great chance to see what they're made of and what they need to improve on before the start of the regular season. They're also playing games in four different cities in Florida, which is purposeful: Tallahassee, Tampa, Jacksonville, and Pensacola. They aren't playing in the Orange Bowl Classic, as of now, unless that ends up being the game on the 29th. That would be earlier than normal.

Overall, it's another tough schedule with a brutal stretch in December.

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