Four more kickoff times are in for the 2026 Florida State football schedule. The ACC released the game times Wednesday, filling in four more slots on what is already a historically unconventional schedule. Florida State will play four non-Saturday games in the regular season for the first time in program history, and today’s announcements covered three of them plus the season opener. Love it or hate it (and most of us lean toward the latter), this is the modern college football reality where revenue rules and programs must find ways to generate as much as possible. At least the Noles are getting the primetime treatment for the bulk of it.
Game 1 | August 29 vs. New Mexico State | 7:00 PM ET | The CW
The season gets going in Week 0 against New Mexico State at Doak, and it kicks off under the lights at 7 p.m. on The CW. Florida State and New Mexico State have met once before, a 36-0 win at Doak Campbell Stadium in 1964, so this is largely a glorified tune-up game. Nothing wrong with some early season momentum heading into a brutal schedule.
The CW slot, though? That one stings a little. FSU is playing a program-record four non-Saturday games this year, and one of those primetime matchups lands on a network that most casual fans can’t even locate on their cable guide. That’s the ACC’s doing, and it’s another data point in the case for why Florida State needs to find a better conference home.
There’s also the unsettling fact that the last time FSU played on The CW, Jordan Travis suffered a catastrophic leg injury in the first quarter against North Alabama, a moment that unraveled what would have been an undefeated playoff season. Obviously the network has nothing to do with what happens on the field, but let’s just hope the CW curse stays in 2023 where it belongs.
Game 3 | September 19 at Alabama | 3:30 PM ET | ABC
Now we’re talking. Florida State beat No. 8 Alabama 31-17 in the 2025 season opener and is making its first trip to Tuscaloosa since 1974. A return trip to Bryant-Denny Stadium in the heat of a September afternoon on ABC is as big a stage as college football offers. This is the kind of game that defines seasons and offseasons alike. Getting 3:30 on ABC is exactly the exposure FSU deserves for a matchup this significant.
The Tide will undoubtedly be looking for revenge and FSU hasn’t won a road game in 2 years. Not to mention the elephant slayer Gus Malzahn won’t be roaming the sidelines, but same time slot, same TV network and same underdog role for FSU, hopefully leads to the same stunning upset we saw last year.
Game 6 | October 9 at Louisville | 7:00 PM ET | ESPN
A Friday night road game in the land of bourbon, and FSU draws a prime slot with ESPN carrying it. The Seminoles will play road games at Louisville (October 9) and Pitt (November 13) as part of those three Friday games this season. Louisville at night under the lights on ESPN isn’t a bad draw, even if the Friday scheduling still rubs most of us the wrong way. The last time FSU played on the road against the Cards, it was also on a Friday night and they walked out with a win. Hopefully history repeats itself.
Game 10 | November 13 at Pitt | 7:00 PM ET | ESPN
Another Friday, another ESPN primetime game. FSU has won its last two trips to Pittsburgh, but the Noles will need to hold serve on the road to keep their season on track. Pat Narduzzi’s teams are always physical and rarely easy outs, so having a quality primetime window for that one makes sense from a national visibility standpoint. This one comes on a short week after a long trip up north to face Boston College. The Noles will have to shake off the jet lag if they hope to leave the steel city with a win.
Final Thoughts
Look, there’s no sugarcoating it: playing three Friday games for the first time since 1955 and four non-Saturday games in program history is not ideal. Fans have to rearrange plans, travel becomes more complicated, and the Saturday college football atmosphere is simply different from a weeknight game which is typically reserved for high school games. But the reality of the revenue landscape in modern college athletics is what it is, and if you’re going to play outside the traditional Saturday window, you want to be on ESPN or ABC in primetime.
Four of the six announced game times this season are night games, which is nice. That’s primetime money and primetime exposure. There’s opportunity in that, even if we’d all prefer it be on a Saturday. The team just has to show up and not squander those opportunities. Stay tuned to your source for fan-focused FSU coverage here at Plant The Spear. Thanks for reading and Go Noles!