Florida State football kicks off its season with a Week 0 opener against New Mexico State on August 29, but even that start isn’t the earliest in FSU athletics. The defending national champion women’s soccer team began its season on Thursday night, and they didn’t seem to miss a beat.
National Champs off to a strong start
The Seminoles notched a 4-0 win over Stetson to get to 1-0 on Thursday night in DeLand. The Noles did their work all at once, scoring three of their four goals in a 10-minute stretch, starting at the 58th minute with junior midfielder Sam Erbach’s first of the season. With the win, FSU remains undefeated in non-conference play since 2019, with 34 consecutive wins.
FSU men’s basketball strikes a deal with ReliaQuest
In January, the NCAA approved jersey patches on uniforms, a rule that went into effect on August 1. So, this summer, many athletic departments have sold a small piece of real estate on their uniforms for significant sponsorship dollars. On Friday, Florida State men’s basketball joined in, inking a deal with ReliaQuest for the 2026-27 season.
FSU’s approach is unique, opting to sell sport-by-sport rather than landing a deal for the entire department. Regardless, this is a significant development for head coach Luke Loucks, who seems to have serious buy-in from the university’s biggest corporate partners and momentum with the donor base after a strong first season.
Financial details of the deal with ReliaQuest have not yet been released. Regardless, it should help position Loucks and his staff to be competitive next offseason with resources to make moves in the transfer portal and land top recruits.
Daniel Hughes named to Ray Guy Watch list
Daniel Hughes was a Ray Guy semifinalist at New Mexico in 2025, and now he’s on the Ray Guy watch list heading into 2026 at Florida State as one of the nation’s top punters. Hughes is part of a fairly significant special teams overhaul with new special teams coordinator Adam Scheier leading the third phase for the Noles this year.
More: Jaxon Holly stars in senior-season opening win
Florida State’s 2027 class isn’t littered with blue-chip recruits. Mike Norvell and his staff struggled to attract top talent considering the head coach’s precarious job status heading into his seventh year in Tallahassee. Norvell and general manager John Garrett are hoping that their evaluations of lower-rated prospects pay dividends in the class as they make leaps in their senior year. Three-star edge Jaxon Holly is off to a strong start in that department.
Holly began his senior season on Thursday night for Roswell High School in Georgia, and swung the momentum in his team’s favor with a 66-yard pick-six in the first half. After surrendering the first 14 points of the game, Roswell led 18-14 at the half and held on for a 32-20 win at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
FSU commit Jaxon Holley comes away with the interception and takes it back for six 💪🏈 pic.twitter.com/M0JdgUhmQY
— MaxPreps (@MaxPreps) August 14, 2026
Holly was an underrated recruiting win for EDGE coach Nick Williams and a player to watch through his senior year.
Add us as a preferred source on Google