Florida State set to meet a Seminoles legend to open the 2026-27 basketball season

It’s not hard to make a case for Charlie Ward as the greatest Florida State athlete of all-time. A Heisman Trophy winner and national champion on the football field, and a first-round pick in the NBA Draft, Ward chose basketball, and he hasn’t left it. 

After an 11-year career in the NBA, Ward has spent most of his time coaching, primarily in the high school ranks. That changed last spring when he was hired as the head coach of Florida A&M, just down the road from Florida State in Tallahassee. Now, according to Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman, he’s set to meet the Seminoles to kick off the 2026-27 basketball season on November 2, at the Benchmark Arena in Tampa, in a double-header that will also feature Florida, one of the preseason national title favorites, and Miami. 

FSU set to face Charlie Ward’s Florida A&M Rattlers in Tampa

Florida State’s opponents for the 2026-27 ACC slate were announced on Thursday, so the schedule for Luke Loucks second season at the helm is starting to come together. Loucks took the most modest of steps forward last year, improving to 18-15 after the Noles posted a 17-15 record in Leonard Hamilton’s final season. 

A matchup with Ward’s Rattlers certainly won’t define the season for Florida State. However, it should ring in the year with a renewed sense of excitement and intrigue for a program that hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2021. 

Last season, under Ward’s stewardship, Florida A&M went 15-16 and 11-7 in SWAC play. Ward has seemingly prioritized in-state contests early in the season. Last year, the Rattlers also opened play with a trip to Tampa, that time to face USF, and a week later went to Orlando to play UCF. Both USF and UCF ended the year as NCAA Tournament teams. 

The rest of FSU’s non-conference slate for the 2026-27 season is still being finalized. Last year, Loucks’ program also tested itself against in-state competition with a November 11 matchup against the reigning national champion Gators. FSU held its own, ultimately falling 78-76. 

The Gators will again enter the 2026-27 season as a national championship favorite after bringing back their three-big front court of Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon, and Rueben Chinyelu. Miami isn’t quite in the title conversation, but second-year coach Jai Lucas has the Hurricanes heading in a positive direction with a return to the NCAA Tournament last season and the key retention of former five-star Shelton Henderson this offseason. 

Ward and Florida A&M may be FSU’s opponent in Tampa to open the year, but the Seminoles are chasing the other two programs that will headline the event.

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