FSU will likely get an early jump on the 2026 football season with a Week 0 game against New Mexico State. The Seminoles and Aggies will play at Doak Campbell Stadium on August 29, according to 247Sports.
New Mexico State, who went 4-8 this season, is a replacement game for Notre Dame, which was removed from the schedule last month. The rest of Florida State's non-conference schedule includes Alabama, Florida and Central Arkansas.
Florida State Football to add New Mexico State to their 2026 football schedulehttps://t.co/MK9l7xP5HP
— Noles247.com (@Noles247) December 1, 2025
FSU is becoming a Week 0 staple
This si the third time since Norvell took over that the Seminoles are expected to play a Week 0 game. In 2022, FSU hosted FCS opponent Duquesne, and in 2024, the Seminoles went to Ireland to open the season against Georgia Tech.
These games can be quite the boom or bust, regardless of opponent. In 2022, FSU was able to get work in against a weaker opponent ahead of playing LSU on Labor Day, and it helped the Seminoles get off to a strong start against the Tigers en route to a 24-23 victory. FSU won four straight to start the season and finished 10-3.
Things were much different in 2024 when FSU was expected to handle the Yellow Jackets, but on a field goal as time expired. Things quickly went from bad to worse for the Seminoles and the 2-10 record remains one of the darkest seasons in FSU football history.
Another Labor Day game in the works?
The rest of FSU's non-conference schedule dates are set. The Seminoles will play Alabama on September 19 (Week 3), and host Central Arkansas on September 26. As usual, the Florida game will close out the regular season on November 28.
FSU is also likely to get an early conference game on Labor Day, marking the sixth time the Seminoles will be playing on Labor Day over the past eight seasons. The expected opponent is SMU, as the Mustangs will make their first trip to Doak. FSU is 2-3 in Labor Day games since 2019; the last one was a 28-13 loss to Boston College in 2024. Ironically, Tommy Castellanos led the Eagles to the win that day. Will he be the quarterback for the Seminoles against the Mustangs in 2026? Only time will tell.