Florida State football fans who have been longing for big-time non-conference showdowns on college campuses will get a treat in 2025 and 2026.
The Seminoles and the University of Alabama announced on Thursday that they will square off in a home-and-home series during those years, instead of in a neutral-site game as when they met in Atlanta in 2017.
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FSU athletics director David Coburn has said that the Seminoles want to get back to playing more high-profile games inside Doak Campbell Stadium.
FSU also has scheduled a home-and-home with Georgia for 2027-28. And the Seminoles also are reportedly negotiating with LSU on a future series, although that deal hasn't been finalized.
FSU's 2026 schedule promises to be extremely challenging, with Alabama joining Florida and Notre Dame as non-conference opponents. The Seminoles will host Florida and Notre Dame that season, while also traveling to Tuscaloosa.
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Here is the official release from FSU:
Florida State and Alabama have agreed to a home-and-home series for the 2025 and 2026 seasons, it was announced Thursday.
The Seminoles will host Alabama on Aug. 30, 2025, marking the first time in series history the teams will meet in Tallahassee. FSU will make the return trip to Tuscaloosa on Sept. 19, 2026.
“We are very pleased that we could work this out and we know that it will be a great event on both campuses,” Director of Athletics David Coburn said. “We appreciate Alabama being our partner in this, and both the ACC and SEC offices who had to do a lot of work behind the scenes to make this a reality.”
After playing the first three games of the series in Alabama, facing off in Tuscaloosa in 1965 and 1974 and in Birmingham in 1967, the two teams have met twice at neutral sites. Florida State earned a 21-14 victory in Jacksonville in 2007, and the teams most recently played in 2017, opening the season by participating in the first collegiate game in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Alabama series adds to an exciting non-conference slate in upcoming seasons. In addition to hosting in-state rival Florida during even years, Florida State is set to host Notre Dame in 2021, 2026 and 2029 as well as Georgia in 2027.
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