ESPN college football insider floats possibility of Florida State getting its biggest 2027 game dropped for reasons beyond its control
The Noles have a marquee matchup that could be on the cutting block.
The Florida State Seminoles, like every other program, have their non-conference games set out years in advance. The Noles have never been one to shy away from a challenge, particularly those involving the SEC in recent years.
Florida State faced LSU in 2022-23 and takes on Alabama this year in Tallahassee to kick off the season on Saturday. The Noles have a return trip to Tuscaloosa scheduled next year. In 2027, FSU is slated to take on the Georgia Bulldogs on September 4 in Tallahassee.
For now, that is.
The SEC announced last week that the conference was expanding from an 8-game conference slate to 9 games. Naturally, that will likely have a trickledown effect to some degree on the non-conference schedules of SEC teams. That could include Georgia, who already has three Power Four non-conference games set in 2027 – FSU, Louisville, and their annual clash with Georgia Tech.
According to ESPN college football insider Chris Low, folks should “looks for” the Bulldogs to get out of the Louisville game, and the FSU could also be a possibility, although Low seems to think less likely than the former.
Under the new SEC scheduling rules, SEC teams are required to have at least one non-conference game each year. Naturally, for Georgia, their annual game against Georgia Tech checks that box, and there’s no indication that rivalry game is in danger of disappearing. Accordingly, there is no reason for Georgia to do anything more challenging than they have to, given their conference slate.
The teams are also scheduled to play in 2028 in Athens, so any cancellation for 2027 would almost assuredly wipe out that contest as well.
But if there is a trickledown effect of teams cutting to one Power Four nonconference games, that would cut loose a number of options for FSU as far as replacement games go.
For now, FSU is focused on sending a message to Georgia and the rest of the SEC on Saturday when they take on the #8 Alabama Crimson Tide at Doak Campbell Stadium.
