Florida State is heading back to Birmingham for another preseason test, and this one brings Auburn into the mix Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET inside historic Boutwell Auditorium as part of the 2026 Ballin in Boutwell event.
The Seminoles are making their second straight trip to the showcase after taking on Alabama in last year’s edition. That game turned into a high-scoring shootout, with Florida State falling 109-105. The event is back for its third year after drawing sellout crowds in both of its first two runs.
Wednesday’s game will air on YouTube with Ryan Brown and Jim Dunaway on the broadcast, and it will also be carried on the Seminole Sports Network with Jeff Culhane and Jacob Ridenhour on the call.
For Florida State, this is the first public look at a team being reshaped around second-year head coach Luke Loucks. In his debut season, Loucks guided the Seminoles to an 18-15 record and a 10-8 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Those 10 ACC wins set a program record for conference victories by a Florida State head coach in his first season.
The finish to last season hinted at a team finding its stride. Florida State won 10 of its final 12 games and strung together a school-record five straight ACC road victories. Loucks, 36, enters year two as the 10th-youngest head coach in Division I and the youngest at a Power Four program.
This roster looks dramatically different, too. The Seminoles added 12 newcomers in all, with six freshmen and six transfers. On3 ranked Florida State’s transfer class seventh nationally and second in the ACC, while the high school class came in 16th nationally and second in the league.
Two of the new faces, senior guard Anthony Robinson II and junior forward Sebastian Rancik, were on hand recently at the 2026 ACC Tipoff. Robinson II, a Tallahassee native, arrived from Missouri after three seasons there. He played in 96 games with 50 starts for the Tigers, made the 2025 SEC All-Defensive Team and averaged 8.9 points per game last season while leading Missouri with 54 steals.
Rancik joins Florida State after two seasons at Colorado. The Slovakia native appeared in 62 games with 37 starts for the Buffaloes and averaged 12.3 points and 5.6 rebounds in 2025-26, finishing third on the team in scoring and second in rebounding.
The matchup with Auburn will be the 32nd in the series. A big chunk of the early history came long ago: 17 of the first 31 meetings were played between 1958 and 1966. Since the start of this century, the teams have faced off only four times, all during home-and-home series from the 2009-10 through 2012-13 seasons.
Florida State’s original exhibition opener, a scheduled Oct. 10 game against Mississippi State in Pensacola as part of the Southern Tip-Off, was canceled because of anticipated impacts from Hurricane Isaias. The Seminoles will still get another home exhibition, hosting LSU on Oct. 24.
The 2026-27 schedule is no soft landing either. Florida State has eight games against teams ranked in the top 18 of ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25, tied for the second-most in the country.
That stretch includes games against No. 1 Florida, No.
2 Duke, No. 7 Tennessee, No.
12 Virginia, No. 15 Louisville, No.
17 Houston and No. 18 Miami twice.
Duke, Florida and Houston also sit in the top three of KenPom’s preseason ratings.
In Other News...
Florida State Just Took A Brutal Recruiting Hit Before Miami
Florida State took a significant hit on the eve of one of its biggest games, dismissing freshman cornerback Chuck Kennon from the football team for conduct detrimental to the team, according to a university spokesman. Kennon was the highest-rated recruit in the Seminoles 2026 class and is no longer listed on the official roster, leaving the program to regroup at a position that always draws attention in a rivalry week buildup.
The timing adds another layer of discomfort for a team already focused on Miami, because this was supposed to be one of the young players around whom Florida State could build some early momentum. Instead, the Seminoles are left dealing with the fallout of losing a prominent newcomer just as the stakes rise, and the program now has to move forward without one of its most notable additions before the matchup arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Anthony Robinson's Return Could Decide How Fast FSU Rebounds
Anthony Robinson II arrived at Florida State as the kind of experienced addition a program leans on when it wants to get back to the NCAA Tournament quickly. The senior point guard spent three seasons at Missouri before transferring in, and his track record gives the Seminoles a veteran handler who has already seen high-level basketball and knows what it takes to steady an offense.
Luke Loucks is expecting Robinson to do more than simply bring the ball up the floor. Florida State wants him organizing possessions, protecting the ball better and finding a more efficient scoring rhythm, because his ability to manage all of that will go a long way toward determining how fast the Seminoles can climb back into relevance. [Read more 🡒]
FSU Just Lost A Highly Touted Young DB Under Alarming Circumstances
Florida State moved quickly after freshman defensive back Chauncey Alvoid Kennon was arrested on charges including aggravated fleeing to elude, false imprisonment and resisting an officer without violence. The Seminoles dismissed him from the team for conduct detrimental to the team, a significant development for a young player who had been viewed as part of the programs future.
Kennon remains in custody without bail, and the charges are allegations, not convictions. Even so, the situation adds an uneasy off-field note for Florida State, which is now left to absorb both the roster loss and the uncertainty that comes with a case still unfolding. [Read more 🡒]