The Daily Nole

FSU Football: Updates to 2019 and 2020 Schedules

wlpearce.com/FSU athletics

Florida State football recently announced two major updates for the 2019 and 2020 regular seasons.

The first relates to the 2019 season opener against the Boise State Broncos, which was originally slated to be played in Tallahassee. Instead, that game has been moved to Jacksonville at TIAA Bank Field, the current home of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars.

The change was announced in October 2016, but became official this week. It is still scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 31, but that date is flexible within the weekend.

This will be the fourth neutral site contest in the past six seasons. The previous three were against Alabama in Atlanta for the 2017 opener, Ole Miss in Orlando for the 2016 opener and Oklahoma State in Dallas to open the 2014 season.

It is the first regular season game in Jacksonville for Florida State since the 2008 season, when it defeated the Colorado Buffaloes 39-21 at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. FSU topped West Virginia in the Gator Bowl to conclude the 2009 season, 33-21.

The second (and more interesting) development involves the 2020 season. Florida State still plans for the team to travel to Boise, Idaho for a return trip against the Broncos on their famous blue turf. There had been murmurs that Florida State was looking to cancel that match-up, but those were seemingly unfounded.

Florida State’s 2020 season opener is against the West Virginia Mountaineers in Atlanta, while the Boise State game is two weeks later. That means the Seminoles will be traveling for two of its first three games.

From a larger college football standpoint, it’s very rare for a Power 5 team to schedule a Group of Five powerhouse, much less travel for it. Florida State saw back in 2014 how the College Football Playoff Selection Committee treats attempts at tougher out-of-conference scheduling. Despite going undefeated while playing strong Power 5 programs in Oklahoma State and Notre Dame, the committee gave the Seminoles the No. 3 seed, forcing them to head to Pasadena instead of New Orleans.

Florida State will have to rely on Boise State keeping up its high level of play, which included an 11-3 finish and top 25 S&P ranking in 2017. The only other contests currently set in stone outside of the team’s annual rivalry game with Florida and future contests against Notre Dame is a 2019 home match-up against Louisiana-Monroe.

According to Florida State athletic director Stan Wilcox, the school is considering other neutral site games in the future.

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