ESPN announces date, time for Florida-Florida State showdown
The start of college football season is right around the corner, and game time and TV network designations have begun being released for the next year. On Tuesday afternoon, ESPN revealed the game times and dates for a number of key matchups on next season’s slate, including a big matchup between the Florida Gators and Florida State Seminoles.
Florida State will host Florida in this matchup, which is now scheduled to take place on November 25. The game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET, and will be broadcasted on ABC.
ESPN also announced Florida State’s Week 1 matchup against LSU, which will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on an ABC broadcast.
The two teams met once during the 2021 season, with Florida coming away with a close 24-21 victory in the final week of the regular season. Florida went 6-7 overall last season, losing in the Gasparilla Bowl to UCF. Florida State, meanwhile, missed out on bowl eligibility with a 5-7 overall record.
There have been quite a few matchups between the Seminoles and Gators throughout the years, dating all the way back to 1958. Florida holds the all-time head-to-head edge, with a 37-26-2 record in the matchup. Last year’s 24-21 contest was a close win for the Gators, but they cruised to 40-17 and 41-14 victories over the Seminoles in 2019 and 2018. Florida’s current three-game winning streak in the matchup comes on the heels of a five-game winning streak for Florida State from 2013-2017.
The Gators still hold a narrow advantage over the Spartans in Tallahassee, with a narrow 14-13-1 all-time record. The two teams have split the previous four matchups in Tallahassee, with Florida winning in 2018 and 2012 and Florida State winning in 2016 and 2014.
Florida will have a different look next season, as Mike Norvell was hired to replace Dan Mullen as the Gators head coach. Mike Norvell remains at Florida State, but the Seminoles will be looking to get back on the winning side of things in this pivotal late-season matchup.