Florida State Basketball: 2023-24 season preview for the Seminoles

Schedule outlook

Nov. 10 – Kennesaw State

Nov. 13 – Central Michigan

Nov. 17 – at Florida

Nov. 20 – UNLV (Sunshine Slam)

Nov. 21 – Colorado/Richmond (Sunshine Slam)

Nov. 29 – Georgia (ACC-SEC Challenge)

Dec. 2 – at North Carolina (Conference Game)

Dec. 9 – South Florida (Orange Bowl Classic)

Dec. 16 – SMU

Dec. 19 – North Florida

Dec. 22 – Winthrop

Dec. 30 – Lipscomb

Jan. 3-March 9 – ACC Conference Play

March 12-16 – ACC Conference Tournament

Like many major college basketball programs, Florida State has a couple of easy wins built into their schedule. But even their start to the season is more difficult than many of its peers, forced to play an NCAA Tournament team from a year ago in Kennesaw State, followed by Central Michigan.

Things immediately get tougher after those first two games. Florida State hits the road for the first time to head to the rival Florida Gators in Gainesville, who have legitimate Top 25 aspirations this season. A neutral game against UNLV in the Sunshine Slam is no slam dunk, and while the Seminoles are better than Richmond, a second game in the Sunshine Slam against Colorado could result in a two-loss tournament.

It doesn’t get much easier after that. A home non-conference game against Georgia will be a toss-up, then the Seminoles get to take a delightful dip into the ACC waters at Chapel Hill, just to give Florida State a preview of what’s to come in conference play.

The neutral game site against South Florida could be tougher than expected, but outside of a home date with SMU, the rest of Florida State’s non-conference slate should net wins for the Seminoles.

The ACC has lost some luster in recent years. The Seminoles will likely still be towards the bottom of the conference, but it should be able to grab a few extra wins versus expectations due to the relative lack of top-end teams in the conference, compared to the likes of the SEC and Big East.