Florida A&M released its highly anticipated 2025-2026 men’s basketball schedule under new head coach Charlie Ward on Oct. 10.

Under the Heisman-winning, national championship quarterback, and 11-year NBA veteran, the Rattlers will open the year with two exhibition games by hosting Edward Waters on Oct. 21, then traveling a mile down the road to face Florida State.

It’s FAMU and FSU’s first time facing each other in basketball since 1991, when the game ended in a bench-clearing brawl at the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center, now the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, home of the Seminoles basketball team. Ward was a point guard on the FSU basketball team during the last Seminoles versus Rattlers matchup.

The Rattlers’ first regular-season game is versus South Florida on Nov. 3, the official debut of Ward as FAMU’s head coach. FAMU’s home opener is versus Kennesaw State on Nov. 8.

FAMU will also have some non-conference road games against Power Four teams in bordering states, such as the Georgia Bulldogs (Nov. 17) and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (Dec. 28), before starting its Southwestern Athletic Conference schedule.

FAMU men’s basketball will be a part of the inaugural four-team HBCU Hoops Invitational alongside Barber-Scotia College, Florida Memorial University, and Tuskegee University at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando from Dec. 5 to Dec. 7.

“We’ve built this schedule to prepare our guys for the intensity of SWAC play,” Ward said in a released statement. “Facing high-level competition early in the season will show us where we are and where we need to grow. Our goal is to keep improving each night and be playing our best basketball when March comes around.”

Jan. 3 marks the beginning of SWAC play for the Rattlers, as they travel south to face their heated rivals, Bethune-Cookman, for the first of the teams’ two meetings.

Another SWAC game for FAMU basketball fans to clear their schedules for is when the Rattlers welcome their former head coach, Patrick Crarey II, and the Grambling State Tigers to Tallahassee on Jan. 12 to open the teams’ home-and-home series this season.

FAMU also faces the defending SWAC champions, Alabama State, twice this season, traveling to Montgomery on Feb. 2 and then hosting in Tallahassee on Feb. 21.

The SWAC Men’s Basketball Tournament, which features all 12 of the league’s teams, starts on March 9 and runs through March 14 at Atlanta’s Gateway Center Arena.

Florida A&M men’s basketball 2025-2026 schedule

• Tuesday, Oct. 21: vs Edward Waters (Exhibiton)
• Sunday, Oct. 26: at Florida State (Exhibition
• Monday, Nov. 3: at South Florida
• Saturday, Nov. 8: vs. Kennesaw State
• Tuesday, Nov. 11: at Central Florida
• Monday, Nov. 17: at Georgia
• Tuesday, Dec. 2: at Jacksonville
• Friday, Dec. 5-Sunday, Dec. 7: HBCU Hoops Invitational (Orlando)
• Wednesday, Dec. 17: vs. Jacksonville
• Friday, Dec. 19: at Tarleton State
• Sunday, Dec. 21: at Texas Christian
• Sunday, Dec. 28: at Georgia Tech
• Saturday, Jan. 3: at Bethune-Cookman (SWAC)
• Saturday, Jan. 10: vs. Southern (SWAC)
• Monday, Jan. 12: vs. Grambling State (SWAC)
• Saturday, Jan. 17: at Arkansas-Pine Bluff (SWAC)
• Monday, Jan. 19: at Mississippi Valley State (SWAC)
• Saturday, Jan. 24: vs. Alcorn State (SWAC)
• Monday, Jan. 26: vs. Jackson State (SWAC)
• Saturday, Jan. 31: at Alabama A&M (SWAC)
• Monday, Feb. 2: at Alabama State (SWAC)
• Monday, Feb. 9: vs. Prairie View A&M (SWAC)
• Saturday, Feb. 14: at Jackson State (SWAC)
• Monday, Feb. 16: at Alcorn State (SWAC)
• Thursday, Feb. 19: vs. Alabama A&M (SWAC)
• Saturday, Feb. 21: vs. Alabama State (SWAC)
• Thursday, Feb. 26: at Southern (SWAC)
• Saturday, Feb. 28: at Grambling State (SWAC)
• Thursday, March 5: vs. Bethune-Cookman (SWAC)
• Monday, March 9-Saturday, March 14: SWAC Men’s Basketball Tournament (Atlanta)

Gerald Thomas, III is a multi-time award-winning journalist for his coverage of the Florida A&M Rattlers at the Tallahassee Democrat.

Follow his award-winning coverage on RattlerNews.com and contact him via email at GDThomas@Tallahassee.com or on the app formerly known as Twitter @3peatgee.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU men’s basketball to face UCF, UGA, more in Charlie Ward’s first season