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Yesterday’s Poll Results

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🏹 Welcome to The Chief Brief! 🏹

Happy Hump Day, Seminole!

A packed edition across hoops, soccer, volleyball, football scheduling, and a portal cycle that’s already reshaping FSU’s roster.

🏀 Road Reality Check in Dayton 🏀
Florida State’s road struggles continued with a lopsided loss at Dayton, raising urgency as non-conference play winds down and margins tighten under Luke Loucks.

🏐 Volleyball Excellence, On and Off the Court 🏐
Three Seminoles earned Academic All-District honors, highlighting a program that continues to pair elite performance with elite standards in the classroom.

⚽ Soccer Hardware Keeps Stacking Up ⚽
Three Seminoles landed on Top Drawer Soccer’s Best XI as FSU’s national title run cements its place as the sport’s modern standard.

🏈 FSU’s 2026 ACC Path Comes Into Focus 🏈
The Seminoles’ eight-game ACC slate is set, featuring marquee home dates and defining road trips that could shape the ceiling of the 2026 season.

🚨 Portal Pressure Mounts Across the Roster 🚨
FSU is losing real snaps — not just depth — as starters and veterans exit, turning the secondary and tight end into immediate portal priorities.

⚖️ ACC Tiebreakers Are About to Change ⚖️
After a chaotic championship scenario, the league is rewriting its rules, a move that could directly impact FSU’s future postseason paths.

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🏀 FSU Men’s Basketball Falls Hard at Dayton 🏀

Florida State couldn’t keep pace on the road, dropping a 97–69 decision to Dayton at UD Arena as the Seminoles’ road woes continued.

🔥 Leading the Way

• Kobe MaGee: Team-high 15 points; hit three 3-pointers and is now tied for the team lead with 26 made threes this season.

• Lajae Jones: 14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals; went 7-for-7 at the free throw line.

• Martin Somerville: 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 threes; has made at least one 3-pointer in every game this season.

• Robert McCray V: 10 points (8 in the second half); has now scored in double figures in four straight games and 9 of 11 overall.

💨 Game Flow

• FSU briefly grabbed the early edge on a Somerville three but trailed most of the night.

• A 9–0 Seminole run in the first half trimmed the deficit to single digits, but Dayton responded to take a 42–31 lead into halftime.

• The Flyers pulled away decisively in the second half behind hot shooting and consistent trips to the free-throw line.

📊 By the Numbers

• Rebounding: FSU outrebounded Dayton 37–35, marking the third straight game the Seminoles have won the battle on the glass.

• Dayton’s Javon Bennett: Game-high 25 points, a perfect 12-for-12 at the free throw line.

📅 What’s Next
Florida State (5–6) returns home to the Tucker Center to face Mississippi Valley State on Friday, Dec. 19 at 7:00 p.m. ET.

👉 Read more for full stats, rotation notes, and what stood out on the road

🏐 FSU Volleyball Trio Earns Academic All-District Honors 🏐

Florida State volleyball landed three selections on the College Sports Communications Academic All-District Team, recognizing excellence on the court and in the classroom.

🔥 The Honorees

• Delaney Ewing

  • Started every match in her first season at FSU

  • 143 kills, hit .312

  • Team-best 121 total blocks (1.06 per set)

  • 3.65 GPA, marketing major

• Iane Henke

  • One of the most productive seasons in program history

  • AVCA First Team All-Region, Second Team All-ACC

  • 2nd all-time at FSU in points per set

  • 3rd all-time in kills per set

  • 3.92 GPA, MBA candidate

  • Now eligible for Academic All-America honors

• Lily Nicholson

  • Started every match as FSU’s primary setter

  • Team-high 594 assists (5.08 per set)

  • Added 14 aces and 255 digs

  • 3.55 GPA, media & communication studies major

👉 Read more on the honorees and their standout seasons

⚽ Three Seminoles Named to Top Drawer Soccer Best XI ⚽

Florida State’s national title run continues to rack up hardware, with three Seminoles earning spots on Top Drawer Soccer’s prestigious Best XI teams.

🔥 The Honorees

• Jordynn Dudley — First Team (Forward)

  • Best XI First Team selection for the second time (also 2023)

  • Finalist for the Hermann Trophy, Honda Sport Award, and TDS National Player of the Year

  • Third career All-American; Second First Team selection

  • 2025 stats:

    • 14 assists, 36 points, 11 goals

    • 3 game-winners, 88 shots

    • Top-20 nationally in assists, points, shots, and points per game

  • Led the ACC in assists and shots

  • Two-time NCAA Champion

• Taylor Suarez — Second Team (Midfielder)

  • First career Best XI honor

  • United Soccer Coaches Second Team All-American

  • College Cup All-Tournament Team

  • 2025 stats:

    • 9 assists (No. 29 nationally)

    • 19 points, 5 goals

    • Multiple multi-point games in ACC and NCAA Tournament

  • First NCAA title

• Wrianna Hudson — Third Team (Forward)

  • First career Best XI selection

  • 2025 College Cup Offensive Most Outstanding Player

  • Team leader in goals (15), game-winners (5), and shots on goal (39)

  • Ranked nationally:

    • No. 4 in shot accuracy

    • Top-25 in goals, goals per game, and game-winners

  • First NCAA title

🏆 Program Standard

• FSU has had at least one Top Drawer Soccer Best XI honoree every year since 2012

• Multiple honorees in all but one of those seasons

• A First Team selection in four straight years

👉 Read more on the Best XI selections and FSU’s continued national dominance

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🏈 FSU’s 2026 ACC Opponents Are Set 🏈

Florida State learned its conference slate for 2026 on Tuesday, locking in an eight-game ACC schedule with a balanced mix of home heavyweights and road tests.

🔥 Home ACC Games (Doak Campbell Stadium)

• Clemson

  • FSU leads the all-time series 21–17

  • 12–7 advantage in Tallahassee

• NC State

  • 27–17 all-time series lead

  • Dominant 16–6 mark at home

• Virginia

  • 15–5 overall, 9–1 at home

  • Cavaliers last played in Tallahassee in 2014

• SMU

  • First-ever trip to Tallahassee

💨 Road ACC Games

• Boston College

  • FSU leads series 16–6

  • 8–2 in Chestnut Hill since BC joined the ACC

• Louisville

  • 18–6 all-time advantage

  • Last meeting: 16–6 FSU win in the 2023 ACC Championship Game

• Miami

  • FSU holds a narrow 21–19 edge in road games against the Hurricanes

• Pitt

  • 3–3 all-time in Pittsburgh

  • 2–0 there since Pitt joined the ACC

🧠 Scheduling Quirk

• Florida State is one of just five ACC programs playing an eight-game conference schedule

• The league’s other 12 teams will play nine ACC games

• Full 2026 schedule (dates + kickoff times) will be released in late January

📅 Non-Conference Highlights

• Aug. 29: New Mexico State (home opener)

• Sept. 19: at Alabama

• Sept. 26: Central Arkansas (home)

• Nov. 28: Florida (home finale)

🔒 Why It Matters
An eight-game ACC slate paired with marquee non-conference matchups gives FSU both opportunity and margin. Home dates against Clemson and NC State loom large, while road trips to Miami and Louisville could define the ceiling of the 2026 season.

👉 Read more for opponent-by-opponent takeaways, schedule quirks, and what the eight-game ACC slate really means for FSU’s postseason path

🏈 Portal Watch: Defensive Starters Out, Offensive Depth Thinning 🏈

With the January 2 transfer window approaching, Florida State has begun to see meaningful roster movement and this wave is less about fringe depth and more about real snaps walking out the door.

🔥 The Headliners: Starters Leaving the Secondary

CB Ja’Bril Rawls

• Breakout starter in 2025 under Tony White

• 40 tackles, 2.0 TFL, FF, 2 PBU

• 73.4 PFF grade in a zone-heavy scheme

• Missed final games with a shoulder injury

• Expected to command a near seven-figure NIL market

• FSU was not willing to match

S Edwin Joseph

• Multi-year starter with a 70+ PFF grade

• Departure followed public sideline confrontations with Mike Norvell

• Exit meeting led directly to portal decision

🧠 Context That Matters
These aren’t rentals; Rawls and Joseph were homegrown, high school signees who developed into capable starters. That’s been rare under Norvell, which makes losing both, from the same position group, notable even if neither exit is shocking individually.

💨 Why Rawls’ Exit Is Especially Telling

• Originally recruited for a man-coverage scheme under Adam Fuller

• Played well in White’s 3-3-5 zone, but it’s not his ideal fit

• Market demand + scheme fit + NIL gap all aligned toward a departure

📉 The Ripple Effect in the Secondary

Cornerback Outlook

• Returning options: Shamar Arnoux, Quindarrius Jones, Charles Lester III

• Arnoux has talent but needs consistency

• Jones struggled in White’s zone scheme

• Lester was passed on the depth chart after Rawls’ injury

Safety Outlook

• Ashlynd Barker flashed high-end upside in Year 1 as a starter

• Earl Little Jr. is unlikely to return (NFL + portal both in play)

👉 Bottom line: FSU needs at least one starter at CB and S — plus depth — in the portal.

🔥 More Portal Departures Across the Roster

RB Kam Davis (So.)

• Former high-profile signee (beat out Alabama, Georgia)

• Redshirted in 2025; just 8 carries

• Ankle injury derailed freshman year

• Leaves with three years of eligibility

TE Randy Pittman Jr. (Jr.)

• Starting TE in 2025 after following Malzahn from UCF

• 23 catches, 208 yards, 2 TDs + multiple rushing/passing TDs

• Strong portal market expected

• Creates a real void with Markeston Douglas also gone

LB Omar Graham Jr. (RS Jr.)

• Four-year Seminole, multiple-year starter

• 38 tackles in 2025; 27 tackles + TFLs in 2024

• One season of eligibility remaining

DE Jaden Jones (RS Sr.)

• JUCO signee, former top-35 JUCO prospect

• Missed full season with injury

• Played all 12 games in 2025 with 3 starts

• Claims two years of eligibility remaining

🔒 Why It Matters
This isn’t just “normal portal churn.” Florida State is losing:

• Two above-average starting defensive backs

• A starting tight end in a thin room

• A former blue-chip RB who never fully materialized

• Veteran depth at linebacker and defensive end

The secondary, in particular, is now a portal priority unit, not a luxury add. How FSU replaces Rawls and Joseph; 2 starters developed internally, will be a litmus test for whether this offseason is a controlled reset or another step backward for a roster with little margin left.

👉 Read more for player-by-player portal intel, NIL context, and what FSU must prioritize when the window opens

🏈 ACC Shake-Up: 2026 Schedule, Uneven Games — and New Tiebreakers Coming 🏈

The ACC quietly dropped one of the most consequential offseason updates this week, and it wasn’t just about who plays whom in 2026, it was about how the league plans to decide who actually plays for a championship going forward.

🔥 The Hidden Headline: New ACC Tiebreaker Policy

• The ACC announced it will revamp its football tiebreaker rules for 2026, with details to be released before next season.

• The move comes after Duke’s chaotic ACC Championship run as a five-loss team, which helped send James Madison to the CFP as a conference champion while Miami made the playoff without playing in the ACC title game.

• That outcome exposed flaws in the current system — especially with uneven schedules now baked into the league.

🧠 Why This Is Happening Now

• The ACC is transitioning toward a nine-game conference schedule, but not everyone will play the same number of ACC games in 2026.

• Five schools — Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, and North Carolina — will play only eight ACC games next season due to previously scheduled Power 4 nonconference matchups.

• The other 12 teams will play nine conference games.

• Starting in 2027, with 17 teams in the league, one team per year will rotate into an eight-game ACC slate — making uneven schedules a permanent feature.

📅 Florida State’s 2026 ACC Opponents

Home (Doak Campbell Stadium)

• Clemson

• NC State

• SMU

• Virginia

Away

• Boston College

• Louisville

• Miami

• Pitt

🧩 Why the Tiebreaker Update Matters

• Not every team will play the same number of conference games.

• Strength of schedule, win percentage, and opponent quality will likely carry more weight.

• The ACC must now design rules that avoid another Duke-style chaos scenario especially with CFP access on the line.

🔒 Why It Matters
The ACC is acknowledging — quietly — that its championship and playoff pathways are broken under the current structure. For Florida State, clarity on tiebreakers is critical: fewer conference games, high-variance schedules, and CFP stakes mean margin for error is shrinking, not growing. How the ACC fixes this will directly affect who gets rewarded and who gets boxed out in the next era of college football.

👉 Read more for full ACC opponent breakdowns, scheduling quirks, and what the new tiebreaker rules may prioritize in 2026

And that’s a wrap!

FSU is winning championships in some lanes, losing leverage in others, and learning — in real time — how unforgiving the new college sports economy can be. The next few weeks won’t just fill roster spots; they’ll define whether this reset holds or slips.

We’ll be here to track every move.

— The Chief Brief 🏹