Dayton and Florida State played six times between 1969 and 1981 with each team winning three games. Four games took place at UD Arena. Dayton played at Florida State’s Tully Gym in the first matchup in 1969 and at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Fla., in 1977.
Dayton won the last two matchups in the University of Dayton Invitational Tournament in 1978 and 1981.
Florida State has won 17 games three times in the last four seasons. It last played in the NCAA tournament in 2021 when it made its fourth appearance in five seasons.
Leonard Hamilton coached Florida State for the last 23 seasons. He retired after the 2024-25 season. The new coach, Luke Loucks, most recently served as an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings.
Loucks inherits a roster that lost its top scorer Jamir Watkins to the NBA Draft process. The other six players who averaged at least 4.0 points per game entered the transfer portal. Florida State has added six players from the portal, including St. Bonaventure guard Lajae Jones.
Florida State will be the latest high-profile opponent to start a home-and-home series with Dayton.
• UD and the Cincinnati Bearcats announced the start of a home-and-home series this week after playing on a neutral court the last two seasons.
• Dayton and Marquette started a two-game series last season.
• Dayton and Northwestern played a home-and-home series in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.
The last Atlantic Coast Conference school to play a series against Dayton was Virginia Tech, which lost at UD Arena in the 2021-22 season and beat Dayton in Blacksburg, Va., a year later.
Florida State is the fifth known opponent on Dayton’s non-conference schedule. Here’s how the schedule looks at his point.
Nov. 3: Canisius at Dayton.
Nov. 8: University of Maryland, Baltimore County at Dayton.
Nov. 11: Dayton at Cincinnati.
Nov. 27: Dayton vs. Georgetown, Brigham Young or the University of Miami at ESPN Events Invitational.
Nov. 28: Dayton vs. Georgetown, Brigham Young or the University of Miami at ESPN Events Invitational.
Dec. 16: Florida State at Dayton.
TBA: Dayton at Marquette.
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