Valdosta State Releases 2026 Schedule

[Buffalo/Islander Alum]

Looks like 8 D2 games and 9 games total. At least 5 of them are home games.

https://vstateblazers.com/sports/football/schedule

[Rational Observer]

Wow. That's... not pretty.

[zimmy21]

Someone remind me, isn't the rule that you needed 10 D2 games to be eligible for playoffs?

[Rational Observer]

Someone remind me, isn't the rule that you needed 10 D2 games to be eligible for playoffs?

Nine games minimum with at least eight being D-II is what I found online.

[Mule]

Wow. That's... not pretty.

No, it's not.

Just looked at West Alabama's and Delta's schedule. UWA's looks pretty good - 11 games including 1 FCS and 9 D2s with 5 home games. Several very nice OOC games.

Delta only has 8 games scheduled, including 1 FCS and 7 D2s, so they'll need to schedule one more D2 to be playoff eligible.

This Valdosta schedule makes the Blazers playoff eligible but it's not a very exciting home schedule for the fans, with the exception of NGU coming to town. And both GSC games on the road. Whew!

Not pretty at all.

[UNALions]

It's a schedule that meets the requirements and has five home games. That's all that truly matters. BlazerLady would be excited to start planning to tailgate!

I think it's set up nicely, actually. We all know how strong VSU was at the end of the season last year.

This schedule gives them a challenge to start against an SAC school, but at home, and then hosting an NAIA school before heading out on the road to face a CIAA team, and then a big one at UNCP, before a bye week and another (but weaker) CC team coming to town.

Then, they have two weeks off for a mid-season mini-camp before hosting Shorter and finishing out against three of the toughest teams on the schedule. This is basically what a schedule would look like if they were an affiliate of CC, as they are playing over half of that conference. Plug the other three into those off weeks, and it's exactly what a schedule would be as a CC affiliate.

[Finchwidget]

This Valdosta schedule makes the Blazers playoff eligible but it's not a very exciting home schedule for the fans, with the exception of NGU coming to town. And both GSC games on the road. Whew!

Emory & Henry has been sneaky good as of late. Maybe it's not a barn-burner of a matchup, but for a home opener, I'd say that's a pretty good draw.

[Eagle74]

I'm a fan of VSU, but this schedule could present some problems in trying to make the playoffs. I see 3 possibly 4 potential losses in the regular season.

It's going to be an interesting year as some teams mature, some rebuild, and some basically reload.

[FormerCrusader#84]

Looks like 8 D2 games and 9 games total. At least 5 of them are home games.

https://vstateblazers.com/sports/football/schedule

VSU really can't afford to start slow this year because anymore than one loss probably keeps them out of the playoffs.

I understand that there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes when putting together a schedule and trying to fill games this late was always going to be a really tough task. Nonetheless, it is still a shame that VSU couldn't get games with NW Missouri State (week 1 instead of Warner) and Northeastern State (week 6 / Oct. 10, NESU is still playing UWF that week). They would be tough games but VSU would have a 10 game all D2 schedule where a loss (or even 2) may not necessarily keep them out of the playoffs.

In other threads it has been mentioned that Delta State and VSU could play each other on Oct. 10 and at this point I think it would benefit both schools to play each other that week. I know other posters (also on other threads I believe) have said that the GSC losing AQ status wouldn't matter that much but I think it will. Scheduling will always be an issue when a school is functionally an independent in football which is the case with the three GSC schools at this point. We endured that crap for years at NGU. A school can't make the playoffs if they don't meet the requirements (i.e.: playing enough D2 games; I'm looking at you Delta and Northeastern State).

[Buffalo/Islander Alum]

VSU really can't afford to start slow this year because anymore than one loss probably keeps them out of the playoffs.

I understand that there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes when putting together a schedule and trying to fill games this late was always going to be a really tough task. Nonetheless, it is still a shame that VSU couldn't get games with NW Missouri State (week 1 instead of Warner) and Northeastern State (week 6 / Oct. 10, NESU is still playing UWF that week). They would be tough games but VSU would have a 10 game all D2 schedule where a loss (or even 2) may not necessarily keep them out of the playoffs.

In other threads it has been mentioned that Delta State and VSU could play each other on Oct. 10 and at this point I think it would benefit both schools to play each other that week. I know other posters (also on other threads I believe) have said that the GSC losing AQ status wouldn't matter that much but I think it will. Scheduling will always be an issue when a school is functionally an independent in football which is the case with the three GSC schools at this point. We endured that crap for years at NGU. A school can't make the playoffs if they don't meet the requirements (i.e.: playing enough D2 games; I'm looking at you Delta and Northeastern State).

Agree on all of your takes.

Not having AQ status means you dont have the luxury of losing several non conference games and then running the table with 4 losses to get in like last year.

I think what is likely happening is the teams that are needing to still fill dates are insisting that this year needs to be a home game and none of the several teams remaining are willing to budge due to the travel to some of those sites.

Also NE State has (had) an opening on Oct 31 and that is rumored to be against an NAIA school when they could have reached out to Mars Hill and Frostburg State for a game.

Looks like Delta State has that same open date and hopefully can reach out to Mars Hill at least since they havent released their schedule.

In the end we are just fans looking at gaps in the schedule and probably dont see what others AD's are seeing as deterrents.

[Rational Observer]

In the end we are just fans looking at gaps in the schedule and probably dont see what others AD's are seeing as deterrents.

That’s a key point. Fans think it’s simple. It isn’t. Budgets are real. Personalities are real, too.

[canadarican]

Agree on all of your takes.

Not having AQ status means you dont have the luxury of losing several non conference games and then running the table with 4 losses to get in like last year.

I think what is likely happening is the teams that are needing to still fill dates are insisting that this year needs to be a home game and none of the several teams remaining are willing to budge due to the travel to some of those sites.

Also NE State has (had) an opening on Oct 31 and that is rumored to be against an NAIA school when they could have reached out to Mars Hill and Frostburg State for a game.

Looks like Delta State has that same open date and hopefully can reach out to Mars Hill at least since they havent released their schedule.

In the end we are just fans looking at gaps in the schedule and probably dont see what others AD's are seeing as deterrents.

Mars Hill has a game on 10/31.

[UNALions]

In my opinion, the new AQ rule is bad for D2 football. VSU and NGU wouldn’t have made the playoffs last year under the old system. There was nothing wrong with the Earned Access process, even though I wasn’t a huge fan of that either. To me, it should be the top schools in the Regional Rankings that make the playoffs, not via special treatment.

[BrentsNeighbor]

I really like that the first two VSU home games are Thursday night games. I remember attending some in the past and I feel like they tend to attract a better crowd than a Saturday afternoon game under the baking sun, and going up against Saturday TV games from the comfort of home can be a challenge. There isn’t a lot of entertainment in Valdosta to compete with on a Thursday night so hopefully these weekday games will attract the students and fans to come out and cheer on the Blazers!