PENSACOLA, Fla. – The FCS era for University of West Florida football will kick off at home on Thursday, August 27 with the Argos hosting Southern Illinois in the first game of the season.

The newly scheduled game will be a historic moment for UWF as the university announced the move to NCAA Division I beginning in the fall of 2026 with the football team playing as an FCS member of the United Athletic Conference (UAC) and all other sports competing in the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN).

"We are excited to open up with a great team like Southern Illinois for our start on the FCS level," said head coach Kaleb Nobles. "At UWF, we prepare for games like this, and we want to play the best teams around the country that we can. We look forward to a great start to the 2026 UWF Football season."

The visiting Southern Illinois Salukis were set to play Samford on the road for their 2026 opening game before adding UWF to complete a 12-game schedule for the team. Last season, the Salukis finished 7-5 overall which included a win over No. 11 Illinois State in the final game of the regular season. UWF make a trip to Carbondale, Ill. in 2027 as part of the home and home series. 

"This is going to be an exciting game to begin our first football season as members of the FCS," said Dave Scott, Associate Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics. "We are thankful to Southern Illinois for adding us to their schedule. We want to encourage the Pensacola community to rally around this monumental game and come out to support the Argos."

Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT on August 27 at Pen Air Field. More information on season tickets, individual tickets and the game day experience is still to come as construction of Darrell Gooden Stadium is ongoing.

A full football schedule will be released in the coming weeks.