UWF football's first Division I game opponent revealed

University of West Florida first game as an NCAA Division I program is set.

The Argos will open up their 2026 campaign against Southern Illinois at Aug. 27 at 6 p.m. CT at Pen Air Field, the school announced Monday.

"We are excited to open up with a great team like Southern Illinois for our start on the FCS level,” head coach Kaleb Nobles said. “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.”

This is the 11th game announced for UWF's 2026 schedule and fourth non-conference game. Former Gulf South Conference rivals West Alabama and Delta State and NCAA Division II independent Northeastern State have also included the Argos on their 2026 schedule as non-conference games.

When the university announced it would be transitioning to Division I on April 2 , its new football conference, the United Athletic Conference, announced its updated conference schedule the same day. UWF has yet to release a full 2026 schedule and has slot available the weekends of Sept. 12 and Sept. 26 to complete a 12 game regular season.

UWF went 10-2 in 2025, falling to Newberry in the NCAA Division II Super Region 2 semifinals. Southern Illinois finished 7-5 in 2025, including a win over No. 11 Illinois State in the final game of the regular season.

“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 in a press release. “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.”

The Argos success in football since starting the program in 2016 helped spur the athletic department's move to Division I. UWF made the NCAA Division II playoffs six times, advancing to the national championship in its second season in 2017 before winning the national championship in 2019 .

UWF is currently one of just four GSC schools that plays football and the Argos were struggling to add non-conference games against local opponents. They had to travel to Michigan in 2024 and Oklahoma in 2025 for non-conference games.

The Argos still have two potential dates they could fill in their 2026 schedule. UWF will be eligible to win a UAC conference championship this fall, but will not be eligible to compete in the NCAA playoffs due to a three-year transitionary period to Division I. Once eligible they will compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs.

While the football program will compete in the UAC, all other UWF teams will compete in the Atlantic Sun conference, as the ASUN doesn't offer football.

UWF 2026 football schedule so far

• Aug. 27:vs. Southern Illinois

• Sept. 5:at Central Arkansas*

• Sept. 19:vs. Austin Peay*

• Oct. 3:at Abilene Christian*

• Oct. 10:vs. Northeastern State

• Oct. 17:vs. West Alabama

• Oct. 24:at Eastern Kentucky*

• Oct. 31:vs. Delta State

• Nov. 7:at North Alabama*

• Nov. 14:Tarleton State*

• Nov. 21:at West Georgia*

Asterisks (*) denote UAC games

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: UWF football's first Division I game announced