After a 36-4 season that included an SEC and NCAA title, Florida men’s basketball got its first look at who it will face in 2025-26 before heading into conference play.
The reigning national champion Gators will kick off their season Nov. 3 by beginning non-conference play against Arizona at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Arizona holds an all time record of 2-2 against UF and saw their 2024-25 season end with a 24-13 record after losing to Duke in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats won their last meeting against the Gators, 65-64, in 2012.
Florida will then head to Gainesville for its home opener on Nov. 6 against North Florida before hosting Florida State in the schools’ annual rivalry game Nov. 11.
The Gators will face Miami in a neutral-site matchup in Jacksonville Nov. 16, before returning home to face Merrimack Nov. 21.
Florida will have a trying non-conference stretch during Thanksgiving break as the Gators kick off a long road stretch with a visit to San Diego, California, to compete in the Rady Children‘s Invitational Nov. 27-28 against Texas Christian, Providence and Wisconsin.
Next, the Gators visit Durham, North Carolina, to play Duke in the ACC-SEC challenge Dec. 2, just a week before visiting New York for a NCAA Tournament second round rematch. The two most recent NCAA Tournament champions — Florida and Connecticut — will face off at Madison Square Garden in the Jimmy V Classic Dec. 9.
Four days later, the Gators will play a neutral site game against George Washington still to be announced, before finally returning to Gainesville to finish non-conference play with three games at home.
UF will face Saint Francis, Colgate and Dartmouth Dec. 17, 21 and 29, respectively to bring both 2025 and non-conference play to a close.
Contact Curan Ahern at cahern@alligator.com. Follow him on X at @CuranAhern.
Curan is a third-year journalism-sports & media major who currently serves as the football beat reporter for The Alligator, now in his third semester with the paper. When not at his computer screen writing, Curan enjoys spending time outdoors, hanging with friends, family and pets, and watching the Patriots lose (no, he doesn't miss Brady).
