Florida basketball unveiled the majority of its non-conference schedule on July 1.
The defending national champion Florida Gators will face seven power basketball conference opponents in its 13-game non-conference schedule, which begins Nov. 3 against Arizona in Las Vegas in the Hall of Fame Series.
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Other key games on UF’s non-conference slate include matchups at Duke on Dec. 2 in the ACC-SEC Challenge and against UConn on Dec. 9 in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
“People talked about us not having it strong enough out of conference last year,” Florida basketball coach Todd Golden said. “That won’t be this year. And again, like, I think you get these opportunities when somebody calls and wants your team to come play on opening night against Arizona in a showcase game in Vegas, that’s a compliment.”
Florida will play its home opener on Nov. 6 against North Florida at the O’Connell Center and its home non-conference slate will include games against Florida State (Nov. 11), Merrimack (Nov. 21), Saint Francis (Dec. 17), Colgate (Dec. 21) and Dartmouth (Dec. 29).
Florida also will travel to San Diego, Calif., from Nov. 27-28 for a tournament that includes potential games against TCU, Providence and Wisconsin. Two more neutral site games are currently listed as TBA, but according to various reports will be against Miami in Jacksonville (Nov. 16) and George Washington in the Orange Bowl Classic in Sunrise (Dec. 13). Those games are awaiting contracts to be finalized.
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“There’s different ways to do it,” Golden said. “Last year, we went 13-0 in non-conference. I’m not sure we’ll be able to do that this year. But we can still have a really, really successful non-conference because of the level of opponents that we have.”
Florida basketball 2025-26 non-conference schedule
Nov. 3 ― Arizona, Las Vegas, Hall of Fame Series
Nov. 6 ― North Florida
Nov. 11 ― Florida State
Nov. 16 ― TBA, neutral site
Nov. 21 ― Merrimack
Nov. 27 ― TCU/Providence/Wisconsin, San Diego, Calif., Rady Children’s Invitational
Nov. 28 ― TCU/Providence/Wisconsin, San Diego, Calif., Rady Children’s Invitational
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Dec. 2 ― at Duke, ACC/SEC Challenge
Dec. 9 ― UConn, Jimmy V. Classic, New York City
Dec. 13 ― TBA, neutral site game
Dec. 17 ― Saint Francis
Dec. 21 ― Colgate
Dec. 29 ― Dartmouth
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida basketball non-conference schedule for 2025-26 unveiled
