Florida Basketball: Breaking down 2023-24 non-conference schedule

Florida Basketball is entering its second season under head coach Todd Golden. His first season in Gainesville was a challenging one, as the Gators finished with a losing record overall and crashed out of the NIT in the first round, losing by 18 points to in-state Central Florida.

Every coach is entitled to a mulligan in their first year, but the pressure will start to ramp up if the Gators struggle again in 2023-24. A good way to alleviate that would be to play well during their non-conference schedule.

Florida released the non-conference slate for the season on Monday. There’s plenty of home cooking for the Gators, with nearly half of the 13 games in Gainesville, while there are also interesting contests lined up in the NIT Tip-Off, the first ACC/SEC Challenge, and beyond.

How will the Florida Gators perform in 2023-24 non-conference play during their second season under head coach Todd Golden?

The Gators lost a lot of prominent players during the offseason. Myreon Jones, CJ Felder, Alex Fudge, Kyle Lofton, and Colin Castleton are all gone. There are some reinforcements, including transfers Walter Clayton Jr., EJ Jarvis, and Zyon Pullin, but it’s hard to imagine this team having more talent than they did a year ago.

That being said, there’s enough there for the Gators to make it back to the Big Dance, especially if Will Richard and Riley Kugel take another step forward as leaders of the backcourt. Plus, comfortably under Golden should grow now that his approach is no longer novel.

Let’s take a closer look at Florida’s non-conference schedule.