Florida Basketball: 2023-24 season preview for the Gators
By Joey Loose
Schedule Outlook
The schedule provides some early opportunities for wins, but it’s not all easy pickings. Sandwiched around some mid-major action, they’ll head to Charlotte on November 10th, facing off with Virginia as part of the Hall of Fame Series. They come back home to face Florida A&M, but also have their rivalry game on November 17th against Florida State.
Challenges beckon in Brooklyn at the NIT Season Tip-Off. The Gators play Pittsburgh on November 22nd and will get a matchup with either Baylor or Oregon State two days later; the Bears would certainly be the Gators’ most significant nonconference opponent. Less than a week later, they’ll head to Winston-Salem, facing Wake Forest in the ACC/SEC Challenge.
Just a few more challenges await the Gators. They have Florida-based neutral site games against Richmond in Sunrise as part of the Orange Bowl Classic and then against East Carolina a few days later. The last significant matchup is another game in Charlotte, this time against Michigan as part of the Jumpman Invitational.
SEC play starts with a bang as Florida plays host to Kentucky on January 6th. A slew of tricky road games await in the front half of the conference schedule, including Tennessee, Missouri, Texas A&M, and the return trip to Lexington. They’ll also face Alabama twice, including on Senior Night on March 5th. They finish the regular season a few days later on the road at Vanderbilt, though they have a very winnable stretch in the final weeks of the season.