Florida Basketball: 2024-25 season preview for the Gators

Schedule Outlook

The action begins away from home, though the Gators don’t have far to travel early on this season. They’ll be in Jacksonville playing South Florida on opening night and get a road test at rival Florida State a few weeks later on November 15th. Much of the rest of November involves winnable home games against mid-major foes.

There’s a plethora of activity in the schedule starting in late November with the ESPN Events Invitational. The Gators will be in Kissimmee and play Wake Forest and then either Minnesota or Wichita State during the Thanksgiving holiday. They get back into action a week later against Virginia, hosting the Cavaliers as part of the ACC-SEC Challenge.

They’ll be hitting the road, leaving the state for the first time with a December 14th matchup against Arizona State. That game is in Atlanta for Holiday Hoopsgiving and isn’t the final treacherous nonconference matchup. The Gators then have a tough one in Charlotte against North Carolina for the Jumpman Invitational before two more home tune-ups.

As if life in the SEC wasn’t hard enough, the schedule makers did the Gators little favors, throwing them right into the fire. Conference play begins at Kentucky on January 4th, followed immediately by a tough game against Tennessee and a road test at Arkansas. They won’t get a return trip from those two early foes but will have to travel to Tennessee in early February.

The Gators host both of the SEC’s new members, getting a look at Texas on January 18th before seeing Oklahoma exactly a month later. They’ll see a few SEC teams twice this season, including Georgia and South Carolina, though their only look at Alabama comes in Tuscaloosa on March 4th. The regular season finale comes four days later on Senior Night against Ole Miss.