Image Credit: Ashley Ray, UAA
Fresh off the program’s first national championship in 18 years, the Florida Gators appear ready to take on all comers while serving as the reigning title holders. Florida has reportedly agreed to play the 2023-24 champion UConn Huskies and Arizona Wildcats in key nonconference games to kick off the 2025-26 season.
The Gators and Huskies — combining to win the last three national championships — will meet in the 2025 Jimmy V Classic on Tuesday, Dec. 9 at Madison Square Garden in New York, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander.
This serves as a rematch of Florida’s 77-75 win over UConn in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament on the Gators’ way to the national title. UF is 2-5 all-time against UConn having lost five consecutive meetings from 2013-22, including a heartbreaker in the 2014 Final Four.
Florida and Arizona are expected to meet on Monday, Nov. 3 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein. The game will be part of a doubleheader also featuring BYU and Villanova.
The Gators are 2-2 all-time against the Wildcats with the programs splitting a home-and-home series in 2011-12 and a set of neutral site games a decade earlier.