Florida Gators basketball team releases SEC schedule for 2024-25

The Florida Gators basketball team released its conference schedule on Tuesday, paving the way for a highly anticipated year after the Gators were eliminated in the first round of the NCAA tournament last season.

In a conference as talented as the SEC, Florida may struggle to repeat the success of 2023. The Gators finished the season with a 24-12 overall record and an 11-7 record in conference play.

Five of Florida's SEC opponents this season were ranked in last year's AP Top 25 poll: No. 3 Alabama, No. 5 Tennessee, No. 18 Auburn, No. 20 Kentucky and No. 24 South Carolina.

The Gators will open their conference schedule on Jan. 4 with a road game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena, where they earned an overtime win over UK last season. The Wildcats will be without their head coach of 15 years, John Calipari, who left the program on April 9 to take the head coaching position at Arkansas.

Instead, Kentucky is led by Mark Pope, a graduate of the program and former head coach at Brigham Young University.

After facing the Wildcats, Florida will face the Tennessee Volunteers at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on Jan. 7 or 8. The Volunteers defeated the Gators 85-66 in Knoxville last season, but the last time the two met in 2022 in Gainesville, Florida defeated then-No. 2-ranked Tennessee 67-54.

The Gators will play 18 conference games and conclude their regular season on March 8 against Ole Miss. Florida's first regular season game is on November 4 against South Florida. The matchup will be played on neutral ground at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville.

Contact Luke Adragna at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @lukeadrag.