Florida basketball finalizing agreement with Arizona Wildcats on 2025-26 season opener
Florida basketball finalizing agreement with Arizona Wildcats on 2025-26 season opener
The Florida basketball program may have finally found its season-opening opponent when it opens the 2025-26 campaign in defense of its national championship. That team appears to be the Arizona Wildcats, an arguable blue blood program that has a rich history of success on the collegiate parquet.
The two parties are currently working out the final details of a season opener played on Monday, Nov. 3, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein. Tipoff time is still to be determined.
The Gators and 'Cats will be joined by the BYU Cougars and Villanova Wildcats in Las Vegas for a doubleheader that same day. Those details are also yet to be announced, but an official announcement is expected soon.
Arizona's 2024-25 campaign results
The Wildcats reached the Sweet Sixteen, finishing the season with a 24-13 overall record — including a 14-6 mark against Big 12 opponents — after a disappointing 4-5 start. 'Zona also made it to the conference tournament finals, where it ultimately fell 72-64 to top-seeded Houston Cougars in Kansas City, Missouri.
Of course, those same Cougars fell to the Gators in the NCAA Tournament Finals.
Arizona finished the season ranked 13th in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and 15th in the AP Top 25. Meanwhile, the final NET rankings had them at 12th, KenPom at 13th and ESPN's Basketball Power Index at a bullish ninth in the nation at the conclusion of the 2024-25 campaign.
Florida basketball's history against Arizona
The two cross-country schools have only faced each other four times on the collegiate parquet, with Florida and Arizona splitting them evenly. The most recent meeting was in 2012 in Tucson, Arizona, when the Wildcats snuck off their home floor with a white-knuckled 65-64 victory.
The year before, the Orange and Blue defended its own turf with another close call — a 78-72 win in overtime. The two meetings prior were both on neutral ground, with UF taking the 2003 matchup in Springfield, Massachusetts, 78-77, and UA winning in the championship game of the Coaches vs Cancer Classic in New York City back in 2001, 75-71.
Interestingly, the schools have only ever met in the first half of a season while Florida holds the edge in the combined scoring, 291-289, over those four meetings.
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