The college basketball season is still about five months away, but news on the 2023-24 Florida schedule is slowly starting to trickle in.
The program announced a Nov. 10 matchup with Virginia at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The neutral-site contest will be part of a 2023 Hall of Fame Series triple-header that features South Carolina vs. Virginia Tech and Charlotte vs. Liberty.
Florida previously announced its planned participation in the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament on Nov. 22-24 and will also face Michigan on Dec. 19 at the Jumpman Invitational. All three of those games are down the road, though. Virginia finished the 2022-23 season ranked No. 23 on the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
Scheduling a tough game early on is an intentional move by second-year head coach Todd Golden, who is looking to improve a 16-17 finish in Year 1 at the helm. Golden also revealed another game on Florida’s schedule, a home contest against Loyola Maryland to open the season.
“We scheduled it for a reason,” Golden said on Thursday. “I think we play Loyola-Maryland on opening night. That’s a Monday or Tuesday, and then Virginia’s that Friday. So, a quick turnaround and we’re going to be against a program that’s been very successful for an extended period of time.
“(Virginia) has a great brand, a great understanding of what they do and a very successful style over the last 15 years or so. For us, we’ll be trying to figure ourselves out, hoping to come together quickly.”
Golden spoke at length about the complete overhaul his roster underwent throughout the offseason. The team has limited time together — about four hours a week of on-the-court time. The focus right now is building some camaraderie among the new players and returning ones while also getting everyone on the same page as far as fundamentals.
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