Men's Basketball Unveils 2008-09 Schedule
Wednesday, August 6, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Complete 2008-09 UF Men's Basketball Schedule
Sixteen games against teams that competed in the postseason in 2008, along with a minimum of 11 games against NCAA Tournament squads highlight the University of Florida's 2008-09 men's basketball schedule, released on Wednesday.
The Gators will have 19 home dates – 17 regular season and two exhibition games. Five of the Gators' eight home Southeastern Conference games will be against NCAA Tournament teams, while the non-conference portion of the home schedule includes the first two rounds of the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic and an early January date with North Carolina State on national television.
After exhibition games against Warner Southern and Rollins College in early November, the Gators open the season on Nov. 14 hosting the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic. Florida will also host the second round on Nov. 16 and will then travel to Kansas City for two additional games on Nov. 24-25 to conclude the event. Participants for the event will be announced in September.
After returning from Kansas City, Florida will make its first appearance in Orlando since 1997, taking on Missouri-Kansas City on Nov. 30 at the Amway Arena in the Gator Jam.
The Gators do not leave the state of Florida in the month of December, getting home dates with Florida A&M (Dec. 2), Florida Gulf Coast (Dec. 10), Georgia Southern (Dec. 22) and Stetson (Dec. 30). Florida will take on Florida State in Tallahassee on Dec. 7, play UCF at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena on Dec. 20 and make its annual visit to the MetroPCS Orange Bowl Classic on Dec. 28, taking on 2008 NCAA Tournament opponent Winthrop.
The Gators open the New Year on Jan. 3 against ACC opponent North Carolina State, in a game that will be televised nationally on CBS. The two teams have not met since 1987 and have met just once in the last 70 years. Florida then wraps up its non-conference schedule with Longwood making a visit to the O'Connell Center on Jan. 6.
Florida opens SEC play at home against Ole Miss on Jan. 10 in a match-up of teams that both reached the NIT Final Four a year ago. The Gators play four of their next six on the road traveling to Auburn (Jan. 14), South Carolina (Jan. 21), Vanderbilt (Jan. 25) and Tennessee (Jan. 31) around home dates with Arkansas (Jan. 17) and Georgia (Jan. 28). The Vanderbilt game will be televised by CBS, while the Gators' trip to Tennessee will be a Saturday night 9 p.m. tip on ESPN. Four of the six teams played in the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
Four of the Gators' six games in February will be televised nationally. The Gators host South Carolina on Feb. 3, then travel to Kentucky a week later with both being selected by ESPN as part of its Super Tuesday schedule. The Gators will play at Georgia on Feb. 14 on ABC, then after home dates with Alabama (Feb. 18) and Vanderbilt (Feb. 21), the Gators will travel to LSU on Feb. 24 on ESPN.
The Gators open March with a nationally televised game against Tennessee on CBS on March 1 before traveling to Mississippi State on March 4. Florida closes out its regular season against Kentucky for the 10th straight year, hosting the Wildcats on CBS on March 7. Florida closes out with a difficult final stretch, as all three of its March opponents reached the NCAA Tournament a year ago, while five of its final seven opponents overall reached the NCAA tourney.
The SEC Tournament returns to the state of Florida for the first time since 1990, as the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa will host the event from March 12-15. It will be just the second time ever that the event has been played in Florida. The Gators have experienced their most success in recent years at the event having won the title three times from 2005-07, while reaching the title game in 2004.
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