Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The non-league slate was announced over the summer, with the Florida basketball administrators again putting together the type of schedule that will help the program — assuming the Gators do their part and help themselves — when selection committees start meeting in March. The pre-conference schedule would have been harder, but the return home game with Connecticut was scratched for the second year in a row. Last year, it was UConn that had issues. This year, the ol' winter crafts fair at Exactech Tech Arena/O'Connell Center reared its head again. 

Not to worry. 

Dates against the Florida State at home, Oklahoma on the road, Maryland and either Ohio State or Seton Hall at neutral sites will suit the Gators just fine when it comes to strength-of-schedule points. And so will the Southeastern Conference slate, which officially was announced Thursday. The SEC will look very different than last season, what with 83 outgoing transfers giving way to a commensurate number of arriving transfers. Of course, the same thing could be said for every other league in the country. The Gators, as has been well-documented, welcomed a quartet of veteran players from other programs. 

In addition to the permanently assigned home-and-home cracks at Kentucky, Georgia and Vanderbilt, UF will also have home-and-homes against Ole Miss (the Gators open SEC play Dec. 29 at Oxford) and Auburn. UF will play at Tennessee for the fifth time in the last six seasons (the Volunteers have been sent to Gainesville just twice during that span), and also get NCAA regional finalist Arkansas in the O'Dome. 

Road trips to Missouri and UT will be sandwiched around a home game against Oklahoma State in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge the final Saturday in January. 

Florida will wrap the regular season at home March 5 against Kentucky, with the SEC Tournament to follow four days later at Nashville, Tenn. 

Here's a detailed breakdown of the entire schedule, with times and TV details yet to be determined. 


Nov. 9: Elon 
The buzz: The '21-22 season opener and the first game at O'Dome without health and protocol restrictions since the 2019 finale against Kentucky. The Phoenix went 10-9 overall, with a 4-7 mark in the Colonial Athletic Conference, which got them seventh place in a nine-team league. They return their top scorer in guard Hunter McIntosh (15.7 points per game, 39.4 percent from 3) and will get back guard Jerald Gillens-Butler, out of Orlando, a 6-5, 220-pound combo forward/guard who was scoring 15.7 points and 5.3 rebounds in just 24 minutes through the season's first three games in '20-21 before suffering a season-ending injury. 

Nov. 14: Florida State The buzz: The last time the Gators defeated the rival Seminoles in their 70-year series came in 2013, by a single point, at home, and on the way to the Final Four. Simply put, FSU has not just dominated the series in winning seven straight — the longest such streak by either team in the series that dates to 1951 — but won the last four by an average margin of 15.5 points, including the 2020 meeting marred by the horrific collapse and season-ending malady to UF star forward Keyontae Johnson. Coach Leonard Hamilton, set to start his 20th season in Tallahassee, has it going, boy, in averaging 24.4 wins over the last five seasons and four straight NCAA berths. FSU went 18-7 last season, including 11-4 (second place) in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Forward Anthony Polite (10.1 ppg, 43.6 percent from 3) and guard RayQuan Evans are the lone starters back, but FSU signed yet another top-10 recruiting class, led by guard Jalen Worley and 7-1 forward John Butler, one of four 7-footers on the roster. Former Houston guard Caleb Mills was the 2021 American Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year last season — for a team that eventually went to the Final Four — but injuries and off-court issues limited him to you games, and off to Tally he went. Guard Cam'Ron Fletcher had a rough go of it at Kentucky as a freshman, but the former McDonald's All-American gets a new start with the Noles, who you just know are going to play in-your-face defense. 

Nov. 18: Wisconsin-Milwaukee
The buzz: The Panthers checked in eighth in the Horizon League at 10-12, with a conference mark of 7-10. Leading scorer DeAndre Gholston, a 6-5, 215-pound guard by way of Tallahassee Community College, is back for his junior season after averaging 16.8 points and grabbing 5.2 rebounds. A scan of the roster finds an interesting newcomer in Boston College transfer Vin Baker, Jr., whose father, Vin Baker, was a four-time all-star over his 13-year NBA career (1993-2006) and just won a ring as an assistant coach with the world-champion Milwaukee Bucks. Dig deeper and find freshman 6-9, 220-pound freshman forward Patrick O'Neal Baldwin Jr., who was Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year as a junior and despite suffering a season-ending broken ankle in his second game as a senior became the first McDonald's All American to sign with UMW. He was recruited heavily by the blue bloods, but eschewed offers from Duke and the like to play for his father, the head coach at UMW. 

Nov. 22-24: California in Fort Myers Tip-Off  The buzz: Last season's Thanksgiving holiday tournament — the Emerald Classic in Destin, Fla. — was canceled due to COVID, yet the Gators will stay in state this holiday as well, in an event that will be wrapped before the turkey is even carved. In a field with teams plucked teams from four high-level hoop conferences, UF will get Cal in the opening round. The Bears were bad last season, going 9-20 overall and 3-17 in the Pac-12. They lost their two top scorers, with forward Grant Anticevich (8.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg) the high-point man back. Charlotte 6-4 transfer guard Jordan Shepherd is the top newcomer. Depending on the outcome, the Gators will face either Seton Hall, which could contend for the Big East title, or Ohio State, which figures to be on the rebuild side of a 21-10 squad that earned a No. 2-seed but was ousted from the NCAA Tournament in the first round by Oral Roberts. Maybe the Buckeyes and Gators can compare postseason misery notes.  

Nov. 28: Troy
The buzz: The Trojans finished last in the Sun Belt Conference East Division at 11-17 overall and 4-12 in conference. Back are their second- and third-leading scorers in 6-9, 190-pound forward Zay Williams and 6-6, 21-0 pound senior forward Kam Woods, a Fort Lauderdale product by way of Eastern Florida State College. 

Dec. 1: at Oklahoma The buzz: No, it's not a SEC game … yet. Not for another four seasons. In the interim, the Gators and Sooners will face off for the third time in the last six seasons, with this being the front end of a home-and-home series, with last year's visit to Gainesville whacked by the pandemic and slated to be made up next season. OU said goodbye to coach and all around good guy Lon Kruger, who retired after guiding the program to seven NCAA tournaments, including a Final Four, over his 10 seasons. The Sooners landed a terrific replacement in Porter Moser, who worked wonders at Loyola Chicago, including a stunning Final Four run in 2018. Mosher inherited a team that went 16-11 last season (9-8 in Big 12 play), but lost to powerful Gonzaga in second-round NCAA play. The Sooners have back fifth-year senior guard Elijah Harkless, but figure to powered by a handful of transfers: All-Ohio Valley guard Marvin Johnson (15.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists at Eastern Illinois); All-ACC Defensive selection Jordan Goldwire (Duke); 6-9 forward Ethan Chargois (8.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists at SMU), and the brother duo of Jacob and Tanner Groves, who at Eastern Washington combined to average 26.5 points and 12.2 rebounds, with 6-10 Tanner garnering 2021 Big Sky Player of the Year honors.  

Dec. 6: Texas Southern 
The buzz: The Tigers finished third in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, going 17-8, with a 10-3 mark in league play, then won their league tournament by upsetting regular-season champ Prairie View and stole a play-in, 16-seed game in the NCAA Tournament. TSU beat Mount St. Mary's to earn a date against East Region No. 1-seed Michigan. The season ended there. The Tigers, as is their budget-building business model, will play a brutal, all-road non-conference schedule, this time of 11 games, with a trip to Gainesville falling eighth in the paddle wheel that looks like this: at Oregon, St. Mary's, Washington, Air Force, North Carolina State, Brigham Young, Louisiana Tech, Florida, Division II Texas-Rio Grand Valley, Cincinnati and Texas Christian. That's nine different states. TSU's best player is senior guard Michael Weathers, a transfer from Oklahoma State, who averaged 16.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists his first season.  

Dec. 8: North Florida 
The buzz: COVID stopped a string of consecutive seasons featuring a UF-UNF game at four, but this will mark the sixth time the Gators have faced the Osprey's (and longtime Coach Matt Driscoll, now in his 12th season) in White's eight years in Gainesville. dating to the NIT road date in March 2016. Before that, Florida and North Florida had played four times total. Forward Carter Henderson led the team in scoring for a second straight season at 14.9 points along with 4.8 rebounds. The Ospreys, known for their free-firing, 3-point offense, went 8-15, including 6-6 in the Atlantic Sun Conference. 

Dec. 12: Maryland in Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational (Brooklyn, N.Y.) The buzz: Florida returns to the Naismith Hall of Fame event for the second time in three seasons. The Gators went to the sparking Barclay's Center on Dec. 17, 2019, and obliterated Providence 83-51 behind 19 point and 10 rebounds from Johnson and a defense that held the Friars to just 25.9 percent shooting, including 1-for-18 from the 3-point line. This Maryland team figures to be better than that PC team. The Terrapins went a pedestrian 17-14 last season and just 9-11 in Big Ten play, but because the league was the toughest in the country the Terrapins got an NCAA at-large berth and even won a game (beating Connecticut) before getting pummeled by Alabama. UM returns four of its top five scorers, including senior guard Eric Ayala (team-high 15.1 points), and will get a gigantic boost from four transfers. Guard Fatts Russell left Rhode Island with 1,594 points and ranked No. 1 in school history in steals (213). Wing Xavier Green was the 2019 MVP of the Conference USA Tournament at Old Dominion. Simon Wright was a 3-point specialist off the bench at Elon. All three are grad-transfers. Junior forward Qudus Wahab, at 6-11, 237, started 25 games for Big East Tournament champion Georgetown last season, averaging 12.7 points and a team-best 8.2 boards. 

Dec. 18: USF in Orange Bowl Classic (Sunrise, Fla.) 
The buzz: Despite being just two hours down the road in Tampa, the Gators and Bulls have not played since 2002, with UF holding an 18-5 edge in a series that was first played in 1971. This will be the first time the two programs meet at a neutral site since a Jan. 11, 1994 date at the Suncoast Dome in St. Petersburg (now known as Tropicana Field), on the Gators' way to their first Final Four. The Bulls, in the fifth season under Coach Brian Gregory, have nine transfers on the roster, including seven making their USF debuts this season. The best would appear to be guard Javon Green, the second-leading scorer (11.7 ppg) at George Mason last season and forward Sam Hines (10.7 points, 5.8 rebounds at Denver), with 6-8, 219-pound Corey Walker Jr. a guy to watch. Once a top-75 product out of Jacksonville, the 6-8, 220-pound Walker sat out the entire '20-21 season at Tennessee due to COVID and a foot injury. 

Dec. 22: Stony Brook
The buzz: This will mark the first meeting between Florida and Stony Brook, the Long Island-based school. The Gators and Seawolves, who play out of the America East Conference, were supposed to play last season, but … well … you know. Stony went 9-14 and finished seventh in the league at 9-7. The Wolves have their top two scorers back in guard Juan Felix Rodriguez (13.3 ppg) and forward Frankie Policelli (10.7 ppg. 4.3 rpg), but the guy to watch is Fairleigh Dickenson transfer guard Jahlil Jenkins, who poured in 1,698 points the last four seasons (starting 114 of 118 games), the most of any player during that span in the Northeast Conference. 

Dec. 29: at Ole Miss  The buzz: The SEC opener for both teams will pit the Gators against one of their two '21-22 rotating home-and-home opponents, not to mention a date against White's alma mater. UF beat UM in their lone meeting last season, a 72-63 win at the O'Dome, to give White a 6-2 mark against the school for which he was a four-year starter at point guard. But this Rebels squad, in Year 4 under Kermit Davis, has folks in Oxford excited about the future. UM lost three of its top four scorers, but returns a couple starters, plus four Division-I transfers (including 7-foot, 245-pound Nysier Brooks from Miami) and 6-8, 220-pound forward Jaemyn Brakefield of Duke) and adds what is being touted as the best recruiting class in program history (the sixth-best in the SEC). The Rebels signed their first McDonald's All-American in three-time Mississippi Player of the Year Daeshun Ruffin, who averaged 25.4 points over four years at his Jackson (Miss.) high school. Wing James White scored 1,400 points over his last two prep seasons in Georgia. The third freshman is Grant Slatten, a 2,700-point scorer from Tennessee, who tallied 30 30-point games, five 40-point games and scored 59 in another. UF has not beaten Ole Miss on the road since White's debut season with the Gators in 2016. 

Jan. 5: Alabama   The buzz: The Crimson Tide will defend their first SEC regular-season championship in 34 years. Bama last won it in 1987, under Wimp Sanderson, and needed just two seasons under Nate Oats to post a stellar 26-7 record, including a 16-2 rampage through the league, courtesy of a veteran squad led by a pair of senior guards in SEC Player of the Year Herb Jones and John Petty Jr., also a first-team all-league selection. Neither of those players, though, led the Tide in scoring. Instead, it was shooting guard Jaden Shackelford (14.0 ppg) and standout freshman point guard Jahvon Quinnerly (12.9 ppg, 3.2 apg). Shackelford entered the transfer portal, but opted to return to Tuscaloosa, leaving him to pair with Quinnerly, the 2021 SEC Tournament MVP, for a top-rate backcourt in '22. Now, roll in a top-15 signing class, led by guard McDonald's All-American JD Davidson and 6-11 center Charles Bediako, plus a solid haul via the transfer portal. Noah Gurley, a 6-8, 190-pound forward from Furman who had UF on his list, was a three-time All-Southern Conference selection who scored 1,118 points and grabbed 405 rebounds in three seasons — and averaged 26.0 and 8.3 boards his final four games with the Paladins. Alabama is well equipped to repeat as SEC champion, something the program has not done since sharing the title with Vanderbilt in '74 and Kentucky in '75. 

Jan. 8: at Auburn 
The buzz: The Tigers went to the Final Four in 2019 and were rolling at 25-6 when COVID shut down the sport in 2020. Last season was a much different story, as Auburn went 13-14, with a 7-11 mark in league play, at one time losing seven of eight during January and February even after point guard Sharife Cooper (20.2 ppg, 8.1 apg) was cleared to play. Cooper was one of two Tigers taken in the second of the NBA Draft (along with forward JT Thor), but they definitely have some dudes back, including guard Allen Flanagan (14.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and reloaded on the transfer front. Walker Kessler, the 7-1, 245-pount center, came from North Carolina, while guard K.D. Johnson, who was Georgia's No. 2 scorer last season, hopped across the state line as well. Coach Bruce Pearl maintained his street cred on the recruiting trail by signing Jabari Smith, a 6-10, 210-pound power forward out of Tyrone, Ga., who as the No. 6 overall prospect in the country became the highest-rated signee in Auburn history. 

Jan. 12: LSU  The buzz: The Tigers were a mess when Will Wade took over in 2017-18. Since that first rebuild season, LSU has gone 64-24, with a 38-14 mark against the league, a conference regular-season championship, and a couple NCAA berths, all the while becoming one of the most successful recruiting programs in the nation, despite the specter of a NCAA into those recruiting tactics.. The 2021-22 season should bring more of the same. After finishing 19-10 and in third place in the SEC with an 11-6 post in the league, the Tigers lost their top three scorers in Brooklyn first-round draft pick Cameron Thomas, along with forward Trendon Watford and four-year starting guard Javonte Smart. That trio accounted for 55.5 of LSU's 81.8 points per game and took 66 percent of the team's shots. Senior forward Darius Days (11.6 ppg, 7.8 rpg) tops the returnees, but the Tigers' strength will be their newbies. First, the transfers: guard Xavier Pinson (13.6 ppg at Missouri), forward Tari Eason (7.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg at Cincinnati) and guard Adam Miller (8.6 points, started every game at Illinois). The freshman class has a trio of Florida prep school standouts in 6-11 five-star forward Efton Reid and 6-5 shooting guard Brandon Murray, out of Bradenton IMG Academy, along with late-signee Justice Williams, a guard from Montverde Academy. 

Jan. 15: at South Carolina 
The buzz: Since going to the Final Four in 2017, the Gamecocks' combined record in the four seasons is underwater both overall (57-59) and in SEC play (32-34) after going 6-15 last season and finishing 12th in the conference at 4-11. USC did, however, come to Gainesville and hand the Gators a ill-timed defeat and give Coach Frank Martin a 3-6 edge in games against White. The two SC guards that killed UF that day, A.J. Lawson and Seventh Woods, are gone, but forward Keyshawn Bryant (second-leading scorer at 14.4 ppg, plus 5.4 rpg) and combo guard Jermaine Couisnard (10.1 ppg) return. Freshman guard Devin Carter is a four-star prospect and former Florida Class 7A Player of the Year at Doral High (by way of Brewster Academy), who helped the Gamecocks check in with a top-30 signing class that ranks in the top half of the league. Three transfers are expected to play significant roles, starting with 6-6 A.J. Wilson, a defensive wing who left George Mason as the program's all-time leader in blocks. Shooting guard Erik Stevenson is on his third school in four years. He averaged 6.5 points at Washington last season, but 11.1 at Wichita State the season before. Guard James Reese comes from North Texas, but had stops at Buffalo and Odessa JC before that. 

Jan. 19: Mississippi State The buzz: Under White, the Gators won their first three meetings against the Bulldogs from 2016-18, but are 0-3 in each of the last three seasons, and return the bulk of their production from a '20-21 team that went 18-15 (8-10 in the SEC) and lost to Memphis in the championship game of the NIT. Coach Ben Howland (118-82 at MSU) enters his seventh season in Starkville with just one NCAA Tournament berth, so he may be under the microscope. Guards Iverson Molinar (16.7 ppg, 43.6 percent from 3) and D.J. Stewart led the team in scoring, while 6-10, 245-pound center Tolu Smith (12.6, 8.5 rpg, 57 percent from the floor) was a huge inside force (27 points, 14 rebounds in a win over Florida) in his first year after transferring from Western Kentucky. The Bulldogs lost a familiar big, 6-10 Abdul Ado to the transfer portal (Cincinnati), but will replace him up front with 6-9, 235-pound North Carolina transfer Garrison Brooks, who started over 100 games for the Tar Heels the last four seasons and averaged 10.2 points and 6.9 boards in '20-21. Forward D.J. Jeffries (9.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg) scored 15 points for Memphis in the NIT final, but migrated over the state line and will wear a Mississippi State uniform this season. The top incoming freshman is shooting guard Camryn Carter, from Oak Hill (Va.) Academy.
   
Jan. 22: Vanderbilt
The buzz: Over the last three season, the Commodores have posted a combined SEC record — brace yourselves — of 6-46. Jerry Stackhouse stands as the coach of record for just two of those seasons, having taken over for Bryce Drew following an 0-18 debacle in 2018-19. Stackhouse, the 18-year NBA veteran, has a 20-37 overall record, plus 6-28 league mark and two last-place finishes, to show for his two seasons, but he's drawn rave reviews for the actions he runs and has done an awfully good job on the recruiting front. Unfortunately, his Commodores-turned-lottery picks (Aaron Nesmith and Darius Garland), suffered season-ending injuries and beared very little fruit for the home team. One guy that hasn't been injured is first-team All-SEC point guard Scottie Pippin Jr., who was sensational last season in scoring 20.8 points, 4.9 assists and 85 percent from the line. Pippin, now a junior, toyed with the NBA process, but is is back this junior season. So is forward Dylan Disu (15.0 ppg, 9.2 rpg), who will need help up front and figures to get some from 7-0, 245-pound center Liam Robbins (11.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg at Minnesota) and undersized but aggressive forward Jamaine Mann (6.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg at Gardner-Webb). Combo guard Shane Dezonie is the top freshman in this class.

Jan. 26: at Tennessee  The buzz: The Volunteers, in Year 6 under Coach Rick Barnes, were the runaway picks to win the league last season, but finished far from it. In posting an 18-9 overall mark and placing fourth in the standings at 10-7, UT got a 5-seed in the NCAA Tournament and were promptly shown the door in Round 1 by 12th-seed Oregon State. After that, out the door went a couple first-round draft picks in crazy-athletic guards Keon Johnson and Jayden Springer, plus senior Yves Pons, the league's two-time defensive player of the year. Trouble in Knoxville? Hardly. Forward John Fulkerson (9.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg) will be back for a sixth season, joined by a couple starters in Victor Bailey Jr. (10.9 ppg) and point guard Santiago Vescovi (8.7 ppg, 3.1 apg, 37.3 percent from 3), along with top reserve and former McDonald's All American Josiah Jordan-James (8.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg). Roll in sophomore transfer Justin Powell (11.7 ppg, 44.2 from 3 before season-ending injury at Auburn) and top-ranked freshman class in the league — headlined by Kennedy Chandler (McDonald's guy and nation's No. 1 national point guard prospect) and 6-10, 245-pound power forward Brandon Huntley-Hafield — and the Vols just might be picked to win the SEC again.

Jan. 29: Oklahoma State in SEC/Big 12 Challenge 
The buzz: This will be the eighth year for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, with the Gators boasting a 5-3 record in the ESPN-made event, including 4-2 under White after last season's upset road win against No. 11 West Virginia. UF and OSU will play for fourth time, with the three previous coming at neutral sites — Hawaii in '93; Syracuse in 2000 in the NCAA East Region finale; Sunrise in '15 for the Orange Bowl Classic — with the Gators having won each. The Cowboys are coming off a 21-9 season that was notable for sending Cade Cunningham to the NBA with the No. 1 overall pick by Detroit. They lost Cunningham's 20.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists, but return their next six-best scorers, led by the backcourt of Avery Anderson (12.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg) and Isaac Likelele (9.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 3.6 apg, 44.4 percent from 3), plus forward Kalib Boone (9.4 pp, 5.4 rpg). New Gators assistant Eric Pastrana was with Coach Mike Boynton at Okie State the last two years, so he should have a decent scouting handle on what the Cowboys will bring to town. Of the team's newcomers, Kansas transfer guard Bryce Thompson, a 2020 McDonald's All American and rotational sub for the Jayhawks as a freshman last season, tops the list.

Feb. 2: at Missouri
The buzz: The Tigers reached the NCAA Tournament for the second time in Cuonzo Martin's four seasons in '21, but took a significant hit to the roster with the loss of their top four scorers, including Gator killer Dru Smith (14.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.8 apg, 38.9 percent from), who bombed UF from outside two seasons and daggered them with a buzzer-beat at the O'Dome last March. Big man Jeremiah Tillmon (12.4 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 61.4 percent from floor) are also gone, not to mention Pinson, the aforementioned shooting guard who took his jumper to LSU. That leaves forward Kobe Brown (8.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg) as the top returnee. Mizzou signed a five-man incoming freshman class, none of whom bested a three-star rating, but certainly expect considerable impact from a couple transfers. Big and bulky guard Jarron Coleman was the 2020 Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year last season scored 13.8 points, grabbed 5.2 rebounds, dished 3.2 assists and shot better than 42 percent from the 3-point line. At Wisconsin-Green Bay, Amari Davis also was a conference's 2020 outstanding freshman (Horizon League) and in '21 scored 17.1 points per game, including a 35-point night against Wright State. He averaged 13.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and a team-high 3.2 assists while shooting 47.7 percent from the field, 42.3 percent from deep and 78.1 percent at the free throw line. 

Feb. 5: Ole Miss 
The buzz: Under White, the Gators are 5-0 against the Rebels at the O'Dome. 

Feb. 9: Georgia
The buzz: Point guard, three-year starter and leading scorer Sahvir Wheeler transferred to Kentucky. Guard and No. 2 scorer K.D. Johnson bolted for Auburn. The team's third-leading scorer and top front court player, Toumani Camara, is now at Dayton. And it keeps going. Nine players from Coach Tom Crean's third team left Georgia during the offseason, tying Texas A&M for the most transfer portal entrants in the SEC. The most experienced Bulldog coming back is 6-6 wing P.J. Horne (8.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg) who started all 26 games after transferring from Virginia Tech. UGA signed five incoming freshmen (a trio of three-stars), but also got a five-man transfer haul of its own, led by Florida Atlantic forward Jailyn Ingram (105 starts, 1,334 points for the Owls) and USC fifth-year guard Noah Baumann, a career 43.5-percent 3-point shooter who played in the Elite Eight last season with the Trojans. Guard Jabri Abdur-Rahim was a top-40 prospect and 2020 Gatorade New Jersey Player of the Year who went to Virginia, but only played in eight games last season. 

Feb. 12: at Kentucky  The buzz: It doesn't take much to understand how a 9-16 season squared with Big Blue Nation. Simply put, the sun rises and sets on UK basketball and last season marked just the first losing record since the program was savaged by an NCAA investigation in 1988-89. And that was with a team that opened the season ranked 10th in the country and fortified — as usual — by a top-5 recruiting class. The Wildcats lost to Richmond in the second game of the season and stood a numbing 1-6 heading into SEC play. They finished 8-9 and in eighth place in the league —  including a home loss to the Gators; just the 11th time UF left Lexington with a win — and after a first-round exit from the SEC Tournament missed the NCAA field for the first time since 2013. After losing wing and co-scoring leader Brandon Boston (11.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg) and defender deluxe Isaiah Jackson (8.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg, SEC-leading 2.8 bpg) to the NBA, Coach John Calipari's makeover heading into his 13th season began with saying goodbye to a couple transfers (overwhelmed and offensively challenged point guard Devin Askew went to Texas; underwhelming McDonald's All-American Cam'Ron Fletcher to Florida State) and landing maybe the best transfer class in the country to go with another top-10 rookie class. Power forward Oscar Tshiebwe (8.5 ppg, 6.8 at West Virginia before transferring midseason), UGA's Wheeler (14.7 ppg, league-high 7.4 apg as a Bulldog), combo guard Kellan Grady (a 2,000-point scorer and first-team All-Atlantic 10 selection at Davidson) and shooting guard C.J. Frederick (47.4 percent from 3 at Iowa) figure to fill in nicely around the returns of guard Davion Mintz (11.5 ppg), forward Keion Brooks Jr. (10.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg), plus a handful of others (Jacob Toppin, Dontaie Allen, Lance Ware) who got key minutes. And let's not forget the incoming freshmen, headlined by 6-9, 210-pound Daimon Collins of Atlanta, Texas. For the sake of the league, hopefully teams had their fun last season at Kentucky's expense. Things will be different in '21-22.

Feb. 15: at Texas A&M  
The buzz: The Aggies equaled Georgia for the most outgoing transfer players with nine. Buzz Williams is a terrific coach with an impressive track record for success, but he's not for everyone — and A&M has had some growing pains in his first two seasons. The Aggies are 24-24 under Williams, including 12-16 in SEC play after going 2-8 in a COVID-ravaged campaign (next-to-last, just ahead of Vandy) that saw a league-high eight games cancelled due to pandemic protocols. After that, the roster floodgates opened. … [Note: Go to the A&M official team website and only the coaching staff pops up, with the following disclaimer: "The 2021-22 men's basketball roster will be posted when available."] … In August, the NCAA announced the Aggies had been placed on probation through the 2023 season due to multiple recruiting and practice violations, with Williams suspended for the first two games of the upcoming season. As for players, guards Quenton Jackson (10.4 ppg) and Andre Gordon (8.3 ppg) make up half the returnees, the four of which accounted for 26.6 points and 7.9 rebounds of the Aggies' 64.3 and 33.5 per game. Of the incoming transfers, Wyoming guard Marcus Williams (14.8 ppg, 4.1 apg) is by far the most accomplished, while guard Ethan Henderson (Arkansas), 7-foot, 250-pound center Javontae Brown-Ferguson (UConn) and forward Henry Coleman (Duke) played sparingly at their previous stops. Incoming freshman shooting guard Manny Obeski, a top 25-caliber prospect, may have biggest impact of any newcomer. 

Feb. 19: Auburn  The buzz: Two years ago, Auburn came to the O'Dome ranked No. 4 in the country and got absolutely smashed, 69-47, in one of the most-lopsided victories ever by the Gators over a team ranked in the top five. Don't think Pearl won't remember that. It doesn't matter if only a handful of his current guys were on that team. He was there.  

Feb. 22: Arkansas The buzz: The Razorbacks' best season in more than a quarter-century (a 26-7 record and second-place finish in the conference) ended with a loss in the Elite Eight to eventual NCAA-champion Baylor. Three months later, all-league guard Moses Moody was a lottery pick in the NBA Draft by Golden State. Coach Eric Musselman has the program as close to Hog heaven as it's been since the Nolan Richardson glory days, but this season will look to replace three of his top four scorers. Not a problem. Musselman, from his days averaging 27.5 wins per season during four years at Nevada, has lived in the transfer portal. So alongside returning shooting guard JD Notae (12.8 ppg) and a bigger role for 7-3 center Connor Vanover (6.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg), the Hogs likely will roll out 5-7 guard Chris Lykes, who scored amassed 1,256 points in three-plus years at Miami before suffering a season-ending knee injury last winter; former Pittsburgh wing Au'Diese Toney (14.4 ppg) and guard Trey Wade (7.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg), with 47 starts the last two seasons at Wichita State. They'll also take a good, hard look at Georgia four-star shooting guard Chance Moore.

Feb. 26: at Georgia 
The buzz: UF has won four straight in its series against UGA, and is 5-1 in Crean's three seasons in Athens. Since coming from Indiana, Crean is 41-49 with the Bulldogs, with a 14-40 record in the SEC and no postseason berths. 

March 1: at Vanderbilt
The buzz: The final regular-season road game. Florida lost its first five games against Vandy under White, but has since reeled off seven straight (and eight of the last nine) by an average margin of 13 points. 

March 5: Kentucky The buzz: Senior Day at the O'Dome, for certain, will pay homage to a pair of transfers who landed in Gainesville last May — guard Brandon McKissic (Missouri-Kansas City) and wing Phlandrous Fleming (Charleston Southern) — but there could be as many as six players taking that ceremonial pregame walk to the cheers, depending on what comes of four so-called seniors still with a free COVID season to play with. That would be returning forwards Colin Castleton and Anthony Duruji, point guard Tyree Appleby, as well as transfer guard Myreon Jones (Penn State), 

March 9-13: SEC Tournament (Tampa, Fla.) 
The buzz: Last March brought the final leg of a three-year tournament run in Nashville -- a run that lost all but two games in 2020 due to COVID -- and gives way to one-year stop in Tampa, where the tournament will be staged for just the second time (possibly last time), then head back to Nashville for 2023-2035, at least. For the here and now, however, the event will be in the Sunshine State for just the third time in its history. The SEC Tournament came to Orlando in 1990, the same year Kentucky was on probation and Florida, the defending league champion, was turned upside by an NCAA investigation and internal revolt. That tournament, won by Alabama, was a ratings and attendance disaster. The event came to Tampa for the first time in 2009. Unfortunately for Florida, that was the second of back-to-back NIT seasons that followed back-to-back NCAA championships, with the Gators eliminated in the first round by Auburn. Mississippi State was crowned as champion that year. Now, it's back at Amalie Arena, home to the NHL Tampa Bay Lightening, where the Gators will be leaning on any homecourt advantage they can get to make a dent in a tournament they've not won since that fabulous 2014 team did a 21-0 number on the league on the way to the Final Four. In fact, only once in the six tournaments since has UF even survived into the weekend (Andrew Nembhard's 3-point dagger with one second left against top-seeded LSU in 2019) and reached the semifinals.