Florida Basketball: Gators to play in Lakeland as part of 2023-24 schedule
Following a disappointing debut campaign with Florida basketball, Todd Golden and the Florida Gators are finalizing their preparations to get things back on track in 2023-24.
Part of that preparation is the release of their non-conference schedule which has a couple noteworthy games on the slate.
Florida Basketball: To the land of Grady Judd
Florida will take on Virginia in Charlotte, NC as part of the “Hall of Fame Series” and will also take on Wake Forest on the road as part of the “ACC/SEC Challenge.”
The Gators will return to Charlotte in December to take on Michigan as part of the “Jumpman Invitational.”
Florida’s mid season tournament will be the NIT Season Tip-Off, which will be in Brooklyn and feature Baylor, Pitt, and Oregon State.
Perhaps the most noteworthy game for the Gators will be their trip to Lakeland on December 14 to take on East Carolina. It’s not uncommon for Florida to play “neutral site” games throughout the state of Florida, but after just 5,023 fans showed up in Tampa last season it probably prompted a change.
It also helps that Walter Clayton transferred from Iona to the Gators in the off-season and is a native of Polk County (Bartow).
All in all the Gators will have a challenging enough schedule that shouldn’t be a liability come NCAA Tournament selection time.
Whether or not Florida basketball is good enough to win with its schedule is a different story.
2023-24 Non Conference Schedule
- 11/6 vs Loyola Maryland
- 11/10 vs Virginia (in Charlotte, NC)
- 11/14 vs Florida A&M
- 11/17 vs Florida State
- 11/22 at NIT Tip-Off (Brooklyn, NY)
- 11/24 at NIT Tip-Off (Brooklyn, NY)
- 11/29 at Wake Forest
- 12/5 vs Merrimack
- 12/9 vs Richmond (Sunrise, FL)
- 12/14 vs East Carolina (Lakeland, FL)
- 12/19 vs Michigan (Charlotte, NC)
- 12/22 vs Grambling State
- 12/30 vs Quinnipiac