![Florida head basketball coach Todd Golden talks about the upcoming season on the first official day of basketball practice at University of Florida in Gainesville, FL on Monday, September 22, 2025. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_2596,h_1460/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01k94x7k8pj9p6w8wbj5.jpg "Florida head basketball coach Todd Golden talks about the upcoming season on the first official day of basketball practice at University of Florida in Gainesville, FL on Monday, September 22, 2025. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]")
We have finally arrived for the Florida Gators to take the court and defend their 2025 national title. Florida lost its entire backcourt in the offseason, whether due to graduation or the transfer portal, but returns its entire front court.
And there is no easing into the season for Florida this year as the defending champs travel to Las Vegas to take on Arizona in a top 15 showdown.
Florida vs. Arizona final odds and predictions
Spread | Over/Under | Moneyline |
|---|---|---|
Florida -2.5 | 163.5 | Florida -150 |
As is the case with any opening game, there is a ton of mystery that surrounds the Gators. Gone are Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin, and Will Richard, and in their place are transfers Xavian Lee and Boogie Fland.
The latter is what has fans believing Florida is going to be able to pick up where it left off and should keep the machine running.
The real question is what does the guard play look like from the bench. Sharpshooter Urban Klavzar is back, but he has to prove he can handle high-pressure situations. Brother AJ and Isaiah Brown have the upside to provide a spark, and that's before we get to Alex Llyod and CJ Ingram.
But while the guards are an unknown, it's the frontcourt that will look very familiar and give Florida size that almost no team in the country can match. All four big men who received real minutes last year have returned, and there are designs to get three of them on the court at the same time.
The spread is just 2.5 points, and that speaks to the fact that Arizona is one of the few teams in the country that has size on its roster that can match Florida. The Wildcats have 7'2" center Motiejus Krivas as well as a pair of 6'11" freshmen from Africa, Sidi Gueye from Senegal and Mabil Mawut from Sudan.
But if Florida can force any kind of foul trouble, which is prone to happen in an opener as refs try to establish the standard for the new year, Arizona is prone to run out of size before Florida.
And considering Florida is the defending champs, we find it hard to pick against them.