For all the platitudes and all the celebrations the Florida Gators and Todd Golden have had since winning the national title back in April, their run through March Madness nearly got derailed in the early stages. Florida was in a fight for their lives against UConn in the second round of the NCAA Tournament before staging a comeback and winning to advance to the Sweet 16.
As the schedule for the 2025-26 season is getting set, Florida is going to get to face UConn again under the brightest of lights.
Florida Gators set to face UConn in New York City
It was announced that Florida is going to face UConn in the Jimmy V Classic on December 9th at 9 PM in Madison Square Garden. The game will be on ESPN and will follow the matchup between Clemson and BYU.
The Jimmy V Classic is named after former NC State coach Jim Valvano and is used to help raise money for the V Foundation for Cancer Research.
The game is a rematch between the two teams who met in the second round of March Madness, where Florida prevailed 77-75. After that game, UConn coach Dan Hurley went viral for seemingly claiming that UConn was screwed, although it's still unclear how they were screwed.
Both teams were recently named in the top five of an ESPN "Way Too Early" ranking, and the 2025-26 matchup will extend what is slowly becoming a notable basketball history between the two schools.
The two teams met for the first time ever in 1994 when the Gators knocked off UConn in overtime of the Sweet 16 en route to Florida's first Final Four in program history.
UConn would win the next five games, including a classic regular-season game in 2013, followed by a win in the Final Four in 2014.
Florida is 2-5 all-time against the Huskies, but as it stands right now, it would be considered the favorite in this December matchup after reloading through the transfer portal.