Monday's opener was not the start Florida Gator fans were hoping for in their quest to defend their national title. Florida started with a 12-point lead before eventually getting worn down and falling to No. 13 Arizona 93-87.
It's not all gloom and doom as Arizona is one of the sleeper teams to make a deep run in March and Florida did have a wide open three to tie the game with less than a minute to go that just didn't fall, but there were some warning signs that Todd Golden will want fixed if the Gators are to make another deep March run themselves.
Guard play is a work in progress
The big mystery for Florida fans was how newcomers Boogie Fland and Xavian Lee were going to look with the Gators, and the end result was a mixed bag.
Lee had 14 points and five assists, but it was off of 5-17 shooting and 3-11 from three. As much as he tried to create, Lee just never felt like a genuine threat to score.
Fland was the big disappointment for Gator fans, as he seemed tentative to shoot, and when he did shoot, it wasn't with conviction. In Fland's defense, there are rumblings that he is dealing with an injury, but he will need better nights for Florida to make a run.
Alex Condon's disappearing act
Last year, Alex Condon had a tendency to ball out one week and look like an All-American only to look like a JV walk-on the next.
Despite earning preseason All-American honors this season, Condon looked anything but as he had 11 points and eight rebounds, but also had six turnovers, was 3-6 from the free-throw line, and fouled out.
Where is the depth?
With it clear that Fland and Condon were struggling at times, Todd Golden seemed to have no one he trusted on his bench to rotate in.
Urban Klavzar got 18 minutes and made a couple shots, and the only other guard to get minutes was the 11 minutes that CJ Ingram got, which led to three points off 1-3 shooting.