Mar 26, 2025; Newark, NJ, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd talks to the media at the Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Arizona to Play Top Team in Season Opener

Originally posted on Arizona Wildcats on SI
By Nathaniel Martinez | Last updated Jul 28, 2025 7:00 AM ET

The Arizona men's basketball team will get the chance to test its might against a true contending team in the Florida Gators at the start of the season in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Center on November 3, the very first game of the 2025-2026 year.

The game is set to take place as part of a double header for the Hall of Fame series that will be televised on TNT. The Wildcats and Gators will take the court first, followed by BYU taking on Villanova.

Florida (36-4) won the NCAA Division I tournament title last year by beating the Houston Cougars (32-5) in San Antonio, TX, by a 65-63 score.

It will be the fifth time the two programs have met. The last time Arizona and Florida met in 2012, the Wildcats won the contest 65-64 behind Solomon Hill's 18 points, Nick Johnson's 15 and Mark Lyon's 14.

Arizona also won the very first game against Florida in New York on November 9, 2001, by a 75-71 score. Florida won the next two competitions, winning 78-77 in Springfield on November 28, 2003 and 78-72 in overtime at Gainesville, FL, on December 7, 2011.

Junior forward Tobe Awaka was "Excited" when he knew of the season-opening game with Florida. He then said, "I feel like the whole gauntlet of games with non-conference is really exciting. That's really the main reason why you want to play at this level, to play against high-level talent like that and test yourself and test your team. (It is) something that I'm really excited about that."

Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

Arizona has a heavily scheduled season when it comes to its non-conference opponents, not to mention the always physical Big 12 conference that the team is now gearing up for in its second season.

Besides Florida, Arizona is to face UCLA at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, UConn in Bridgeport, Auburn at home and Alabama in Birmingham.

The Wildcats were put through a near grueling non-conference schedule last year. They faced UCLA AND Duke, who were ranked nationally at the time.

Facing talented teams is something that has built last year's Arizona team into the gritty team that made it to the Sweet 16.

"It was more so from a schematic standpoint, how we want to run our offense, how we want to run our defense," Awaka said. "I think that's what we sort of took from that the most. I think also, our unity as a team grew as well. I feel like within adversity that kind of drew us together, brought us together. I definitely feel like it was a sort of bonding moment and experience for the whole team."

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This article first appeared on Arizona Wildcats on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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