For the first time in 18 years, Florida and Florida State will open the basketball season playing each other. The Gators will travel to Tallahassee for the ‘Fresh from Florida Sunshine Showdown’ on Nov. 26.

The contest will be the earliest in-season game the Gators have ever played following a change from the NCAA that moved up the start date of the season to allow teams to squeeze more games into their non-conference schedule.

Florida leads the all-time series 43-26, but is on a four game slide with the in-state rivals. Mike White is 0-3 against Florida State since his arrival on campus as the Gators’ head coach.

The Seminoles were left out of the regular season ending polls in March, but made their way to the Elite Eight in a very good run in the NCAA Tournament. Florida finished No. 23 in the regular season poll, but was bounced in the second round of the tournament in March.

While FSU dominated the game a year ago (83-67), the three previous losses to the Seminoles were by five points or less.

The 2018 game with Florida State follows the release of home games with Butler and Michigan State that still have to be pinned down to a date. Florida also will play in the Jimmy V Classic vs. West Virginia, participate in the Battle 4 Atlantis, and travel to TCU as part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

The remainder of Florida’s non-conference schedule has yet to be worked out and will be addressed at a later date.

The Gators will host Kentucky, Georgia, LSU, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Missouri, South Carolina, and Texas A&M all as part of the regular SEC schedule. They will play on the road versus Kentucky, Georgia, LSU, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, and Mississippi State.

The gators have made it an emphasis to toughen up their schedule in basketball and this one seems to do just that. The NCAA committee that picks the NCAA Tournament teams favors those that attempt and succeed somewhat with a harder schedule.

With the SEC stepping up in the last couple of years and looking to be one of the top conferences in basketball for 2018-2019, this could be one of the more challenging schedules the Gators have faced to date.

Mike White will begin his fourth year as the Gators’ head coach after getting his team into the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons. An Elite Eight run wasn’t expected in March of 2017, and a year ago was stifled by injuries to the front court that hampered the play inside all season long.

Florida got good news this month when guard Jalen Hudson decided he would return to the squad. Hudson led the team in scoring last season (15.5 points/game) and shot a team high 78 3-pointers.