Five Season-Defining Matchups from Florida Hoops' SEC Slate in 2023-24

Which five league-play matchups could dictate Florida basketball's overall success in 2023-24?

Zach Goodall

The Southeastern Conference released the 2023-24 basketball season schedule on Monday.

SEC matchups ⤵️https://t.co/8tUcZuVEEP#GoGators pic.twitter.com/LHmvv7K1cC

— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) June 26, 2023

The Gators, as they've come to expect in an elevating league of championship contenders, were presented with an assortment of marquee matchups to circle on the calendar. Entering the second year of Todd Golden's rule in Gainesville, league play will be a crucial litmus test to judge the program's trajectory now that the roster is compiled of players he handpicked.

In anticipation of the increasingly daunting SEC slate, All Gators provides five contests from the schedule release whose outcome could dictate Florida's large-scale success in the upcoming campaign.

Dates and times for the 18 conference games are still to be determined.

vs. Alabama Crimson Tide

An essential test against the reigning best.

A home-and-away series against the reigning SEC champions will surely give the Gators ample opportunity to steal a resume-boosting win once the schedule rolls over into league play in late December or early January.

While Alabama may look drastically different on the forefront — losing an assortment of key pieces from the team that claimed the conference title, including star wing Brandon Miller, forward Noah Clowney and big man Charles Bediako to the NBA — the team's success will likely rival that of a season ago. It may come on a slightly smaller scale, without spending weeks as the nation's top-ranked program, but it will expectedly become a contender year in and year out as long as head coach Nate Oats has control of the program.

That's grown increasingly evident as Oats brings in suitable replacements via the transfer portal and from the prep ranks for 2023-24.

The Gators, undergoing immense changes of their own since the 97-69 thrashing in last season's matchup, have the luxury of facing the Crimson Tide twice.

Florida Gators guard Riley Kugel drives to the basket against Alabama's Brandon Miller and Charles Bediako during the 2022-23 season / © Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

And this time, they have the offensive firepower — derived from the post-Alabama emergence of Riley Kugel and the acquisition of guards Zion Pullin and Walter Clayton Jr. — to match the fast-paced scoring attack that previously overwhelmed them.

In a vacuum, the games should be close, no matter the host team. However, after Alabama's impressive home stretch last year, it's hard to imagine the Gators stealing a win inside Coleman Coliseum.

But, reigning victorious at home against a projected top 30 team, at worst, in college basketball would still be a statement victory for Florida at a crucial point in the season.

The matchup offers a great chance to earn a tally in the Quadrant I column and therefore stands as arguably the most important game on the schedule for the Gators next year.

vs. Auburn Tigers

Mentor vs. protégé, part two, is heading to Gainesville in 2023-24.

The Florida vs. Auburn series was given newfound life a season ago as UF nearly knocked off the No. 20 team in the country at that point on the road. Both teams hold similar principles and traits, which is expected when looking at Bruce Pearl's impact on the Gators' head coach during his time as an assistant under him at the beginning of his AU tenure.

It created an even playing field to tip-off conference play for Golden, sparking an unrivaled intensity for the matchup compared to the close to the out-of-conference slate.

That extra juice didn't come by accident. Auburn will consistently be a team he looks for his team to take down due to the friendly rivalry of competition he has with Pearl. Accordingly, so long as Pearl and Golden control the reins of the Auburn and Florida programs, the annual Tigers-Gators matchup will hold immense weight in multiple facets.

The tightly contested matchup on The Plains in 2022-23, which saw Auburn emerge as winners, 61-58, over Florida in the closing seconds, quickly established intrigue in this coaching matchup.

As a result, when the Tigers and Gators take the floor in Gainesville, emotions will be set on high for those on and off the court as the quest for a statement win and bragging rights between coaches forever connected will be on the line.

vs. Kentucky Wildcats

There's not much to explain as it pertains to how just one win against the Wildcats can catapult the Gators forward or hold them back from eclipsing their tournament aspirations, but allow me to indulge. 

Kentucky has long been the measuring stick for programs attempting to ascend the ranks in the SEC basketball scene as the lone blue-blood in the conference. Despite experiencing turbulence over the past few seasons, John Calipari's Wildcats still serve as that daunting test for aspiring teams. 

Florida Gators wing Will Richard put up a three-point shot early in the shot clock against Kentucky at home / © Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports

Florida, which has added eight new faces and drastically reconstructed its roster to better fit the style of play Golden brought to Gainesville just over a year ago in March 2022, fits the billing. It may be a patchwork unit compiled largely via the transfer portal, but the variety of skillsets in the backcourt and frontcourt suggests a potential year two surge under the current regime.

It creates the urge, and necessity, to knock off a program the caliber of Kentucky.

The Gators have the luxury of facing UK twice. Each matchup holds considerable weight on the resume scale for the selection committee and in affirming a team's self-worth.

While the home matchup is listed, it doesn't matter where they pull it off. If Florida can at least split the season series against their old conference foe, Golden and Co. will be on a collision course for a defining March Madness berth.

@ Tennessee Volunteers

In the other four matchups, the Gators are the hunter. In this one, they're the hunted.

Season one for Todd Golden brought vast turmoil as he sifted through the nuances of life in the SEC. It covered most of the team's already limited successes. 

However, if there was one defining moment from the tumultuous year that allowed its light beams to shine through the ominous clouds, the Gators' upset victory over No. 2 Tennessee is just that.

Several key pieces from last year's UT team return to the hardwood for Rick Barnes to deploy as he sees fit. High-volume contributors Zakai Ziegler and Santiago Vescovi make up one of the most dynamic and experienced backcourts in the nation while Josiah Jordan-James and Harvard transfer Chris Ledlum expect to present more scoring output from the interior.

The roster stacks up to be one of the best in the SEC for the upcoming year. However, at least on paper, so does the Gators' roster.

Florida Gators wing Will Richard attacks the basket in an upset victory over No. 2 Tennessee / Zach Goodall

Presenting a complete look filled with capable scorers and floor generals in the likes of Kugel, Pullin and Clayton in the backcourt paired with competent two-way pieces like Will Richard, EJ Jarvis, Micah Handlogten and Tyrese Samuel in the frontcourt, Florida has the tools to combat Tennessee.

The team can do so even in the raucous environment of Thompson-Boling Arena. But it's easier said than done, and, therefore, rests as a critical stepping stone to determine the Gators' level of achievement in 2023-24.

Florida looks to prove the victory in Gainesville wasn't a fluke as it travels to Knoxville to take on what's expected to be a game Volunteers' squad seeking revenge.

@ Texas A&M Aggies

The Gators' home-and-away bouts with the Aggies were anything but pretty during the 2022-23 season.

Their styles of play rivaled each other as defensive output heavily outweighed offensive production and historically poor scoring showings for both squads defined the tightly contested two games. Texas A&M — resting in its firmly established defensive identity — prevailed to sweep Florida in the season series.

However, UF's reinvention efforts continue in the upcoming campaign amid the aforementioned personnel changes will make for a potentially different story the next time the two square off.

Now, a trip to College Station to take on the high-intensity machine Buzz Williams continues to build from the ground up since he took over before the 2019-20 season will be a revenge date for the expectedly balanced Gators attack. It's a chance to avenge one of the early conference losses that ultimately sent Golden's first season into a downward spiral. 

The lone 2023-24 rendition of the brewing rivalry allows Florida to reconcile some of its year-one failures and compare its current state to a program slightly ahead of them on the rebuilding curve.

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