The six biggest games on Florida's basketball schedule

This team is loaded. Here are some prime games for the stacked roster to prove they're legit.

A rematch, a five-year streak and a five-year drought. 

As Florida basketball's schedule was announced on Tuesday, a few huge things stood out. If you have not already seen the schedule, check it out at https://floridagators.com/schedule.aspx?path=basketball-men. 

This team can right a lot of wrongs from the recent past. It absolute prime position to make a deep tournament run, as the Gators seemingly fixed all of last season's weaknesses. Here's my rank of the top six games on UF's schedule this season. 

6. UCONN. Sunday, Nov. 17. Away. 

 The last time Florida played the Huskies was in UF's last final four appearance, during the Patric Young and Scottie Wilbekin era. That loss still stings to many Gator faithful, that team felt like a national champion in every way.

 UF's starting 5 was such a complete group with Wilbekin at point guard, Michael Frazier stretching the floor, Casey Prather and Will Yueguette slashing and creating plays and Young holding down the paint. With perhaps the Gators' most talented roster since then, a shot at revenge could not have come at a better time.

5. Auburn. Saturday Jan. 18. Home.

Auburn basketball is similar to Auburn football in that in any given year it could be a conference bottom-feeder or a national powerhouse. However, last year Bruce Pearl's team made the final four, including a convincing 97-80 win over No. 1 North Carolina in the Sweet 16. UF can prove a lot in that game if the Tigers are still solid. 

Auburn went deeper in the tournament than any other team that made this list. I don't have them closer to No. 1 simply because there is a legitimate possibility that the Tigers will not be any good by then. They could also be a title contender and that would shoot this game directly to the No. 1 spot. 

4. Florida State. Sunday Nov. 10. Home. 

UF per usual gets Florida State really early, the second game of the year on Sunday, Nov. 10. Florida gets the Seminoles in the O'Connell Center with a chance to snap a puzzling five-year streak from FSU in this annual game. 

Melina Myers-USA Today Sports

Outside of last year, Florida is almost always better than FSU in basketball. Yet, somehow, the rivals from Tallahassee have been their kryptonite and last year, when FSU actually was better than the Gators, it got ugly. The game was not even close as the 'Noles ran away with an 81-60 victory on their way to a Sweet 16 run. 

I won't call it a must-win, since it is so early in the year and a really successful season would quickly erase the memory of that game, but still, Florida really needs to snap this streak. Coach Mike White is yet to beat FSU. As little as that game may matter to the implications of the rest of a season, the Gator faithful does not accept multiple years in a row of losing to Florida State in any sport, plain and simple. 

3. The first Kentucky game. Saturday Feb. 22. Away. 

This does not need explaining. Kentucky is Florida's biggest rival in basketball by far and the Wildcats are the SEC standard every year. This is not a must-win because of how good the Wildcats always are and because it is on the road, but if a team has title hopes, this type of game has potential to be a season-shifting victory. The best teams get hot right as March approaches. 

2. Tennessee. Saturday Feb. 29. Away

A pit of mediocrity is no more for Tennessee basketball. Coach Rick Barnes had that team looking as good as it has in years last season. The Volunteers are the only SEC rival that comes close to Kentucky for the Gators, and these games get as personal as any. 

In all likelihood, even without Admiral Schofield and Grant Williams, this team will still be relevant by late February and this could be an enormous late-season contest with SEC tournament implications. I have it ranked so highly because assuming Tennessee is good, this could be a seed-changing win for not just the SEC but also the NCAA Tournament. 

1. The second Kentucky game. Sat. March 7. Home. 

Need I say more? Regular season finale, on CBS, in the O'Dome against your biggest rival. Coach John Calipari is a recruiting god but White has shown recently that he knows how to acquire talent himself. A struggling front court last season got one of the most skilled big men in the country in Kerry Blackshear Jr. from Virginia Tech. Freshman guard Scottie Lewis is a potential lottery pick and Tre Mann might be the best backup point guard Florida's ever had. 

It is hard to call any of these games a must win before the season since in basketball no regular season game is really a must win over the grand scope of a season. However, this is a must-have year for White and his staff. There is no reason for this team not to make an elite eight/final four-type run.