Which non-conference matchup for Florida basketball is the best this coming season?

The start of the 2025-26 college basketball season is still a few months away, but the excitement of the upcoming campaign is already building.

Especially for Florida Gators fans, whose beloved Orange and Blue is set to defend its title starting on Monday, Nov.

3, in Las Vegas.Looking ahead to the first half of the schedule, which represents the non-conference portion of the slate, ESPN's Jeff Borzello took a look at the best matchups for each top 25 team during the first two months of the season.

For Todd Golden and Co., he selected their opening night game in Sin City against the Arizona Wildcats.

"It's hard to pass up the season opener for the reigning national champs.

There will be some growing pains for the Gators, who are bringing in a new backcourt in transfers Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee," Borzello notes."But the Wildcats should pose a good test, as they are going to be even more of a work-in-progress: likely starting two freshmen in five-star recruits Brayden Burries and Koa Peat."Florida basketball's projected starting lineup vs Arizona Boogie Fland (13.5 PPG at Arkansas)Xaivian Lee (16.9 PPG at Princeton Tigers)Thomas Haugh (9.8 PPG)Alex Condon (10.6 PPG)Rueben Chinyelu (6.1 PPG)Florida basketball's history vs.

the Arizona WildcatsThe Gators and Wildcats have faced off just four times before, with their last meeting coming in 2012 a 65-64 loss in Tucson.

Overall, the two schools are knotted at two wins apiece, with Arizona's other win coming in the first matchup in 2001, 75-71, in New York City.

Florida won the two meetings in between, with a 78-77 victory in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 2003 and a 78-72 triumph inside the O'Connell Center in 2011.

The two programs' combined all-time results reveal a narrow two-point margin in favor of UF.

ESPN's early top 25 men's basketball rankingsPurdue BoilermakersFlorida GatorsHouston CougarsUConn HuskiesSt.

John's Red StormBYU CougarsLouisville CardinalsMichigan WolverinesKentucky WildcatsTexas Tech Red RaidersArkansas RazorbacksDuke Blue DevilsArizona WildcatsAuburn TigersUCLA BruinsIllinois Fighting IlliniAlabama Crimson TideIowa State CyclonesGonzaga BulldogsWisconsin BadgersKansas JayhawksCreighton BluejaysTennessee VolunteersNC State WolfpackNorth Carolina Tar HeelsFollow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida basketball: Gators top non-conference game vs Arizona Wildcats.

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