Florida Gators Basketball Schedule 2011-2012 (Non-Conference)

On Wednesday, the University of Florida officially announced the non-conference portion of the 2011-2012 Florida Gators basketball schedule.

After making the NCAA Tournament for the past two years in large part thanks to a beefed up non-conference slate, Florida has once again opted to play some elite competition in the non-conference portion of the Gators’ basketball schedule.

“We’ve made it a practice to play a difficult non-conference schedule, and this is perhaps the toughest one yet,” head coach Billy Donovan said. “That’s something that really helps prepare us for the NCAA Tournament. We’re also looking forward to playing games in front of our great fans from several different areas of Florida, and we host some exciting matchups on our home court, as well.”

The Gators will face six teams who made the NCAA Tournament last season in its non-conference slate.

The Florida basketball schedule is headlined with road trips to Syracuse and Ohio State, as well as home dates with Arizona and Florida State.

Perhaps because of the difficult schedule, Florida will play only one exhibition game in the 2011-2012 season.

The Gators will tip off their campaign on Nov. 3 against Catholic University. Billy Donovan’s son, Billy Donovan, Jr., is a sophomore point guard for Catholic University, making it a homecoming of sorts for the Donovan family.

Florida will also play four games outside of the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in the state of Florida, with games scheduled in Tampa (Wright State), Orlando (Stetson), Jacksonville (Rider) and Sunrise (Texas A&M).

Below is the complete Florida Gators basketball schedule 2011-2012.