Hoops announces 2006-07 Schedule

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Sixteen games against teams that competed in postseason competition a year ago highlight the national champion University of Florida men’s basketball team’s 2006-07 schedule, released on Monday. Florida has 10 games with NCAA Tournament competition and additional six games with teams that qualified for the NIT.

After exhibition games with Northwood and Berry, the Gators open defense of the national title on Nov. 10 vs. Samford at 8 p.m. After home games with North Florida and Jacksonville, the Gators begin play in the Las Vegas Invitational with home meetings against Tennessee-Chattanooga and Prairie View before heading out to Las Vegas to take on Western Kentucky and Kansas over Thanksgiving weekend. The Kansas match-up on Nov. 25 will be televised nationally on ESPN2 at 10:30 p.m. ET.

After rounding out the November schedule with a home game against Southern, the Gators open December on the road at Florida State in a nationally-televised match-up on Fox Sports Net at 8 p.m. On Dec. 6, the Gators wrap up a three-year series with Providence, as the Friars come to the O’Connell Center for a 7 p.m. tip.

The Gators take an 11-day break for finals and return to action on Dec. 17 with a Sunday evening game against Florida A&M in Tampa at the St. Pete Times Forum. It will be the Gators first appearance in Tampa since the 2003 NCAA Tournament.

Stetson comes to the O’Connell Center on Dec. 20 and then a nationally-televised audience on CBS will watch the Gators face Ohio State on Dec 23 at 4 p.m. The two teams nearly met in the 2006 NCAA Tournament, as the Gators were the No. 3 seed in the Minneapolis Region, while Ohio State was the No. 2 seed. The Buckeyes were upset by Georgetown, who the Gators defeated in closely contested game in the Sweet 16 en route to the national title.

Florida returns to the Orange Bowl Classic for the first time since 2004 on Dec. 30 when the Gators take on NCAA Tournament participant UAB. The game will be played at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla. The Gators close out non-conference play on Jan. 2 when Liberty comes to the O’Connell Center.

The Gators open conference play with three of their first four at home. Georgia comes to the O’Connell Center on Jan. 6, the second straight year the Gators and Bulldogs have opened SEC play against one another. Arkansas visits the O’Connell Center on Jan. 9 in a Tuesday night ESPN-match-up that will be televised nationally.

The first SEC road game will be a rematch of the 2006 SEC Tournament final, as the Gators travel to South Carolina on Jan. 13. Following a week off, Florida returns home on Jan. 20 to take on Ole Miss, travels to Mississippi State and Auburn on Jan. 24 and 27 and then returns home on Jan. 31 to take on Vanderbilt to close out January.

The Gators welcome Tennessee to the O’Connell Center on Feb. 3 before a pair of road games at Georgia and at Kentucky, the latter of the two to be an ESPN Saturday night game at 9 p.m.

Alabama visits Gainesville on Feb. 14 followed by a CBS telecast at Vanderbilt on Feb. 17. The Gators host South Carolina on Feb. 21 before a pair of nationally-televised road games at LSU on Feb. 24 on CBS and at Tennessee on Feb. 27 on ESPN.

The Gators close out the regular season with Kentucky coming to the O’Connell Center for Senior Day on March 4 for a nationally-televised game on CBS at noon.

Florida will travel to Atlanta for the SEC Tournament from March 8-11 in search of its third consecutive tournament title.

Additional times and television are still in the works and will be announced at a later date.

2006-07 Florida Men’s Basketball Schedule

(As of 8/21/06)

Date Opponent Location Arena Time TV

November

Thurs. 2 Northwood (Exh.) Gainesville, Fla. O’Connell Center 7 p.m. TBA

Sun. 5 Berry (Exh.) Gainesville, Fla. O’Connell Center 3:30 p.m. TBA

Fri. 10 Samford Gainesville, Fla. O’Connell Center 8 p.m.  TBA

Tues. 14 North Florida Gainesville, Fla. O’Connell Center 7 p.m. TBA

Thurs. 16 Jacksonville Gainesville, Fla. O’Connell Center 7 p.m. TBA

Sat. 18 Tenn.-Chattanooga^ Gainesville, Fla. O’Connell Center 7 p.m.  TBA

Tues. 21 Prairie View ^ Gainesville, Fla. O’Connell Center 7:30 p.m. TBA

Fri. 24 Western Kentucky^ Las Vegas, Nev.  Orleans Arena 10:30 p.m. TBA

Sat. 25 Kansas^ Las Vegas, Nev.  Orleans Arena 10:30 p.m. ESPN2

Tues. 28 Southern University Gainesville, Fla. O’Connell Center 7 p.m. TBA

December

Sun. 3 Florida State Tallahassee, Fla. Donald L. Tucker Center 8 p.m. Fox Sports Net

Wed. 6 Providence Gainesville, Fla. O’Connell Center 7 p.m.  TBA

Sun. 17 Florida A&M Tampa, Fla. St. Pete Times Forum 6 p.m. TBA

Wed. 20 Stetson Gainesville, Fla. O’Connell Center 7 p.m.  TBA

Sat. 23 Ohio State Gainesville, Fla. O’Connell Center 4 p.m.  CBS

Sat. 30 UAB% Sunrise, Fla. BankAtlantic Center TBA TBA

January

Tues. 2 Liberty Gainesville, Fla. O’Connell Center 6 p.m.  TBA

Sat. 6 Georgia* Gainesville, Fla. O’Connell Center Noon Lincoln Financial

Tues. 9 Arkansas* Gainesville, Fla. O’Connell Center 7 p.m. ESPN

Sat. 13 South Carolina* Columbia, S.C. Colonial Center 1 p.m. Lincoln Financial

Sat. 20 Ole Miss* Gainesville, Fla. O’Connell Center 1 p.m. Lincoln Financial

Wed. 24 Mississippi State* Starkville, Miss. Humphrey Coliseum TBA TBA

Sat. 27 Auburn* Auburn, Ala. Beard-Eaves Coliseum 1 p.m. TBA

Wed. 31 Vanderbilt* Gainesville, Fla. O’Connell Center TBA TBA

February

Sat. 3 Tennessee* Gainesville, Fla. O’Connell Center 3 p.m. Lincoln Financial

Wed. 7 Georgia* Athens, Ga. Stegeman Coliseum 7:30 p.m. TBA

Sat. 10 Kentucky* Lexington, Ky.  Rupp Arena 9 p.m. ESPN

Wed. 14 Alabama* Gainesville, Fla. O’Connell Center 8 p.m. Lincoln Financial

Sat. 17 Vanderbilt* Nashville, Tenn. Memorial Gym 1 p.m. CBS

Wed. 21 South Carolina* Gainesville, Fla. O’Connell Center 8 p.m. Lincoln Financial

Sat. 24 LSU* Baton Rouge, La. Maravich Assembly Center 3:45 p.m. CBS

Tues. 27 Tennessee* Knoxville, Tenn. Thompson-Boling Arena 9 p.m. ESPN

March

Sun. 4 Kentucky* Gainesville, Fla. O’Connell Center Noon CBS

Thurs.- Sun.

8-11 SEC Tournament Atlanta, Ga.  Georgia Dome TBA LF/CBS

Thurs.-Sat.

15-17 NCAA Tournament- 1st/2nd Rounds

Buffalo, N.Y./HSBC Arena

Lexington, Ky./Rupp Arena

Sacramento, Calif./ARCO Arena

Winston-Salem, N.C./Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Fri.-Sun.

16-18 NCAA Tournament- 1st/2nd Rounds

Chicago, Ill./United Center

Columbus, Ohio/Nationwide Arena

New Orleans, La./New Orleans Arena

Spokane, Wash./Spokane Memorial Arena

Thurs.-Sat.

22-24 NCAA Tournament – Regionals

San Antonio, Texas/Alamodome

San Jose, Calif./HP Pavilion

1.  NCAA Tournament- Regionals

East Rutherford, N.J./Continental Airlines Arena

St. Louis, Mo./Edward Jones Dome

April

Sat.-Mon.

March 31-

April 1 NCAA Tournament – Final Four

Atlanta, Ga./Georgia Dome

^ Las Vegas Invitational

% Orange Bowl Classic

* Denotes SEC game