Notes On Each Of Florida’s Buy Game Opponents

Florida’s non-conference schedule has largely been announced, and alongside the conference home and away release–the season is really starting to take shape.

The past two seasons Florida’s coaching staff scheduled conservatively as they looked to stack wins and build confidence. Now that they know they can win National Championships at Florida, they have significantly cranked up the strength of schedule and you can look forward to a lot more marquee games in the fall. We have already talked about some of those marquee games, but we also need to note the “buy games” that they scheduled–the mid-major opponents the Gators bring to Gainesville to get some good reps and hopefully solid wins.

Here are some quick notes on each matchup:

 

North Florida

 

Projected NET: 352nd

 

The Ospreys, or “Birds Of Trey” have been a regular non-conference opponent for the Gators recently where they have brought their three-point heavy attack into Gainesville. Things will look different this year as head coach Matthew Driscoll, who had been at UNF for 16 years, would leave to take an associate position at Kansas State. This has usually been a game that the Gators have handled easily, and this year should be no different. UNF has been gutted every year in the transfer portal, and this year they projected to be one of the least talented teams in college basketball–perhaps part of the reason Driscoll made the decision to leave rather late in the offseason. 

 

Merrimack

 

Projected NET: 229th

 

This is by far one of the most interesting mid-major opponents on Florida’s schedule as they chose to take on one of the best and most underrated coaches in the country in Joe Gallo and Merrimack. Despite transitioning to D1 just a couple of years ago, Merrimack finished first in the NEC in both 2023 and 2024 before moving to the more competitive MAAC last season where they finished second. The most notable thing about Merrimack is the fact that they play a 2-3 zone 100% of the time, and they play it as disciplined as anyone in the country due to Gallo’s fantastic coaching. This will present a unique challenge to the Gators who didn’t see a lot of zone last year, though they will be able to prepare for it knowing that, with certainly, Merrimack will play it a ton. It will be an excellent game to prepare for zone if the Gators do see it later in the year, which might be part of the reason the Gators scheduled it. You might also remember the Gators played Merrimack two seasons ago, coming away with a 77-57 win. 77 points was tied for the fewest the Gators scored in a win that year, so you can tell the Merrimack 2-3 zone did some good things. 

 

Saint Francis

Projected NET: 345

 

Saint Francis was one of the great stories of college basketball last year as they entered the NEC Tournament as the 5th seed, only to win three games and earn a spot to the NCAA Tournament. Last season they finished 309th in KenPom so the Tournament berth doesn’t necessarily mean they were a great team, and Florida is expecting to win this game handily.


Colgate

Projected NET: 249th


Entering year 15 of the Matt Langel era, Colgate has perennially dominated the Patriot League and will be expected to do so once again. Offense has always been the strength of Colgate during this time and it will be a great opportunity for the Gators to get used to guarding some well-executed actions. New Florida assistant Dave Klatsy was a longtime assistant at Colgate, so it will be a great opportunity for him to see his former program.

 

Dartmouth

Projected NET: 190th

 

In an era where retention is tougher than ever, the one league that has had some success keeping players around is the Ivy League where players are often at an institution for reasons other than just basketball. For that reason Dartmouth has a crop of solid returning players and will look to finish in the top four of the Ivy again, and should present the Gators a good challenge. The Big Green play extremely fast and shoot a lot of threes, so it will be a notable style of play for the Gators to prepare for.



Eric Fawcett
Eric is a basketball coach and writer from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. His work has been found at NBA international properties, ESPN, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, Lindy's and others. He loves zone defenses, the extra pass, and a 30 second shot clock. Growing up in Canada, an American channel showing SEC basketball games was his first exposure to Gator hoops, and he has been hooked ever since. You can follow him on Twitter at @ericfawcett_.