Florida Gators basketball releases complete 2017-18 nonconference schedule

Basketball

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The Florida Gators took the Southeastern Conference‘s mandate for league teams to schedule tougher nonconference opponents to heart a few seasons ago, and their difficult booking continues entering the 2017-18 campaign.

Though individual games have been announced and leaked over the last few months, Florida released its complete 2017-18 nonconference schedule on Thursday.

UF’s opponent for the annual Orange Bowl Basketball Classic in Sunrise, Florida, will be the Clemson Tigers. Florida will also face the Cincinnati Bearcats as part of the 2017 Never Forget Games on Dec. 9 in Newark, New Jersey. It is believed that game is replacing UF’s return contest with Michigan State, which was pushed to the 2018-19 slate.

The Gators will also play the Baylor Bears in the 2017 SEC-Big 12 Challenge and participate in the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland, Oregon. Florida is guaranteed to face Stanford to open the event before taking on either Gonzaga or Ohio State in the next round. UF may also play Butler, Duke and/or Texas all as part of the event.

The Gators played nearly the entire 2016-17 nonconference schedule away from home due to a massive renovation to the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Florida will host Baylor in the 2017 SEC/Big 12 Challenge and also have FSU travel to its home arena, meaning it will not play a single true road game until league play.

Check out the entire nonconference schedule below.