No. 1 at Tipoff: Florida Opens Against No. 14 Miami in Tampa

Photo: GatorBait Media

TAMPA, Fla. — The No. 1 team in the country has not played a game that counts yet, and its first one is not a soft opener. Florida meets No. 14 Miami on Monday at 6 p.m. ET at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, with ESPN2 carrying the game.

The Gators earned the top spot in the Associated Press preseason poll released Oct. 19, finishing with 1,461 points. Duke was second with 1,411 and Illinois third with 1,342. That is a 50-point gap over the Blue Devils, which is not much room to hold.

A senior front line

Todd Golden returns a roster with 7 seniors among its 15 players, and the three biggest names in the rotation play up front. Rueben Chinyelu is a 6-foot-10 senior center, Alex Condon a 6-foot-11 senior forward and Thomas Haugh a 6-foot-9 senior forward. All three are listed as seniors on ESPN’s roster page.

The backcourt leans on experience too. Denzel Aberdeen (6-5) and Urban Klavzar (6-1) are seniors, and Boogie Fland (6-3) is a junior. Freshmen Arturas Butajevas (6-10) and Jones Lay (6-11) add size off the bench.

What Miami brings

Jai Lucas is the Hurricanes’ coach, according to ESPN’s team page. Miami also has size and veterans. Malik Reneau is a 6-foot-9 senior forward, Egor Ryzhov a 6-foot-11 senior center and Somto Cyril a 6-foot-11 junior center. Nick Dorn, a 6-foot-7 senior guard, and Brent Bland and Quin Berger, senior guards, give the Hurricanes experience on the perimeter.

The Hurricanes arrive ranked No. 14. Miami’s football team is No. 1 in the AP poll this week, so the school is feeling good about its Monday date with the Gators.

The calendar after Tampa

The opener starts a quick November. Florida plays Jacksonville on Nov. 5 at the O’Connell Center, visits Florida State on Nov. 10, hosts Merrimack on Nov. 13, goes to Notre Dame on Nov. 17 and returns home to face Milwaukee on Nov. 24.

Football fans have their own reason to pay attention. The football Gators fell to 5-3 with a 27-8 loss at Georgia on Saturday and are No. 25 in this week’s AP poll, so basketball opens with the home crowd in a different mood than a month ago.

Florida basketball does not have to fix anything on Monday night. The Gators only have to show why the poll voters put them first.