ESPN College GameDay to Return to Gainesville for Gators Basketball

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- As the 12th-ranked Florida Gators continue to rise in the national rankings, so is the national attention.

As a result, ESPN's College GameDay will return to Gainesville for the second time in as many years ahead of the Gators' sold-out game vs. No. 20 Arkansas on Feb. 28, ESPN and UF announced on Saturday. The show, held inside Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center, will air on ESPN from 10 a.m. to noon.

Tip-off between the Gators and the Razorbacks is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. with television coverage on ESPN or ESPN 2. Florida is currently ranked first in the SEC, while Arkansas is tied for second at two games behind the Gators, making the matchup one with considerable postseason implications.

What You Need to Know to Attend

Admission to attend College GameDay is free for all fans with no tickets required. Gate 3 (students) will open at 8:30 a.m., while Gate 1 (general admission) will open at 8:45 a.m. Parking at Garage 107 next to the arena is free, as well, with first-come, first-served arrangements. The garage will open at 7:30 a.m.

Exactech Arena will also have limited concessions available.

Gators' GameDay History

Next week will mark Florida's 10th appearance on College GameDay and seventh at home. It also marks the first time in program history that College GameDay comes to Gainesville in back-to-back seasons and the first time since 2017 and 2018 that the show features the Gators in back-to-back seasons.

Last year, the Gators beat Texas A&M, 89-70, after hosting GameDay on March 1, moving the program to 8-2 after appearing on GameDay and 5-1 at home. That appearance also marked the first time in seven seasons Florida appeared on GameDay, the first time in eight seasons GameDay came to Gainesville and just the second non-Kentucky game GameDay featured Florida in.

With its seventh time hosting, the Gators are among the top five most frequent sites for GameDay, joining Duke, North Carolina, Kansas and Kentucky.

Date	Opponent	Result
Feb. 4, 2006	Kentucky	W, 95-80
Feb. 10, 2007	@ Kentucky	W, 64-61
Jan. 19, 2008	Kentucky	W/OT, 81-70
Jan. 31, 2009	@ Tennessee	L, 79-63
Feb. 5, 2011	Kentucky	W, 70-68
Feb. 15, 2014	@ Kentucky	W, 69-59
Feb. 5, 2015	Kentucky	L, 68-61
Feb. 4, 2017	Kentucky	W, 88-66
Jan. 20, 2018	@ Kentucky	W, 66-64
March 1, 2025	Texas A&M	W, 89-79

2026 Season to Date

Florida is ranked 12th in the country, rising through the rankings with an 11-2 record in SEC play, including a six-game winning streak, to take hold of first place in the conference standings. While Florida garners national hype after a tough non-conference performance that put the Gators at the back of people's minds, head coach Todd Golden emphasized the need for Florida to keep its focus on the immediate schedule.

"You’re in a spot where you have five league games left, and you have a two-game lead in the league, which is an incredible spot to be in. But we can't necessarily focus on that or worry about it," Golden said. "The reality is, at the same time, having that goal in front of us, we still have to approach and focus on our day-to-day, just getting better."

Florida is currently on the road facing Ole Miss.