Florida Gators Learn Opponent for 2022-23 SEC/Big 12 Challenge
The Florida Gators continue to see parts of their 2022-23 schedule come to light as November creeps closer.
On Thursday, UF learned Kansas State is scheduled as their opponent for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. The contest is slated to take place on January 28, 2023, in the Bramlage Coliseum (Manhattan, Kan.).
The Gators have battled against the Wildcats twice all time. Splitting the series 1-1 thus far, Florida picked up a 13-point victory over the No. 6 ranked Kansas State squad in the Metro PCS Orange Bowl Classic in Sunrise (Fla.) in 2010. They did so on the back of elite guard play from Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton, who combined for 28 points.
In their most recent matchup, K-State got redemption in Kansas City, toppling an eighth-ranked Gators squad 67-61 in 2012. The Wildcats leaned on Will Spradling's 17 points and 41.2% three-point shooting to knock off the eventual Elite Eight team.
The rubber match to take the series lead is now set.
The contest will provide two programs equipped with first-year head coaches and vastly reconstructed rosters an opportunity to earn a tone-setting victory in the annual SEC vs. Big 12 matchup before league play commences for each squad.
Jerome Tang, a longtime assistant at Baylor to national championship-winning head coach Scott Drew, takes over at the helm at Kansas State. He will look to translate the success he saw at Baylor — serving as an integral piece to the Bears' program reconstruction in the early 2000s — to make quick work of turning around the Wildcats despite losing their two leading scorers from a season ago.
Head coach Todd Golden and Co. face a similarly daunting task at UF, although their activity via the transfer portal provides greater hope for a year-one resurgence to the top of the SEC.
The Gators will look to extend their two-game win streak in the challenge to three when they travel to the midwest while also building momentum for Golden's first exposure to league play.
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