GAINESVILLE — The Florida men’s basketball team will open SEC play Jan. 3 at Missouri, the first of several high-profile Saturday games for the reigning national champion Gators — most of them at home.

UF will host Tennessee Jan. 10, Auburn Jan. 24, Alabama Jan. 31, Kentucky Feb. 14 and Arkansas on Feb. 28, all teams ranked in ESPN.com’s early preseason Top 25 released Tuesday.

The Gators are ranked No. 2 behind Purdue.

Todd Golden’s squad returns one of the nation’s best frontlines, led by 6-foot-11 Alex Condon and 6-foot-9 Thomas Haugh, and a rebuilt backcourt featuring transfers Boogie Fland (Arkansas) and Xaivian Lee (Princeton) .

But UF must overcome a series of non-conference road tests, including a Dec. 2 visit to Duke , along with 18 games in a conference that prod

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