The defending National Champion Florida Gators men's basketball team returns to the court on Nov. 3. Led by head coach Todd Golden, the reigning title winners won't be able to fly under the radar like they did much of last season.

Not only was Florida the star of March and April last year, but this year Golden has added a slew of marquee non-conference games to start the season. It's a marked difference from last year when it seemed the Gators went out of their way to avoid any big challenges before SEC play began.

In a rarity for the NIL and transfer portal era, Florida is a defending champ that doesn't actually have to fully rebuild its roster. It's a big reason they're ranked No. 3 to start the season in the AP Top 25. There are holes to be filled, particularly in the backcourt, but Golden and his staff entered the offseason with far fewer questions than would typically be expected. 

It helps that last year's UF team was built more on depth and team basketball than it was on star power. However, as star power goes, the Gators have two literally huge returnees in forwards Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh, both juniors.

After paving the way to last year's title run, those two will have UF set in the frontcourt all season long, provided both stay healthy. There is also good returning depth behind them.

All six of Golden's new signees are guards, so Gator fans can expect to see new faces feeding those men in the post - and taking plenty of shots of their own. 

The biggest names among the new transfers are point guard Boogie Fland (Kentucky) and shooting guard Xaivian Lee (Princeton). Fland was a five-star signee for John Calipari at UK last year, and despite scoring in droves, he decided to return to college for another year to improve his draft stock. He chose Golden and UF to help develop him for that next step.

Lee was a sharpshooter for Princeton, scoring 16.9 and 17.1 points per game the last two years, respectively. He also chipped in 6.1 rebounds per game, 5.5 assists per game, and 1.2 steals per game as a junior last year.

The Gators begin their season on Monday, Nov. 3, when they play No. 13 Arizona. See the full roster and schedule below.

Florida women's basketball also begins its season on Monday, with head coach Kelly Finley entering her fifth year at the helm of the program. The program has reached the postseason in every year of her leadership, including an appearance in the WBIT Final last spring.

All times Eastern

ARIZONA

Nov. 3 (Mon) Time: 7 p.m.

@ Las Vegas, Nev.

TV: TNT

NORTH FLORIDA

Nov. 6 (Thur) Time: 8 p.m.

@ Gainesville, Fla.

TV: SEC/ESPN+

FLORIDA STATE

Nov. 11 (Tue) Time: 7 p.m.

@ Gainesville, Fla.

TV: SEC/ESPN

MIAMI

Nov. 16 (Sun) Time: 8:30 p.m.

@ Jacksonville

TV: ESPN

MERRIMACK

Nov. 21 (Fri) Time: 7 p.m.

@ Gainesville

TV: SEC/ESPN+

TCU

Nov. 27 (Thur) Time: 3 p.m.

@ San Diego, Calif.

TV: FS1

PROVIDENCE or WISCONSIN

Nov. 28 (Fri) Time: 3 or 5:30 p.m.

@ San Diego, Calif.

TV: FOX

DUKE

Dec. 2 (Tue) Time: 7:30 p.m.

@ Durham, N.C.

TV: ESPN

UCONN

Dec. 9 (Tue) Time: 9 p.m.

@ New York

TV: ESPN

GEORGE WASHINGTON

Dec. 13 (Sat) Time: 2:30 p.m.

@ Sunrise, Fla.

TV: ESPN2

ST. FRANCIS

Dec. 17 (Wed) Time: 6:30 p.m.

@ Gainesville, Fla.

TV: SEC/ESPN

COLGATE

Dec. 21 (Sun) Time: Noon

@ Gainesville, Fla.

TV: SEC/ESPN+

DARTMOUTH

Dec. 29 (Mon) Time: 6 p.m.

@ Gainesville, Fla.

TV: SEC/ESPN

MISSOURI

Jan. 3 (Sat) Time: 8:30 p.m.

@ Columbia, Mo.

TV: SEC/ESPN

GEORGIA

Jan. 6 (Tue) Time: 7 p.m.

@ Gainesville, Fla.

TV: SEC/ESPN

TENNESSEE

Jan. 10 (Sat) Time: noon

@ Gainesville, Fla.

TV: ESPN or ESPN2

OKLAHOMA

Jan. 13 (Tue) Time: 9 p.m.

@ Norman, Okla.

TV: ESPN or ESPNU

VANDERBILT

Jan. 17 (Sat) Time: 2 p.m.

@ Nashville, Tenn.

TV: ESPN or ESPN2 or ESPNU

LSU

Jan. 20 (Tue) Time: 7 p.m.

@ Gainesville

TV: ESPN2

AUBURN

Jan. 24 (Sat) Time: 4 or 4:30 p.m.

@ Gainesville, Fla.

TV: ESPN or ESPN2

SOUTH CAROLINA

Jan. 28 (Wed) Time: 9 p.m.

@ Columbia, S.C.

TV: SEC/ESPN

ALABAMA

Feb. 1 (Sun) Time: 1 p.m.

@ Gainesville, Fla.

TV: ABC

TEXAS A&M

Feb. 7 (Sat) Time: 8:30 p.m.

@ College Station, Texas

TV: SEC/ESPN

GEORGIA

Feb. 11 (Wed) Time: 7 p.m.

@ Athens, Ga.

TV: ESPN2 or ESPNU

KENTUCKY

Feb. 14 (Sat) Time: 3 p.m.

@ Gainesville, Fla.

TV: ABC

SOUTH CAROLINA

Feb. 17 (Tue) Time: 7 p.m.

@ Gainesville, Fla.

TV: SEC/ESPN

OLE MISS

Feb. 21 (Sat) Time: noon

@ Oxford, Miss.

TV: ESPN or ESPN2

TEXAS

Feb. 25 (Wed) Time: 7 p.m.

@ Austin, Texas

TV: ESPN2 or ESPNU

ARKANSAS

Feb. 28 (Sat) Time: 8:30 p.m.

@ Gainesville, Fla.

TV: ESPN or ESPN2

MISSISSIPPI STATE

March 3 (Tue) Time: 8 p.m.

@ Gainesville, Fla.

TV: SEC/ESPN

KENTUCKY

March 7 (Sat) Time: 4 p.m.

@ Lexington, Ky.

TV: ESPN or ESPN2

SEC TOURNAMENT

March 11-15

Nashville, Tenn.

Full bios here.

0 - Boogie Fland

6-3 sophomore guard

Bronx, N.Y.

1 - Xaivian Lee

6-4 senior guard

Toronto, Ontario

3 - Micah Handlogten

7-1 senior center

Lake Norman, N.C.

4 - Alex Lloyd

6-3 freshman guard

Miami, Fla.

7 - Urban Klavzar

6-1 junior guard

Domzale, Slovenia

8 - Alex Kovatchev

6-5 redshirt sophomore guard

Perth, Australia

9 - Reuben Chinyelu

6-10 junior center

Enugwu-Agidi, Nigeria

10 - Thomas Haugh

6-9 junior forward

New Oxford, Pa.

11 - CJ Ingram

6-6 freshman guard

Hawthorne, Fla.

12 - Viktor Mikic

6-11 sophomore center

Beograd, Serbia

20 - Isaiah Brown

6-4 sophomore guard

Orlando, Fla.

21 - Alex Condon

6-11 junior forward-center

Perth, Australia

23 - AJ Brown

6-4 redshirt junior guard

Orlando, Fla.

32 - Olivier Rioux

7-9 redshirt freshman center

Terrebonne, Quebec

33 - Cooper Josefsberg

6-4 junior guard

Miami, Fla.

Head coach - Todd Golden

Assistants - Carlin Hartman, Korey McCray, Dave Klatsky, Taurean Green, Jonathan Safir