The 2026-27 college basketball campaign starts this week and November's men's hoops schedule has a handful of must-see games lined up, including Florida's season opener against Miami.
The Sunshine State showdown between the Gators and Hurricanes cracked USA TODAY Sports writer John Leuzzi's list of the top must-see matchups taking place during the opening month. The 71st meeting between the two schools on the collegiate parquet landed in the third tier of the listing.
"In just one season, Jai Lucas has revitalized Miami's program, bringing renewed optimism to South Beach after the Hurricanes went 26-9 a year ago. But his team will open the 2026-27 season with a daunting challenge against preseason No. 1 Florida, which returns one of the nation's
most talented and experienced rosters," Leuzzi notes.
"The individual matchup between Miami freshman star Shelton Henderson and Florida standout Thomas Haugh is worth the price of admission alone, as two of the best forwards in college basketball go head-to-head in the Orion180 Tipoff Classic in Tampa."
The Orange and Blue begin the season as the No. 1 team in both the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and AP Top 25, while the Orange and Green start at Nos. 17 and 14, respectively.
Florida and Miami tip off the season opener on Monday at 6 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Top 16 must-watch college basketball games in November
Tier A
- UConn vs Michigan (Friday, Nov. 6 at 8 p.m. ET)
- Champions Classic:
- Michigan State-Duke (Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. ET)
- Kansas-Kentucky (8:30 p.m. ET)
- UConn vs Duke (Wednesday, Nov. 25 at 7 p.m. ET)
- UConn vs Arizona (Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 9 p.m. ET)
- Arkansas vs Michigan (Thursday, Nov. 26 at 4:30 p.m. ET)
Tier B
- Michigan State vs Tennessee (Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 9 p.m. ET)
- Illinois vs Duke (Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. ET)
- Gonzaga vs Purdue (Monday, Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m. ET)
- Arizona vs UCLA (Monday, Nov. 2 at 10 p.m. ET)
- Arkansas vs Virginia (Sunday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. ET)
Tier C
- Miami vs Florida (Monday, Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. ET)
- Illinois vs Texas Tech (Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 8 p.m. ET)
- Arkansas vs Indiana (Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m. ET)
- Michigan vs Marquette (Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. ET)
- Villanova vs Kansas (Friday, Nov. 27 at 5 p.m. ET)
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida-Miami among college basketball's must-watch games in November
