Virginia hoops to play Florida in first-ever regular season meeting

Report: Virginia hoops to play Florida at Mohegan Sun tourney originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

For the first time in the schools’ regular-season history, the Virginia and Florida men’s basketball programs will play each other, CBS Sports reported Monday.

According to the report, the schools have agreed to play Nov. 27 as part of a tournament at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. It’ll be the second game of the season for both the Cavaliers and Gators after each team tips off the season from the same location against mid-major programs on Nov. 25.

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Mohegan Sun submitted a proposal in September to the NCAA and over 80 colleges to host a “bubble” tournament this upcoming season, to accommodate teams in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The matchup between Virginia and Florida appears to be a part of that plan. UVA is no stranger to the Mohegan Sun site, as the Cavs played there last November when they defeated Massachusetts and Arizona State.

According to CBS Sports, accepting this invites means Virginia has opted out of the Wooden Legacy tournament in Orlando, scheduled to take place the same weekend. It was reported in September that Georgetown also dropped out of the Wooden Legacy.

Virginia has played Florida twice in the past, going 1-2 in those games, but never have they met in the regular season. The teams’ first matchup came in the 1992 NIT, a win for Virginia. Both of UVA’s losses to Florida came in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, in 2012 and 2017.