Florida announced Wednesday night it will host Palm Beach Atlantic in its lone official exhibition game on Nov. 5 (7 p.m. tip) at the O’Connell Center.
Palm Beach Atlantic finished last season 10-16 overall as a Division II Independent. The Sailfish are coached by Dave Balza, who previously coached at Florida Gulf Coast University before FGCU went Division I. Another interesting aside, one of Palm Beach Atlantic’s assistants, Eddie Shannon, was a former standout UF point guard from 1995-99 who helped lead the Gators to the Sweet 16 during his senior season.
The Gators unveiled their SEC schedule on Wednesday and will open conference play Jan. 2 at home against Georgia. In addition to the Palm Beach Atlantic game, Florida will play a non-publicized preseason game against a Division I opponent. In recent seasons, Florida has played VCU, Georgia Tech and UCF in preseason games.
