Florida football scheduling two Pac-12 teams for rare future home-and-home series

By Adam Silverstein
November 6, 2019
Florida football scheduling two Pac-12 teams for rare future home-and-home series
Football

The West Coast will get a taste of the Florida Gators in the regular season for the first time since the 1980s as the program will soon announce a pair of home-and-home series with Pac-12 opponents. Florida has agreed to contracts to face the California Golden Bears and Arizona State Sun Devils as it continues to build out its schedules with Power Five nonconference games, a source close to the program told OnlyGators.com.

Florida will host Cal in 2026 and Arizona State in 2031. The Gators will hit the road to play the Golden Bears in Berkeley, California, in 2027 and then travel to face the Sun Devils in Tempe, Arizona, in 2028.

UF is 2-0 all-time against Cal and has never faced ASU. It has not played a team from the current Pac-12 since 1989 and not done so in the regular season since 1983. The Gators are 6-4-1 all-time against the conference’s programs (previously in the Pac-10, Pac-8, AAWU and Pacific Coast).

Florida in 2027 will play its first game in the state of California since a 34-7 loss to Washington in the 1989 Freedom Bowl. It will do so for the first time in the regular season since a 19-19 tie with USC in 1983. UF beat Cal 41-13 in 1980 and 21-17 in 1974 with both games played in the Sunshine State. The Gators will play their first regular-season game in Arizona in 2028. They have not played a game in the state since they beat Ohio State 41-14 in the 2007 BCS Championship Game.

The moves to schedule two Pac-12 teams come just weeks after Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin made the team’s search for future Power Five opponents public. Stricklin and head coach Dan Mullen have done a fine job building the Gators’ future nonconference schedule as they aim to face at least 10 Power Five opponents each season, eight from the SEC, Florida State and one or two additional opponents. UF already had home-and-home series scheduled with Miami, Texas, Utah and Colorado and will now play at least two Power Five opponents every year from 2022-31.

Upcoming Power Five nonconference games

2020: at Florida State
2021: vs. Florida State
2022: vs. Utah, at Florida State
2023: at Utah, vs. Florida State
2024: vs. Miami, at Florida State
2025: at Miami, vs. Florida State
2026: vs. Cal, at Florida State
2027: at Cal, vs. Florida State
2028: vs. Colorado, at Arizona State, at Florida State
2029: at Colorado, vs. Florida State
2030: vs. Texas, at Florida State
2031: at Texas, vs. Arizona State, vs. Florida State

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