The Florida Gators went 36-4 last season, winning their third national championship. This season, the 18th-ranked Gators have already equaled their loss total from all of last year.
On Saturday, the Gators (5-4) will try to get back on track as they face the George Washington Revolutionaries (8-3) in a neutral-site, Orange Bowl Classic game in Sunrise, Fla.
Things have not gone well for coach Todd Golden’s Gators this season in terms of their record. However, their four losses have come by a combined total of 15 points. Further, three of their losses have come against top 15 teams. In fact, entering Saturday, Florida has lost two straight games — to No. 4 Duke and to No. 5 Connecticut.
Golden, though, is optimistic his Gators can bounce back, especially since he has three players who could potentially get selected in the 2026 NBA Draft: 6-9 forward Thomas Haugh; 6-11 forward Alex Condon; and 6-2 guard Boogie Fland, who transferred in from Arkansas.
Of those three, Haugh appears to be the consensus first-rounder, and he has been playing at an All-American level, leading the Gators in scoring (18.6) and ranking third in rebounds (7.0). Condon ranks second in scoring (15.0) and in rebounds (9.0). Fland is averaging 12.0 points, and 6-3 guard Xaivian Lee is averaging 9.6 points. Lee averaged 16.9 points at Princeton last season.
“I’m a positive guy,” Golden said. “We’re close. We’re right there. If we just get five percent better in the next couple of weeks, we will be pretty good in SEC play.”
Meanwhile, the Revolutionaries are coming off a 70-58 loss to Delaware on Wednesday.
On Saturday, George Washington will try to match up against Florida’s frontcourt of Haugh, Condon and 6-10, 265-pound Rueben Chinyelu.
George Washington will counter with 6-11, 220-pound Rafael Castro; 6-8, 220-pound Garrett Johnson; and 6-7, 220-pound Bubu Benjamin.
For added size, George Washington can turn to 6-10, 250-pound reserve center Luke Hunger, who averages 16 minutes, 6.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.
George Washington also has a pair of 6-4 starting guards: Trey Autry and Christian Jones.
Saturday’s game will also be a homecoming for George Washington coach Chris Caputo, who spent 11 years as the University of Miami’s associate head coach.
Unfortunately for Caputo, his former boss at Miami, Jim Larranaga, will not be at Saturday’s game because he will be at George Mason as that school celebrates the 20th anniversary of their shocking run to the 2006 Final Four.
Caputo was also on that staff, but he will be busy wrestling some (basketball) Gators on Saturday.
As for George Washington, Caputo’s squad is coming off a 21-13 record in 2024-2025, which was the program’s best record in nine years.
Now in his fourth season at George Washington, this will be Caputo’s first Orange Bowl Classic as a head coach. “It’s exciting because of my great memories in Miami,” Caputo said. “But the idea that we will be playing the reigning national champs (Florida) is going to be great for our players to challenge themselves.”
–Field Level Media
