The Grand Canyon aspiration to be a national contender will seize the opportunity of facing a national powerhouse.
The Lopes will take on probable preseason No. 1 Florida on Dec. 18 in the Jacksonville Hoops Showdown for what may prove to be GCU’s first top-10 opponent since the 2023 NCAA Tournament (Gonzaga) and first top-ranked opponent since the 2016-17 season opener (Duke).
“It’s a great opportunity to play on national TV against the No. 1 or No. 2 team in the country,” GCU seventh-year head coach Bryce Drew said. “It will give our players an opportunity to play against future NBA players with a lot of NBA scouts at the game.”
GCU’s first meeting with SEC defending champion will take place at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, a downtown Jacksonville venue that is 74 miles from the Gators’ Gainesville campus. Tip time and television information will be announced later. Tickets will be available by presale Oct. 20 (registration) and to the general public on Oct. 21 with sales starting at 8 a.m. (Phoenix time) each day. The Jacksonville Hoops Showdown includes a Dec. 20 game between Florida State and Houston that will be ticketed separately.
Florida, already named a preseason No. 1 by ESPN and CBS Sports, earned a national No. 1 seed in the past two NCAA Tournaments and won the 2025 national championship, its first since its back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007.
“It’s really difficult to find top teams to play,” Drew said. “We thank Florida for giving us the opportunity to play them in Jacksonville. We know a lot of teams don’t get these opportunities, so we’re thankful.”
Drew and Golden (left) met
at the 2021 Colangelo Classic.
Under Phoenix native Todd Golden in his fifth year as head coach, Florida returns four starters and two more rotation players from a 27-8 team that was the nation’s fourth-ranked team entering last season’s NCAA Tournament. Drew faced off twice with Golden when the Lopes beat his San Francisco team in 2022 and lost to his Dons in 2021.
“We’re excited to get back to Jacksonville for a third straight season and play in front of the great Gator fans there in Duval County,” said Golden, whose previous Jacksonville wins came against Miami last season (82-68) and South Florida in 2024-25 (98-83). “A lot of our guys have had the chance to play there multiple times already, and it has continued to be a great experience for all of us. We have a lot of respect for Coach Drew and Grand Canyon and look forward to a great game with them.”
The Gators return 82% of last season’s scoring and feature a massive frontcourt, highlighted by 6-foot-9 junior forward and All-America pick Thomas Haugh (17.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game) and 6-10 junior center and Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Rueben Chinyelu (10.9 points and 11.2 rebounds per game).
Florida also returns 6-3 sophomore guard Boogie Fland (11.6 points and 3.5 assists per game) and 6-11 power forward Alex Condon (15.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game) from last season’s team, which set a program record by averaging 87.1 points, led the nation with a plus-14.7 rebound margin per game and sported a top-10 defense for the second consecutive season.
Senior guard Denzel Aberdeen is attempting to return to Florida, where he spent his first three seasons, after averaging 13.5 points for Kentucky last season. But he will need an eligibility waiver to be eligible after playing four seasons.
GCU is seeking its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance since 2021 with a roster that features returning starters Makaih Williams and Efe Demirel, returning part-time starter Caleb Shaw and a transfer portal class of seven players with Division I starting experience.
Williams, a 6-2 senior guard with 70 career starts, ranked second on the Lopes in scoring at 14.0 points per game and passed the 1,000-point career scoring mark last season. Demirel, a 7-foot sophomore center, also helped GCU to a 20-12 season by averaging 8.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocked shots per game after arriving from Turkey in August.
“A lot of season has to happen before that game against Florida, and we’ll know a lot more about our team with so many unknowns right now,” Drew said. “We like the veteran experience that we have returning and from the portal. We have players that are used to playing in big games.”
The Jacksonville Hoops Showdown is the second neutral-site event announced for GCU’s coming season. The Lopes also will return to the Acrisure Series for Nov. 24-25 games in Palm Desert, California. The venue, VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, holds about 14,000 fans for basketball and had an average attendance of just more than 7,000 for the first two Gators games there.
𝐋𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐒 𝐯𝐬. 𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐒. 🌴🏀
The Lopes will meet the 2025 national champions in the Jacksonville Hoops Showdown on December 18th at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.
📰: https://t.co/zDusZOlkyD pic.twitter.com/EVaqwxcqA6
— Grand Canyon Men’s Basketball (@GCU_MBB) August 11, 2026