Florida Gators Basketball - schedule, injuries and more

With football season fast approaching, I thought I would take a slightly different tack today and talk some basketball.

The Florida Gators basketball team has finished putting together their 2009-10 schedule and today I'll run through a quick breakdown, as well as giving you some tidbits on the latest injuries and factors that could affect the Gators on the hardwood this season.

First off, let's talk about the roster. As many of you know, the Gators figure to get some backcourt help from Nimrod Tishman, an Israeli guard who is expected to enroll at Florida and play this season.

Tishman, however, is in limbo of sorts, as the UF staff works to convince Israel to let him enroll instead of serving a nationally mandated three years of service with the military.

If I had to guess, Nimrod Tishman will get in, but things appear to be at a standstill at the moment. Regardless of whether or not Tishman ends up being overmatched in the Southeastern Conference, the Gators need him on the roster strictly from a numbers standpoint.

I'll keep you posted as more develops on his situation.

Another reason we really need Tishman this year is that guard Adam Allen looks like he might not be able to play this year, as he continues to recover from his knee injury. This isn't altogether unexpected, but it's still a blow to have a scholarship player out for another year.

Finally, Eloy Vargas could potentially be dealing with some academic ineligibility issues, as he is reportedly bombing several classes. Despite the fact that he didn't play much last year, losing Vargas would still hurt.

He has potential, even if he hasn't shown it yet so far in his career for the Gators. It's also rumored that he is traveling to the University of Kentucky in the very near future, but I wouldn't be too concerned about a transfer from Vargas, at least not to Kentucky.

In the event that he is ineligible, it may be best for the Gators if Vargas does seek a transfer. There's no guarantee he'll be able to get his academics in order, given his current status in the classroom, so a transfer would free up a scholarship and allow the Gators to sign another player in the upcoming recruiting class.

I think the Gators could really use another fresh body next year, in addition to the two we figure to bring in already.

Now, on to the schedule. The Gators have a school record 12 of their 16 conference games nationally televised this year, which will be awesome both for the fans and for recruiting.

The schedule is also much tougher than in the past two years, both of which resulted in NIT appearances. More to come on this later, but for now, here is the complete 2009 schedule.

Date	Opponent	Site	Time	TV
Mon Nov 2	St. Leo University	Gainesville, FL	7:00PM(ET)	GVO
Mon Nov 9	Webber International	Gainesville, FL	7:00PM(ET)	GVO
Sun Nov 15	Stetson	Gainesville, FL	TBA	TBA
Wed Nov 18	Georgia Southern	Gainesville, FL	TBA	TBA
Fri Nov 20	Troy	Gainesville, FL	TBA	TBA
Tue Nov 24	Florida State	Gainesville, FL	TBA	TBA
Fri Nov 27	vs Michigan State	Atlantic City, NJ	TBA	TBA
Sat Nov 28	vs UMass/Rutgers	Atlantic City, NJ	TBA	TBA
Tue Dec 1	Florida A&M	Gainesville, FL	TBA	TBA
Fri Dec 4	at Jacksonville	Jacksonville, FL	TBA	TBA
Thu Dec 10	vs Syracuse	Tampa, FL	9:00PM(ET)	ESPN
Sat Dec 19	vs Richmond	Sunrise, FL	TBA	TBA
Tue Dec 22	South Alabama	Gainesville, FL	TBA	TBA
Mon Dec 28	American	Gainesville, FL	TBA	TBA
Wed Dec 30	Presbyterian	Gainesville, FL	TBA	TBA
Sun Jan 3	at North Carolina State	Raleigh, N.C.	TBA	TBA
Sat Jan 9	at Vanderbilt	Nashville, TN	Noon(ET)	ESPN
Tue Jan 12	Kentucky	Gainesville, FL	9:00PM(ET)	ESPN
Sat Jan 16	LSU	Gainesville, FL	8:00PM(ET)	FSN
Thu Jan 21	at Arkansas	Fayetteville, AR	9:00PM(ET)	ESPN/ESPN2
Sat Jan 23	South Carolina	Gainesville, FL	6:00PM(ET)	ESPN
Wed Jan 27	Georgia	Gainesville, FL	7:00PM(ET)	CSS
Sun Jan 31	at Tennessee	Knoxville, TN	1:00PM(ET)	CBS
Thu Feb 4	at Alabama	Tuscaloosa, AL	7:00PM(ET)	ESPNU
Sat Feb 6	Mississippi State	Gainesville, FL	1:30PM(ET)	SEC Network
Wed Feb 10	at South Carolina	Columbia, SC	8:00PM(ET)	SEC Network
Sat Feb 13	Xavier	Gainesville, FL	6:00PM(ET)	ESPN
Thu Feb 18	Auburn	Gainesville, FL	7:00PM(ET)	ESPN/ESPN2
Sat Feb 20	at Ole Miss	Oxford, MS	Noon(ET)	CBS
Tue Feb 23	Tennessee	Gainesville, FL	9:00PM(ET)	ESPN
Sat Feb 27	at Georgia	Athens, GA	4:00PM(ET)	SEC Network
Tue Mar 2	Vanderbilt	Gainesville, FL	7:00PM(ET)	ESPN
Sun Mar 7	at Kentucky	Lexington, KY	Noon(ET)	CBS
Mar 11-14	SEC Tournament