University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn To Face Florida In Jimmy V Blockbuster
6/4/2025 11:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NEW YORK – ESPN Events has announced that the UConn men's basketball team will return to the Jimmy V Classic for the 2025 iteration on December 9 at Madison Square Garden. The Huskies will battle Florida in a match-up of the last three national champions and a rematch of a 2025 NCAA Second Round thriller. The other match-up in the doubleheader at MSG will feature BYU and Clemson at 6:30 p.m., while the Huskies and Gators will tip at 9 p.m. Both games will air on ESPN.
The Jimmy V Classic, named for legendary college basketball coach Jim Valvano, annually raises money and awareness for the V Foundation for Cancer Research. The men's Classic began in 1995 and is in its 31st year – 22nd at Madison Square Garden – and is part of ESPN's V Week initiative, which utilizes platforms to talk to sports fans about the importance of cancer research. To date, ESPN has helped raise more than $262 million for the V Foundation since 1993. ESPN's annual V Week has helped to raise nearly $101 million over the past 18 years.
Tickets for the men's doubleheader will go on sale this fall. First priority and access to the best seats will be offered to fans who sign up for the pre-sale through jimmyvclassic.com.
The trip to the Jimmy V Classic will be UConn's fifth in program history and first since taking down North Carolina in a top-10 showdown on Dec. 5, 2023. Head coach Dan Hurley will be making his third appearance in the event with the Huskies, also facing Indiana at MSG in 2019. All-time, UConn is 1-4 at the Jimmy V, also taking part in the event in 2012, 2015 and 2017.
The visit to Madison Square Garden continues a longstanding tradition of the Huskies descending on 'Storrs South' during the regular season ahead of the BIG EAST Tournament in March. Last season UConn took down Gonzaga, 77-71, on Dec. 14 in the Hall of Fame Series New York at The Garden. Hurley is 15-8 as the UConn coach at MSG and the Huskies are 77-62 all-time in the building in which they have played the most games outside of Connecticut.
UConn is 5-2 all-time against Florida in a series that dates back to the 1994 NCAA Tournament. Prior to the 77-75 setback to the eventual champions on March 23 in Raleigh, Connecticut had won five-straight in the series. Included in that run were a pair of home-and-home sweeps along with a 63-53 victory for the Huskies in the 2014 Final Four en route to the program's fourth national title.
The match-up with Florida will be the first time the Huskies have taken on the defending national champion since a non-conference setback to Villanova in December of 2018. The Gators join a gauntlet of 2025-26 non-conference foes already announced for Connecticut, including games against BYU (Nov. 15 in Boston), Arizona (Nov. 19 in Connecticut) and Texas (Dec. 12 in Connecticut).
UConn All-Time in the Jimmy V Classic (all games played at Madison Square Garden)
- Dec. 4, 2012 – No. 25 NC State 65, UConn 59
- Dec. 8, 2015 – No. 6 Maryland 76, UConn 66
- Dec. 5, 2017 – Syracuse 72, UConn 63
- Dec. 10, 2019 – Indiana 57, UConn 54
- Dec. 5, 2023 – No. 5 UConn 87, No. 9 North Carolina 76
- Dec. 9, 2025 – UConn vs. Florida
