Florida and Cal have announced a coast-to-coast home-and-home series between the two schools to be played in 2026 and 2027.
Florida will host Cal on Sept. 19, 2026. Cal will host the Gators the following season on Sept. 4, 2027. Florida leads the all-time series, 2-0, with the only previous meetings between the schools being played in 1974 and 1980. The first meeting took place in Gainesville and the second was played in Tampa. The road game at Cal in 2027 will be the first time Florida has played a regular-season game in the state of California since playing at USC in 1983.
The series may have been the byproduct of an open invitation to ADs from power conference programs issued by Florida Athletics Director Scott Strickland in late October, in which it was made clear Florida was looking to schedule some home-and-home matchups. Cal was among the first schools to be reported as a possibility, along with Arizona State. Florida announced a home-and-home arrangement with the Sun Devils in November.
Attention ADs from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 or Pac-12 … @GatorsFB is looking to add additional Home-and-Home series against P5 opponents. Let’s connect and schedule quality games the fans want to see! #GoGators
— Scott Stricklin (@ScottStricklin) October 22, 2019
It was reported back in November that a home-and-home series between Florida and Cal was being put together, but it took some time to refine the specifics of the series.
Get ready #CalFamily, we've scheduled a two-game set with Florida!
— Cal Football (@CalFootball) February 7, 2020
2⃣0⃣2⃣6⃣ & 2⃣0⃣2⃣7⃣ pic.twitter.com/Rk2gXFQhQg
Coast to coast❗
— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) February 7, 2020
🐻 at 🐊 2026
🐊 at 🐻 2027#GoGators
📰 https://t.co/HvZVGcf6ct pic.twitter.com/ClB7XmGXqt
Florida has also announced upcoming home-and-home series with Colorado (2028-2029) and Texas (2030-2031). Another home-and-home series with Utah is also booked for 2022 and 2023. The Gators will also continue facing rival Florida State on an annual basis, giving Florida at least two non-conference games against another power conference opponent beginning in 2022 through at least 2031.