Can the Gators make history in Auburn on Saturday?

In January, Florida toppled Tennessee 73-43 at Exactech Arena to earn the program’s first-ever home win over a No. 1-ranked team. Now, the Gators hope to make history again Saturday against another No. 1 squad — Auburn. Florida, 19-3 overall and 6-3 in the SEC, has zero all-time wins in eight tries vs. No. 1 teams on the road. With a tip of the cap to Chris Harry of FloridaGators.com, here’s a look back at those games:

DATE: Dec. 14, 1950
TEAM: Kentucky
RESULT: 85-37 LOSS
411: The Gators finished 11-12 overall, 6-8 in the SEC. Kentucky went 32-2, 14-0 — and won the NCAA Tournament. There was no return game in Gainesville that season — not that it would have mattered.

DATE: Jan. 31, 1959
TEAM: Kentucky
RESULT: 94-51 LOSS
411: Florida went 8-15, 2-12 in the SEC to place 10th in the 12-team league. The Gators did not win an SEC road game that season. Kentucky finished 24-3, 12-2 to place second in the SEC. The Wildcats lost in the first-round of the NCAA Tournament to arch-rival Louisville.

DATE: Feb. 7, 1966
TEAM: Kentucky
RESULT: 85-75 LOSS
411: In Norm Sloan’s first stint at Florida as coach, his team went 16-10 and 9-7 in the SEC to place fifth. At that time, that was a heck of a showing for the Gators, who had never previously taken basketball all that seriously. UF was led by standout forward Gary Keller, who later played in the ABA. Kentucky went 27-2 and won the SEC, but fell in the NCAA Tournament finals to Texas Western in a game they later made a movie about.

DATE: Feb. 4, 1978
TEAM: Kentucky
RESULT: 88-61 LOSS
411: Florida had a veteran team and a stud freshman — power-forward Reggie Hannah (13.6 points, 9.2 rebounds), but Kentucky was absolutely loaded and coach Joe B. Hall’s squad would win the national title. The Wildcats easily beat the Gators in both meetings. Florida, coached by John Lotz, went 15-12 and placed fifth in the SEC.

DATE: Feb. 7, 2012
TEAM: Kentucky
RESULT: 78-58 LOSS
411: Florida, under coach Billy Donovan, went 26-11, placed second in the SEC to Kentucky and reached the Elite Eight. A Gators team led by guards Bradley Beal and Kenny Boynton was soundly beaten by the Wildcats in two regular-season meetings. But Florida did give Kentucky a run in the SEC Tournament semifinals before falling 74-71. Kentucky coach John Calipari won his only title with the ‘Cats that season. They finished 38-2.

DATE: March 7, 2015
TEAM: Kentucky
RESULT: 67-50 LOSS
411: Donovan’s last team at Florida was one of his worst and the Gators were no match for a Kentucky squad that went 38-1, was unbeaten in SEC play and reached the Final Four. The ‘Cats were 3-0 against UF that season.

DATE: Dec. 12, 2015
TEAM: Michigan State
RESULT: 58-52 LOSS
411: Florida led 47-46 after a layup by Devin Robinson with 7:20 left but the Spartans quickly regained the lead and then held on to win. Forward Dorian Finney-Smith and guard Kasey Hill led the Gators with 13 points each. Coach Mike White’s team finished 21-15 and competed in the NIT. The Spartans went 29-6 and won the Big Ten Tournament, but then fell to No. 15 seed Middle Tennessee in one of the biggest upsets ever in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

DATE: Feb. 9, 2019
TEAM: Tennessee
RESULT: 73-61 LOSS
411: The Gators would finish 20-16 and reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Vols went 31-6, took second in the SEC but then failed (as usual) to make a deep run in the tournament. Nonetheless, this was a good Vols team that handled UF twice in the regular season. Grant Williams scored 16 points in this particular game as the top-ranked Vols won their school-record 18th straight games. The Gators got 17 from guard Noah Locke. UT then lost five of its next 14 games.