| Wide: | yes |
| Florida–Florida State basketball rivalry | |
| Team1: | Florida Gators |
| Team1logo: | Florida Gators script logo.svg |
| Team2: | Florida State Seminoles |
| Team2logo: | Florida State Seminoles alternate logo.svg |
| Firstmeeting: | December 29, 1951 Florida 61, Florida State 51 |
| Mostrecent: | November 15, 2024 Florida 87, Florida State 74 |
| Nextmeeting: | 2025 in Gainesville |
| Total: | 76 |
| Series: | Florida leads, 47–28* (1 game vacated) |
| Largestvictory: | Florida, 96–61 (1999) |
| Longeststreak: | Florida, 7 (1965–1968); Florida State, 7 (2014–2020) |
| Currentstreak: | Florida, 4 (2021–present) |
The Florida–Florida State men's basketball rivalry (known as the Sunshine Showdown) is a college basketball rivalry[1] [2] between the two oldest public universities of the state of Florida: the University of Florida Gators and the Florida State University Seminoles. Although the in state rivalry between these two schools is most widely known in football, Florida and Florida State have had some memorable battles in basketball as well.
The two teams first met in 1951, a game in which the Gators won 61–51. The two teams met sporadically from then until 1978. Since then, the rivalry has been played at least once a year. UF leads the annual series 28-23. For both teams, it is the only out of conference rival that they play every season.
Florida leads the rivalry overall, 47–28. However, FSU has had success in the series, especially recently, having gone 7–3 against the Gators within the last decade.[3] The most notable FSU win came in 2006 when they upset the 4th ranked (and eventual national champion) Gators in Tallahassee.