Florida Gators Make Program History with March Madness Seeding

The Florida Gators on Sunday were officially named the No. 1 seed in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament, beating out Houston and UConn after both lost in their individual conference tournament title games.

The Gators will play either 16-seed Prairie View A&M or 16-seed Lehigh, who will play in the First Four on Wednesday, on Friday in Tampa (Fla). Tip-off is at 9:25 p.m. with television coverage on TNT.

Being named a No. 1 seed marks the first time in program history that Florida is a No. 1 seed in back-to-back seasons. Last year, the Gators held the No. 1 seed in the West Region before winning the program's third national title. Florida has been a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament on three other occasions: 2007 (national champions), 2014 (Final Four) and 2025 (national champions).

LET'S DANCE 👆🕺🪩🔥‼️ pic.twitter.com/yFaj5MSjku
— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) March 15, 2026

Florida, a favorite to clinch the last one-seed behind Duke (East), Michigan (Midwest) and Arizona (West), lost to Vanderbilt in Saturday's SEC Tournament semifinal, creating a slim opening for either UConn or Houston to jump them. However, the Huskies' loss to St. John's in the Big East Tournament Final and the Cougars' loss to Arizona in the Big 12 Tournament Final kept the Gators in front.

After the loss to Vanderbilt, head coach Todd Golden argued that Florida's recent streak of wins (12 until the loss to the Commodores) and its No. 4 rankings in the KenPom, NET, Torvik and AP Poll should be enough to keep the Gators as a one-seed no matter what Houston or UConn did.

"Looking at Quad 1 wins, I think we're in a good spot that way. Analytically, the predictive metrics, whether it's KenPom, Torvik, we're top four in all those by a wide margin. It's really not close," he said. "We had our early-season tough start where we played really good, competitive opponents, and road or semi-away venues where we fell a little bit short. We haven't lost in 54 days or something leading up to this game, playing some of the best basketball in America.

"I do believe we've done enough to be the fourth 1 seed. But we'll find out (Sunday) night."

The Florida Gators on Saturday clinched at least a share of its first SEC regular-season title. — The Florida Gators clinched its first SEC regular-season title since 2014. | Kyle Lander / Florida Gators on SI

ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi agreed, arguing on ESPN shortly after Florida's loss that the Gators' dominance in the SEC and the proximity to Selection Sunday would not be enough for the selection committee to chance one-seeds.

“Florida was the outright champion of a far stronger league. UConn finished second in a far weaker league. I know the UConn and Big East people won’t want to hear that but I fully expect that Florida is going to be the No. 1 seed in the South [Sunday] night," he said. "And the committee over the years, for all the slings and arrows they take, they’re very good at not overreacting to a single result.

"And that’s what we’re often guilty of, the folks in our seats. I think they’re gonna end up keeping Florida right where they are.”

2026 marks the 24th official and 26th total appearance for the Gators in the NCAA Tournament (1987 and 1988 appearances are vacated by the NCAA). Florida has been to the Final Four on six occasions (1994, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2014, 2025), has been to four national championship games (2000, 2006, 2007, 2025) and has won three national titles (2006, 2007, 2025).