How to Watch Florida Gators' NCAA Tournament Opener vs. Prairie View A&M

TAMPA, Fla.-- The Florida Gators begin its quest for its second straight national championship and fourth overall on Friday with a matchup against 16-seed Prairie View A&M, the SWAC Tournament champions who are fresh off its first March Madness win in program history.

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

In addition to being heavy favorites on the court, the Gators will have a significant home-court advantage with this weekend's games being played in Tampa.

"I think anytime you have the opportunity to play at home in the NCAA Tournament, it's a huge advantage," head coach Todd Golden said. "There might be a few more distractions, but I don't think that's anything that our team can't handle. We're just really excited to be able to play in our home state and play in front of a lot of Gators tomorrow night and hopefully do what we need to do to take care of business to do it again on Sunday."

Here is everything you need to know for the Gators’ matchup against the Panthers, including broadcast information.

No. 1 Florida Gators (26-7, 16-2 SEC) vs. No. 16 Prairie View A&M (19-17, 9-9 SWAC): What You Need to Know

Where: Benchmark International Arena, Tampa, Fla.

When: Friday, March 19, 9:25 p.m. ET

Watch: TNT

Play-by-Play: Tom McCarthy
Analysts: Candace Parker, Dan Bonner
Reporter: AJ Ross

Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD

Play-by-play: Sean Kelley
Analyst: Lee Humphrey
Reporter: Steve Egan

Winner: Plays the winner of No. 9 Iowa/No. 8 Clemson on Sunday in Tampa. Start time and TV designation will be released at a later time.

Series History: Florida leads the series, 1-0, after a 94-33 win in Gainesville on November 21, 2006. Al Horford (13 points, 11 rebounds) and Marreese Speights (13 points, 10 rebounds) each had double-doubles. The Gators, of course, went on to repeat as national champions that season.

Florida's NCAA Tournament History: The Gators are searching for its fourth national title after winning last year's national championship. Should Florida repeat, the Gators would be the first two-time repeat champions since UCLA won seven straight from 1967-73. Florida's appearance in the NCAA Tournament marks its 26th total and 24th official appearance in the NCAA Tournament, while also marking the first time in program history that the Gators are a one-seed in back-to-back tournaments.

Florida's total record in the NCAA Tournament is 54-22, but its official record is 51-20. The Gators made nine-straight appearances from 1999-2007, five-straight from 2010-14, four-straight from 2017-21 (no tournament in 2020) and have now made three-straight since 2024