The defending national champions are going dancing once again.
Florida basketball earned a No. 1 seed in the South Region in the 2026 Men’s NCAA Tournament and will play either Prairie View A&M or Lehigh on Friday, March 20. The Panthers and Mountain Hawks will play in the First Four on Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio.
For the first time since 2017, the squad will play an NCAA tournament game in the Sunshine State. The Gators will compete at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa in the Round of 64 and Round of 32.
The winner of UF vs. the Panthers or Mountain Hawks will face the victor of No. 8 Clemson and No. 9 Iowa on Sunday for a spot in the Sweet 16. That round and the Elite Eight for the South Region will be played at the Toyota Center in Houston.
Florida encountered rocky waters after a 5-4 start and two early losses in the SEC. However, it became the nation’s hottest team after that defeat to Auburn on January 23. It ended the regular season with 11 straight wins, and the program’s first SEC regular season title since 2014.
Everything must come to an end, though, and the Gators fell in the SEC Tournament semifinals to No. 4 seed Vanderbilt Saturday 91-74 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
Florida has never lost a Round of 64 game as a top four seed. The last time UF hosted NCAA Tournament games in Florida, it defeated East Tennessee State and Virginia in the first two rounds before an eventual trip to the Elite Eight.
Buy Florida basketball NCAA Tournament tickets
Below is ticket information for Florida basketball’s first-round game:
Florida basketball vs. Prairie View A&M/Lehigh tickets for NCAA Tournament 2026
STUBHUB: Starting at $110
Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at nram@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X @Noah_ram1 and on Instagram @Ramreporter. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com.
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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida basketball tickets in 2026 NCAA Tournament: Prices, how to buy
Reporting by Noah Ram, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
