Florida basketball was announced as the No. 1 seed in the South Region for the 2026 edition of the NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday after winning the Southeastern Conference’s regular season title and making it to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.
It is the second straight season that the Orange and Blue earned a top seed in the tournament. The Gators will face the winner of the First Four matchup between the Prairie View Panthers and Lehigh Mountain Hawks in the first round, held in Tampa, Florida.
The decision was anything but a slam dunk after a lackluster showing in the conference tourney, getting past the Kentucky Wildcats despite sloppy ballhandling, before the Vanderbilt Commodores handed Todd Golden’s team its worst loss of the season. Alas, Florida’s 12-game winning streak before the beatdown in the semifinals was enough to pad the Gators’ postseason résumé.
March Madness begins on Tuesday, March 17, with the First Four competing at their respective locations. The round of 64 kicks off on Thursday, March 19, with play continuing at the regional level until the Final Four, which will be played on Saturday, March 28 and Sunday, March 29, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The NCAA Tournament championship game will be played at the same venue on Monday, April 6. Below is a look at the full tournament schedule and locations; a printable bracket and a bracket challenge sweepstakes are also available.
2026 NCAA Tournament schedule
2026 NCAA Tournament schedule locations
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: March Madness: Florida’s NCAA Tournament seed on Selection Sunday
Reporting by Adam Dubbin, Gators Wire / Gators Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
