Florida basketball is once again a No. 1 seed in the 2026 Men’s NCAA tournament for the fourth time in program history.
The Gators (26-7) are in the South Region of the NCAA tournament, running through Tampa to Houston for regional rounds and ending in Indianapolis, Ind., for the Final Four.
Florida will play the winner of the First Four matchup between Prairie View A&M, which won the SWAC tournament and Lehigh, the winner of the Patriot League tournament. The Gators and the winner of the First Four matchup will play on Friday, March 20, at 9:25 p.m. in a game that will be aired on TNT.
The Gators have never played Lehigh and won their lone matchup against Prairie View A&M in 2006. The winner of Florida’s first-round matchup will take on the winner of Clemson and Iowa on Sunday, March 22 in Tampa.
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What to know about Prairie View A&M, Lehigh
Prairie View A&M (18-17) won the SWAC as the No. 3 seed in the tournament. The Panthers’ are led by Dontae Horne, who averages 20.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game. Prairie View A&M led the SWAC in turnover margin at 3.3 per game and was second in scoring offense at 78.9 points.
Lehigh (18-16) was the No. 2 seed of the Patriot League and enters March Madness on a six-game win streak. The Hawks were the third-best in their conference in 3-point shooting with a clip at 35%. At the same time, Lehigh was third best in defending the 3-ball at holding teams to 32%. Nasir Whitlock is the top scorer as he averaged 21 points and 3.4 assists per game.
Prairie View A&M vs. Lehigh First Four prediction
Prairie View A&M 77, Lehigh 72: Looking at each team’s numbers, this game could be a coin flip. However, the Panthers won nine of their last 10 games. That said, the difference in the game should be Prairie View is a better rebounding team than Lehigh and should have the edge.
Why Florida basketball will reach Round of 32 in March Madness
Despite Florida coming off an ugly loss to Vanderbilt, the Gators should easily find their groove again in the early rounds. The first round should be no different as Florida outscored the seven mid-major opponent it faced 640-518.
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Florida basketball vs. Prairie View A&M prediction
Florida 98, Prairie View A&M 62: As we saw earlier in the season, the size of the Gators’ front court easily overpowered every mid-major program UF faced. Despite the ugly loss to Vanderbilt, the Gators should easily find their groove again in the early round.
Reach Florida Gators writer Andrew Abadie at AAbadie@usatodayco.com or on X (formerly Twitter) at @AndrewAbadie. You can also find him on Facebook at Andrew Abadie Sports Reporter or on Instagram @andrewabadie_sports.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida basketball first round prediction: Our pick for Gators’ first March Madness game
Reporting by Andrew Abadie, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
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