Florida Gators Basketball: Gators given No. 7 seed for March Madness

March Madness is here, and the Florida Gators’ Basketball team has earned the No. 7 seed in the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The Gators ended an up-and-down regular season with a 14-9 record.

Florida most notably was knocked out of the SEC tournament by Tennessee, losing 78-66.

The Gators will begin their quest for their third National Championship, after winning their first in the 2005-2006 season and then following that up with their second in the 2006-2007 season.

Florida will be in the South Region of the tournament for those getting ready to submit the perfect bracket. The Gators start March Madness with a game against No. 10 Virginia Tech.

The most notable teams in the South Region looks like this:

No. 1 Baylor vs. No. 16 Hartford
No. 8 UNC vs. No. 9 Wisconsin
No. 5 Villanova vs. No. 12 Winthrop
No. 4 Purdue vs. No. 13 North Texas
No. 6 Texas Tech vs. No. 11 Utah State
No. 3 Arkansas vs. No. 14 Colgate
No. 7 Florida vs. No. 10 Virginia Tech
No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 15 Oral Roberts University

The last two teams listed, Ohio State and Oral Roberts, will battle it out, and if Florida can beat Virginia Tech, they will play the winner of that game. So, for those at home rooting for the Gators, Go Oral Roberts!

If Florida has any chance of winning the National Championship, it will be behind their star guard, Tre Mann. The 2020-2021 All-SEC guard averages 16 points per game and just had 30 points in his last game. The sophomore will have to put the team on his back and play the best basketball of his life to help the Gators pull off the unthinkable.

The Gators’ head coach Mike White will need to lean on Mann throughout the tournament if he wants to improve his 5-3 record. Florida has not made it to the Final Four under White, but they will try to accomplish that, and then some this year.

You can tune in to the Gators’ first game of the tournament on Friday, March 19th, at 12:15 PM EST.