Florida March Madness base: Seed, potential opponents, schedules and Final Four path

Florida is about to embark on its quest to repeat as national champions. The Gators need six wins in a row to become just the third team since 1993 to repeat as national champions in men’s basketball (Florida in 2006, 2007, and UConn in 2023, 2024).

Florida enters March Madness as a No. 1 seed, the first time in program history they have been a No. 1 seed in back-to-back years. We will update this page as the tournament moves along, but for now, this is what Florida’s pathway to cut down the nets looks like.

Florida Basketball's 2026 NCAA Tournament Hub:

Seed: No 1
Region: South
Next Opponent: vs. 9-seed Iowa, Sunday at 7:10 PM

South Region bracket:

1. Florida
16. Prairie View A&M/ Lehigh

8. Clemson
9. Iowa

5. Vanderbilt
12. McNeese

4. Nebraska
13. Troy

6. North Carolina
11. VCU

3. Illinois
14. Penn

7. Saint Mary's
10. Texas A&M

2. Houston
15. Idaho

Florida’s 1st Round Opponent - 114-55 win over Prairie View A&M:

This game was a beatdown of historic proportions as Florida won by 59 points, the second highest margin of victory in an NCAA Tournament game ever. This game was actually tied 15-15 at one point before Florida put the clamps down.

Florida’s 2nd Round Opponent:

No. 9 Iowa

Florida is going to take on an Iowa squad that loves to slow things down and take the whole shot clock when possible. The Hawkeyes do generate turnovers but the don't rebound or defend the paint all that well.

Florida’s Potential Sweet 16 Opponent:

No. 4 Nebraska

If Florida gets past Iowa, they will get to face Nebraska in Houston. This is a historic season for the Cornhuskers who had never won a NCAA Tournament game prior to this season. Nebraska survived a last second shot from Vanderbilt to advance to the Sweet 16.

Florida’s Potential Elight Eight Opponent:

No. 2 Houston
No. 3 Illinois

Houston and Illinois are the two headliners who one would expect to make it to the Elite Eight. The pain with Houston is that the South Region is in Houston. Illinois is probably the strongest No. 3 seed in the tournament and is seen as a dark-horse Final Four pick.