Florida Basketball is back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2017 and for the 12th time overall. They will take on Maryland on Thursday at 7:39 PM.
With a berth in the Elite Eight on the line, here is how the Gators have fared in their previous appearances.
Florida Basketball Makes First Appearance in 1987*
Florida started playing basketball in 1915, but it wasn't until 1987 that they made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
The Gators entered as a 6-seed and beat NC State 82-70 before beating 3-seed Purdue 85-66 to advance.
In a close defeat, Florida lost to 2-seed Syracuse 87-81. Syracuse would go on to lose in the national title game, while Florida had its tournament run vacated due to sanctions.
1994
With Lon Kruger at the helm, Florida made its second Sweet 16 appearance in 1994 and pulled off one of its biggest upsets in school history.
Florida was the 3-seed and survived the 14-seed James Madison 64-62. After cruising past 11-seed Penn, Florida had to face off with the 2-seed UConn Huskies, who were ranked 4th in the AP Poll.
Florida ended up prevailing in overtime after UConn's Donyell Marshall missed two free throws at the end of regulation. The Gators beat the 9-seed Boston College to advance to the Final Four, where Florida lost to Duke.
1999
Billy Donovan's first appearance in the Sweet 16 with the Gators is one that most Florida fans have probably tried to flush out of their memory banks.
Florida was a 6-seed and survived their second-round game against 14-seed Weber State in overtime. The Gators were taking on 10-seed Gonzaga, who at the time were in just their second NCAA Tournament ever and were the plucky unknown Cinderella rather than the power they are today.
Florida had a lead with under ten seconds to go. Gonzaga missed a shot, but Casey Calvary tipped the ball in, and the slipper still fit the Bulldogs.
2000
After Mike Miller's famous buzzer-beater bailed Florida out against Butler, the Gators beat Illinois easily to set up a Sweet 16 showdown against 1-seed Duke.
Florida prevailed 87-78 and made it all the way to the national title game before losing to Michigan State.
2006
It is somewhat wild to think that when Florida won its first national title, it was just the 5th time in school history that it had made it to the Sweet 16.
The Sweet 16 matchup against Georgetown was the closest the game the Gators had all tournament long. Florida was losing with 30 seconds to play before Corey Brewer made his famous three-point play to put Florida ahead. The Gators got a stop and closed out with two free throws for a 57-53 win.
2007
In their March for back-to-back national titles, Florida once again had to work for it in their Sweet 16 win.
Facing 5-seed Butler, Florida fell behind by nine points in the first half before a back-and-forth battle ensued. The game was still tied at 54-54 with 3:21 to play 11-2 run to close out the game.
2011
Sometimes forgotten in Gator lore is that after winning back-to-back national titles, Florida missed the tournament the next two seasons and was knocked out in the first round in 2010.
In 2011, Florida was the 2-seed and faced off against Jimmer Fredette and BYU in the Sweet 16. Florida took care of business to win 73-65.
We don't talk about what happened against Butler in the Elite Eight.
2012
Florida came in as a 7-seed, but were fortunate when 15-seed Norfolk State knocked off Missouri in the first round. The Gators easily got by the Spartans before pulling off an upset of their own by beating 3-seed Marquette 68-58.
The Gators squandered a double-digit second-half lead to Louisville in the Elite Eight.
2013
Florida was the 7-seed and benefited from having their pathway completed cleared out for them. They beat 10-seed West Virginia before getting to play 11-seed Minnesota.
Then in the Sweet 16, Florida got the benefit of taking on Dunk City themselves and took out the 15-seed FGCU.
Florida was then beaten soundly by Michigan in the Elite Eight.
2014
Prior to going ice cold in the Final Four and going down as one of the greatest teams ever not to win it all in March Madness, Florida had a relatively smooth path in the tournament.
After uneventful round one and round two games, Florida was tied with UCLA with ten minutes to play in the Sweet 16 before putting the clamps down and pulling away for a 79-68 win.
The Gators would beat Dayton in the Elite Eight before losing to UConn in the Final Four.
2017
The fighting Mike Whites delivered one of the most iconic moments in March Madness history in their 2017 appearance in the Sweet 16.
Florida had an easy first two games to make it to the second weekend before a dogfight against Wisconsin. Part of what gets lost in this game is that Florida had a 10-point lead with four minutes to play and a seven-point lead with under two minutes to play before the Gators employed a Mike White special to allow it to go to overtime.
The moment we all remember was Chris Chiozza hitting a running three to win the game, but not to be forgotten either were the 35 points KeVaughn Allen had.
Florida would go on to lose to South Carolina in the Elite Eight.