The Florida Gators now know their path to a second consecutive national championship.
The Gators (26-7) were named as the No. 1 seed in the South Region of the 2026 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament.
UF will now face the winner of Wednesday's First Four game between No. 16 Lehigh and No. 16 Prairie View A&M in the Round of 64 on Friday in the Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida.
The Mountain Hawks (18-16) won the Patriot League Championship Tournament Wednesday, defeating Boston University 74-60.
Lehigh is led by one of the top scorers in the nation, junior guard Nasir Whitlock. The Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, native averages 21.0 points per game on 47.6% shooting from the field.
The Mountain Hawks rank No. 290 in offensive efficiency and No. 257 in defensive efficiency per KenPom. However, Lehigh does shoot an effective 36.5% from 3-point range, well ahead of Florida’s 30.8% mark from beyond the arc.
Meanwhile, the Panthers (18-17) were victorious in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship Tournament, beating Southern 72-66 Saturday.
PVAMU has two players who average at least 18 points per game: senior guards Dontae Horne (20.2) and Tai’Reon Joseph (18.2).
The Panthers enter the tournament No. 310 in offensive efficiency and No. 231 in defensive efficiency, per KenPom. PVAMU, however, is one of the fastest teams in the nation, ranking No. 8 in adjusted tempo. That, paired with Florida’s No. 28 mark in the category, could forecast a high-paced bout.
If Florida defeats the winner of the matchup between the Mountain Hawks and Panthers, they would face the winner of the matchup between No. 8 seed Clemson and No. 9 Iowa on Sunday in the Benchmark International Arena.
Houston (28-6) was named the No. 2 seed in the South Region. The regional final, which takes place March 26 and 28, will be held in the Toyota Center in Houston. The Gators and Cougars last faced off in the 2025 NCAA Tournament Championship game, where UF was victorious, 65-63.
In the top half of the region, a familiar foe could await the Gators in the Sweet 16: No. 5 seed Vanderbilt (26-8). The Commodores dispatched the Gators 91-74 Saturday to knock UF out of the SEC Tournament. The No. 4 seed in the region is Nebraska (26-6), while Illinois (24-8) claimed the No. 3 seed.
The South Region also features No. 6 seed North Carolina (24-8), No. 7 seed Saint Mary's (27-5), No. 10 seed Texas A&M (21-11) and No. 11 seed Virginia Commonwealth (27-7). Other bids included No. 12 seed McNeese State (28-5), No. 13 Troy (22-11), No. 14 Pennsylvania (18-11) and No. 15 Idaho (21-14).
This is a developing story.
Contact Max Bernstein at mbernstein@alligator.org. Follow him on X at @maxbernstein23.
Max is a junior sports journalism student in his seventh semester at The Alligator. He serves as The Alligator's assistant sports editor and football beat coordinator. He previously served as The Alligator's sports editor and as a reporter for football, women's tennis, volleyball, lacrosse and sports enterprise. He also has made multiple appearances on the Paul Finebaum Show. Max wants to shoutout his cats, Scooter and Zoe, and niche former Florida Panthers players (shoutout Maxim Mamin).
