SportsCollege Sports

Actions

Florida, Florida State selected to NCAA tournament

Gators earn No. 7 seed in South; Seminoles earn No. 4 seed in East
Florida State Seminoles guard Scottie Barnes dribbles vs. North Carolina Tar Heels guard Leaky Black, Feb. 27, 2021
Posted at 7:23 PM, Mar 14, 2021
and last updated 2021-03-14 19:44:33-04

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — A pair of teams from the Sunshine State are headed to the NCAA tournament.

Florida (14-9) is the No. 7 seed in the South region and will face No. 10 seed Virginia Tech (15-6) in the first round Friday at 12:15 p.m.

Florida State (16-6) is the No. 4 seed in the East region and will face No. 13 seed UNC Greensboro (21-8) in the first round Saturday at 12:45 p.m.

Gonzaga (26-0) is the top overall seed in the tournament and vying to become the first undefeated team to win a national championship since Indiana did it in 1976.

The other top seeds are Baylor (22-2) in the South, Illinois (23-6) in the Midwest and Michigan (20-4) in the East.

Florida State is one of seven teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference to make the tournament, while Florida is one of six teams to represent the Southeastern Conference.

The Gators are making their fourth NCAA tournament appearance under head coach Mike White. They are the only SEC team to make every NCAA tournament since 2017.

If the Gators advance, they will face the winner between Ohio State and Oral Roberts.

Florida Gators head coach Mike White at Tennessee Volunteers, March 7, 2021
Florida head coach Mike White watches the action during the regular-season finale against Tennessee, Sunday, March 7, 2021, in Knoxville, Tenn.

For the Seminoles, this will mark the eighth time under head coach Leonard Hamilton that Florida State will appear in the NCAA tournament.

Florida State has been to the postseason in 15 of Hamilton's 19 seasons with the Seminoles, who earned the automatic bid to last year's NCAA tournament before it was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Seminoles, who were poised to claim back-to-back regular-season ACC titles going into the final week of February, are just 2-3 over their last five games.

Florida State Seminoles head coach Leonard Hamilton on sideline at Notre Dame Fighting Irish, March 6, 2021
Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton directs his players during the first half of a game against Notre Dame, Saturday, March 6, 2021, in South Bend, Ind. Notre Dame won 83-73.

Florida State has struggled away from home. The Seminoles have a 2-4 road record this season.

The bracket sets up a potential tournament rematch with Michigan. The Wolverines defeated Florida State in the 2018 Elite Eight.

All games will be played in the Indianapolis area.

Click here to see the complete bracket.