Following its run to the 2024 SEC Championship, which ended in a devastating loss to Auburn on Sunday, Florida's spot in the annual NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament has been finalized.
The Gators' 21-10 regular season record, including Quad-1 victories over Pittsburgh, Kentucky, Auburn and Alabama, and a three-victory surge in the SEC Tournament over the past week, which included two more Quad-1 wins, was enough to lock Florida in as a No. 7 seed in March Madness.
Officially, the Gators (24-11, 11-7 SEC) are going dancing for the first time since the 2020-21 season, when Florida fell to Oral Roberts in the second round.
Earning a spot in the South Region, UF will travel to Indianapolis, Ind., for the first weekend of tournament play. Florida's first matchup will be against either Boise State or Colorado, programs that will fight for the No. 10 seed in the First Four Round, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday.
Time and television information for the NCAA Tournament will be announced by CBS/TBS later on Sunday.
Florida's 2024 March Madness appearance marks its first under Todd Golden, accomplishing a primary goal of the second-year head coach as he stated in an exclusive interview with All Gators before the season.
"We can take that next step, which to me, is making the NCAA Tournament," Golden said. "I would say that would be a good season."
Following Golden's offseason roster overhaul, in which Florida welcomed four transfers and two high school prospects who would go on to play significantly in 2023-24, the Gators did exactly that.
Transfer guards Zyon Pullin and Walter Clayton Jr. spearheaded UF's aggressive, up-tempo offense throughout the season, a unit that averaged 85.1 points and 15 assists per game.
Pullin and Clayton's backcourt efforts were supplemented by multi-year UF wing Will Richard, who started in all but one game on the year as Florida' tended to deploy three guards and two bigs at a time. Pullin, Clayton and Richard each eclipsed a 40% field goal percentage on the year and averaged 11+ points per game.
Notably, Pullin's 3.9-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio ranked No. 2 among all qualified players in the NCAA in 2023-24. His 47.7% three-point percentage was good for second-best among Florida's shooters.
Down low, transfers Tyrese Samuel and Micah Handlogten proved to be dependable two-way players. Samuel finished as Florida's top rebounder with 7.5 per game on average, including nearly three per game offensively, to go with 14 points per contest. Handlogten produced 6.9 rebounds per game and UF's best shooting percentage among qualifying contributors, a 62.2% clip.
Freshmen, Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh, offered valuable frontcourt depth, as each player averaged double-digit minutes and provided meaningful presences on the glass. Condon's 6.3 rebounds per game ranked No. 3 on the team; Haugh's 3.7 ranked No. 6.
Additionally, Condon's 43 blocked shots were the most of any Gator during the 2023-24 campaign.
Despite their youth and lack of significant starting experience, Florida will lean on the freshmen duo in the NCAA Tournament after Handlogten fractured his lower left leg in Sunday's SEC Championship. Handlogten is expected to undergo surgery for the injury later Sunday.
Find the schedule for the 2024 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament below.
- First Four: March 19-20
- First round: March 21-22
- Second round: March 23-24
- Sweet 16: March 28-29
- Elite Eight: March 30-31
- Final Four: April 6 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona
- NCAA championship game: April 8 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona
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