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The NCAA tournament bracket for men's basketball was announced on Selection Sunday, as is the tradition, which brought some great news for the Florida Gators. The selection committee wisely gave the Orange and Blue a No. 1 seed in the X Region — just the third time in the program's history that it earned the top seed in the tourney.
Meanwhile, the Auburn Tigers took the top overall seed, which puts them in the top perch of the South Region. The Duke Blue Devils earned the second overall seed, placing them at the top of the East, and the Houston Cougars took the top of the Midwest for the third-highest seeding.
March Madness for Todd Golden's team begins on Thursday, March 20, when they face the No. 16-seeded Norfolk State Spartans in the West Region held in Raleigh, North Carolina. Assuming a victory in the opening game, the next matchup will come on Saturday, March 22 against the winner of the No. 8 UConn Huskies and No. 9 Oklahoma Sooners first-round face-off.
The last time Florida entered the Big Dance with a No. 1 seed was in 2014, when the Billy Donovan-led squad reached the Final Four for the fifth time in school history, only to fall to the eventual national champion UConn. Florida looks to go even further this time with its red-hot roster.
The Gators had a terrific regular season, going 27-4 overall with 14 wins in 18 tries against fellow Southeastern Conference schools. And speaking of the SEC, Golden's gang beat the Tennessee Volunteers to earn the conference crown for the first time since that same 2014 season on Sunday, making it the fifth-ever SEC tourney title for the program.
Get your Brackets for 2025 NCAA men's basketball tournament
Heading into the tournament, Florida is 11-4 in Quadrant 1 games, including wins over the Kentucky Wildcats and Auburn, plus a pair over the Alabama Crimson Tide and Tennessee. For comparison, among the other top four teams (with Florida at No. 4) in the NET ratings, Duke is just 9-3 in Q1 games while Auburn is 16-5 and the Houston Cougars are 14-3, respectively.
KenPom, on the other hand, has the Gators even higher at No. 2 with an adjusted efficiency margin of plus-36.15 — the exact same value as Duke as of Sunday's update. Houston and Auburn trail behind at Nos. 3 and 4, respectively.
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida’s March Madness opponent is Norfolk State in 2025 NCAA bracket
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Meanwhile, the Auburn Tigers took the top overall seed, which puts them in the top perch of the South Region. The Duke Blue Devils earned the second overall seed, placing them at the top of the East, and the Houston Cougars took the top of the Midwest for the third-highest seeding.
March Madness for Todd Golden's team begins on Thursday, March 20, when they face the No. 16-seeded Norfolk State Spartans in the West Region held in Raleigh, North Carolina. Assuming a victory in the opening game, the next matchup will come on Saturday, March 22 against the winner of the No. 8 UConn Huskies and No. 9 Oklahoma Sooners first-round face-off.
The last time Florida entered the Big Dance with a No. 1 seed was in 2014, when the Billy Donovan-led squad reached the Final Four for the fifth time in school history, only to fall to the eventual national champion UConn. Florida looks to go even further this time with its red-hot roster.
The Gators had a terrific regular season, going 27-4 overall with 14 wins in 18 tries against fellow Southeastern Conference schools. And speaking of the SEC, Golden's gang beat the Tennessee Volunteers to earn the conference crown for the first time since that same 2014 season on Sunday, making it the fifth-ever SEC tourney title for the program.
Get your Brackets for 2025 NCAA men's basketball tournament
Florida basketball's 2025 résumé
Heading into the tournament, Florida is 11-4 in Quadrant 1 games, including wins over the Kentucky Wildcats and Auburn, plus a pair over the Alabama Crimson Tide and Tennessee. For comparison, among the other top four teams (with Florida at No. 4) in the NET ratings, Duke is just 9-3 in Q1 games while Auburn is 16-5 and the Houston Cougars are 14-3, respectively.
KenPom, on the other hand, has the Gators even higher at No. 2 with an adjusted efficiency margin of plus-36.15 — the exact same value as Duke as of Sunday's update. Houston and Auburn trail behind at Nos. 3 and 4, respectively.
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida’s March Madness opponent is Norfolk State in 2025 NCAA bracket
Continue reading...
