Florida’s basketball team has never played against a team that had to play a First Four game before, but the Gators have been a six seed before. Here are the three opening games as a No. 6 seed:
1987 — Florida 82, N.C. State 70
The M&M boys went wild, as the Gators rolled over the Wolfpack. Vernon Maxwell scored 28 points and Andrew Moten had 19 and each guard had seven rebounds in the Carrier Dome at Syracuse. The Gators would make it to the Sweet 16 in their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
1988 — Florida 62. St. John’s 59
Playing at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, Florida led by 10 at the half but needed a late shot by Vernon Maxwell for the win. Maxwell’s shot was one of only three 3-point shots the Gators hit in the game. He led the Gators in scoring with 18 points while Livingston Chatman had 11. Florida was steamrolled by Michigan in the Round of 32.
1999 — Florida 75, Penn 61
The Gators went all the way to Seattle to play this first-round game in the KeyArena and handled Penn with five players in double figures. Brent Wright led the way in Billy Donovan’s first NCAA Tournament at Florida with a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Florida reached the Sweet 16 before losing to Gonzaga.
FLORIDA SEEDS (with records)
No. 3 — 4 times (14-3).
No. 5 — 3 times (5-3).
No. 6 — 3 times (5-3).
No. 1 — 2 times (10-1).
No. 2 — 2 times (4-2).
No. 4 — 2 times (4-2).
No. 7 — 2 times (3-2).
No. 10 — 2 times (0-2).
Gotta defend the perimeter, rebound, make FTs, and don’t turn the ball over, same game plan as always, it’s not complicated.
You get a B for Coach Speak 101. You have to include the word effort if you want to get an A.
I don’t understand the numbers in parenthesis.
That’s the Gators’ record when receiving that particular seed. For example, as a No. 1 seed, the Gators are 10-1 in the tournament. That would be 2007 when they went 6-0 and won the championship, and 2014 when they went 4-1, losing to UConn in the Final Four.
Thanks, now I get it,
That’s what I thought, too. But they don’t play 11 games in the tournament. It’s more like 6 if they play in the finals.
They went 6-0 in 2007 to win the championship. In 2014, they won four games to get to the Final Four, then lost the semi-final game to UConn, hence the 10-1 record as a number 1 seed.