The Gators, despite their loss in the SEC final today, got the No. 2 seed in the Southeast region and will begin the tournament in Tampa on Thursday.
The Gators will open the tournament against No. 15 UC Santa Barbara (18-13, 8-8), who is best known for winning the 2011 Big West tournament as a five seed. On the other side of the Tampa pod is No. 7 UCLA and No. 10 Michigan State, who Florida has played four combined times in the NCAA Tournament. The top seed in the Southeast is Pittsburgh, followed by UF, BYU and Wisconsin.
The Gators, should they advance out of Tampa, would then go to the Southeast Regional in New Orleans. Considering everything, UF was treated very nicely by the selection committee. Compare that to Kentucky, who is a No. 4 in the East against No. 13 Princeton. They would face the winner of West Virginia and UAB/Clemson, in order to go to the regionals in Newark. Additionally, the East (Ohio State, UNC, Syracuse, Kentucky) and West (Duke, San Diego State, UConn, Texas) are stacked.