Florida Gators earn No. 2 seed in 2016 NIT after NCAA Tournament snub

The Florida Gators men's basketball team was not included in the 2016 NCAA Tournament, as expected. Florida's 19-14 record likely outweighed the Gators' win over West Virginia and strong strength of schedule in non-conference and SEC play, and after a loss to Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament on Friday, it was not a surprise to see the Gators left out come Selection Sunday.

But it's only the NCAA Tournament portion of Selection Sunday that missed the Gators. As announced on ESPNU in the NIT Selection Show, Florida will play postseason basketball this year, earning a No. 2 seed in the 2016 Postseason NIT.

The Gators will see No. 7 seed North Florida in a first round matchup on March 15 at 9 p.m. Eastern on ESPNU — and despite higher seeds typically getting to host NIT games, Florida will be heading to Jacksonville for that game, with the commencement of a major stage of renovations to the O'Connell Center making it unusable for basketball.

The Gators are the No. 2 seed in No. 1 seed Monmouth's bracket, and would theoretically have to beat the Hawks on their own floor to win the NIT. If Florida can make it to the semifinal round of the NIT, it will head to Madison Square Garden for that game. The Gators did just that in 2008, making the NIT's final four teams before falling to Massachusetts in New York.

In Florida's most recent NIT appearance in 2009, the Gators defeated Jacksonville and Miami before losing to Penn State.