Florida makes 2021 NCAA Tournament as South Region’s No. 7 seed

The Florida Gators are dancing in the 2021 NCAA Tournament — and at a higher seed than some may have expected.

Florida will play as the No. 7 seed in the South Region in the 2021 NCAA Tournament bracket, slotted against No. 10 seed Virginia Tech of the ACC in the first full round of play.

The Gators will be making their third straight trip to a full NCAA Tournament, and looking to improve on consecutive round of 32 exits in 2018 and 2019. (Florida would also have been in position to make the 2020 NCAA Tournament, which was ultimately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)

They’ll have a significant test before them in the form of the Hokies, who have notable wins over Villanova and Virginia this year. Mike Young’s team bowed out in the first round of the ACC Tournament last week, losing to North Carolina to drop their third game in five outings.

Florida-Virginia Tech will be the first game of the 2021 NCAA Tournament’s first round, and will tip off on Friday at 12:15 p.m. Eastern, with TV coverage on CBS and online streaming available via March Madness Live.

The game will take place at Butler University’s storied Hinkle Fieldhouse — the venue famously used as the site of state championships in high school basketball in the movie Hoosiers. Florida played at Hinkle in 2019-20, falling 76-62 to Butler largely because of a 6-for-26 performance from three-point range.