Orlando will be hounded by state of Florida basketball fans this week. Gators, Seminoles and Florida Gulf Coast all earned bids to the NCAA tournament, and all three teams will play in Orlando for the first round.
The Gators earned a #4 seed and will play #13 East Tennessee State this Thursday in Orlando. The Gators lost in the second round of the SEC tournament and finished the year 24-8.
The Florida State Seminoles earned a #3 seed and play #14 Florida Gulf Coast University. FGCU is located in Ft Myers. China Dow came off the bench to score a career-high 31 points and Florida Gulf Coast rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat Atlantic Sun regular-season champion Stetson 77-70 on Sunday and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in six seasons.
The Miami Hurricanes draw the #8 seed and will play #9 Michigan State on Friday in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
UCF did not earn a bid in to the NCAA tournament. They will host Colorado Wednesday night at 7pm in the NIT Tournament.
The four #1 seeds are Villanova, Kansas, North Carolina and Gonzaga.