By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Florida enters the 2025-26 NCAA tournament with +650 odds to cut down the nets come the national championship on April 6.

The Gators have the fourth-best odds to win the NCAA Tournament, and in their case repeat as national champions, behind Duke (+300), Michigan (+350) and Arizona (+400).

Florida was selected as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in the South Region, marking the program’s fourth No. 1 seed selection in program history.

The Gators will make their 24th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance and third in a row under fourth-year head coach Todd Golden, who has led Florida to a 6-1 record in the NCAA Tournament, including last season’s national championship.

UF enters March Madness as victors of 12 of the program’s last 13 games, including an 11-game winning streak in conference play to conclude the regular season, and a 71-63 triumph over Kentucky in the quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament, before Florida fell to Vanderbilt in the SEC semifinals, 91-74. The Commodores join the Gators in the South region of the NCAA Tournament bracket.

Florida faced two fellow NCAA Tournament No. 1 seeds during the non-conference stretch of its 2025-26 season, falling to then-No. 13-ranked Arizona, 93-87, in its season-opener, and losing to No. 4 Duke, 67-66, on Dec. 2. UF also faced No. 2-seed UConn on Dec. 9, falling to the No. 5-ranked Huskies 77-73.

The Gators ultimately went 9-4 during their arduous non-conference slate before finding their groove in SEC play, going 16-2 against league competition, with ranked wins over No. 18 Georgia (92-77), No. 21 Tennessee (91-67), No. 10 Vanderbilt (98-94), No. 23 Alabama (100-77), No. 25 Kentucky (92-83) and No. 20 Arkansas (111-77).

As Florida’s backcourt made strides during that stretch, its dominance was primarily established through its frontcourt, led by leading scorer Thomas Haugh, forward Alex Condon and center Rueben Chinyelu.

Haugh, Florida’s leading scorer at 17.1 points per game, has been instrumental to the Gators’ success in his first season as a starter. Among his handful of postseason awards, Haugh was named a Second-Team All-American by Sporting News, and a First-Team All-SEC selection by the conference’s coaches and the Associated Press.

Chinyelu, the SEC’s Defensive Player and the Scholar-Athlete of the Year, who also obtained First-Team All-SEC recognition from the AP and Second-Team honors from the league, concluded his second season in Gainesville and his third at the collegiate level averaging a double-double at 11.2 points and a conference-leading 11.5 rebounds, including 7.4 defensive boards, per game.

An All-SEC Second-Team pick by the AP and Third-Team honoree by coaches, Condon has averaged single-season career-highs of 15 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.4 blocks per game in his second campaign as a starter.

Tasked with replacing its stellar trio of guards from the 2024-25 season in Waltet Clayton Jr , Alijah Martin and Will Richard , Florida brought in Boogie Fland and Xauvian Lee via the NCAA transfer portal this past offseason. While it took time for UF’s backcourt to gel, each player finished the regular season averaging double figures per game, with Fland scoring 11.6 points and Lee 11.5 points per matchup.

Additionally, Florida saw junior guard Urban Klavzar grow into a significant role as the Gators’ sixth man. Klavžar knocked down a team-high 2.1 three-point shots per game, averaging 9.7 points per contest, resulting in him winning the SEC’s Sixth Man of the Year award.