Skip to main content
florida logo

The Florida Gators' most memorable 1st-round NCAA Tournament wins

On3 imageby:Keith Niebuhr•03/21/25•

On3Keith

Florida Gators Basketball
Matt Pendleton | Imagn Images

The Florida basketball program didn’t reach its first NCAA Tournament until 1987. But the Gators certainly made up for lost time. Today, UF will make tourney appearance No. 25. All time, the Gators have a combined record of 48–22 with two national titles, five Final Fours and nine Elite Eights. Florida’s tourney winning percentage is among the best in college hoops history. Today, we look back at the program’s most memorable NCAA Tournament first-round wins.

-1987: No. 6-seed Florida 82, No. 11 N.C. State 70: You only have one first NCAA Tournament game and the Gators’ was memorable. The Wolfpack were coached by the late Jim Valvano. Under Valvano, N.C. State had won the national title just four years prior. Adding more intrigue to the game was the fact Gators coach Norm Sloan had been the Wolfpack’s coach before Valvano and led the program to its only other national championship. Florida led by three at the half then fell behind by nine with 12 minutes left. A 17-0 run turned the game around. Guard Vernon Maxwell led the Gators with 26 points. This Florida team next beat No. 3-seeded Purdue 85–66 before falling to the eventual national runner-up Syracuse in the Sweet 16.

An ugly game … a beautiful finish

-1988: No. 6-seed Florida 62, No. 11 St. John’s 59: At the conclusion of a back-and-forth battle, Maxwell won that game with a pull-up 3-pointer from near the top of the key with 5 seconds left. He ended up with 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists in a sloppy game for both teams. Florida got pounded by No. 3-seed Michigan the very next round, 108-85. The Gators finished the season 22–11.

The 1994 Florida Gators found a way …

-1994: No. 3-seed Florida 64, No. 14 James Madison 62: Florida entered the tournament after a stellar regular season with its highest tourney seed up to that point but nearly was sent packing. The Gators were coached by Lon Kruger. JMU was led by the legendary Lefty Driesell, who once had been at Maryland. A key 3-pointer late by freshman guard Greg Williams put Florida up two. But then two free throws by James Madison tied the game at 62-all with 20 seconds left. That set the stage for star Gators guard Dan Cross, who banked a running layup with 7.2 seconds remaining and Florida escaped. Two weekends later, the Gators appeared in their first-ever Final Four. Florida ended up 29–8.

2000: No. 5-seed Florida 69, No. 12 Butler 68 (OT): In a wild game, the Gators trailed by three points when Gators guard Kenyan Weaks, after nearly turning it over, drove to the basket and made a layup with 10 seconds left. Down one, the Gators fouled and sent Butler to the line, but Butler’s LaVall Jordan missed both fouls shots. With time running out, Florida guard Teddy Dupay passed to guard Mike Miller, who drove into the lane and lofted a floater as he fell to the ground. The ball went in and the Gators escaped in what probably was the most memorable first-round tourney game in Gators history. Miller had 16 points and 13 rebounds. Florida, which had trailed by seven points late in regulation, would win its next four games before falling to Michigan State in the program’s first national title game appearance.

You may also like