Florida basketball’s March Madness opponent is either Boise State or Colorado to open 2024 NCAA Tournament bracket

Florida basketball is heading back to the 2024 NCAA Tournament after a three-year absence, as UF earned a 7-seed in the South Region and will face the winner of the 10-seed First Four matchup between Boise State and Colorado on Friday in Indianapolis.

Boise State and Colorado will play Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio.

Colorado (24-10) is coming off an 85-78 loss to Oregon in the Pac 12 Tournament Finals. The Buffaloes, led by 14th-year coach Tad Boyle, is led by point guard K.J. Simpson, who is averaging 19.6 ponts, 5.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists.

Boise State (22-10) is coming off a 76-66 loss to New Mexico on Thursday in the Mountain West Conference Tournament. The Broncos are led by forward Tyson Dengenhart who is averaging 17.0 points and 6.2 rebounds

The Florida Gators (24-11) have won nine of their last 13 games but are coming off an 86-67 loss to Auburn on Sunday in the SEC Tournament final. In the loss, Florida lost starting center Micah Handlogten to a broken leg.

Florida will make its 24th NCAA Tournament trip in school history and first since 2021. As a 7-seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, UF beat 10-seed Virginia Tech in overtime before falling to 15-seed Oral Roberts in a Round of 32 matchup in Indianapolis.

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Second-year Florida coach Todd Golden will make his second trip to the NCAA Tournament as a head coach and first as a UF coach. In 2022, Golden guided San Francisco to the NCAA Tournament, where the 10th-seeded Dons lost 92-87 to 7-seed Murray State.

Florida has reached the Final Four five times in school history, with its last Final Four trip coming in 2014. The Gators won back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007 for their only two national titles in school history. Tauran Green, the starting point guard in the 2006 and 2007 national title teams, is an assistant player development coach with the 2023-24 Gators.