Florida basketball failed to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time six years this season, ending head coach Mike White‘s four-straight appearances over five years — one lost to the COVID pandemic — as well as his tenure in Gainesville. Instead, the Gators will play in the once-illustrious National Invitation Tournament for the first time since 2016, which happened to be White’s debut season at the helm of the Orange and Blue.
Florida’s history in the Big Dance began in 1987 when Norm Sloan led a squad that featured three future NBA players in Vernon Maxwell, Dwayne Schintzius and Clifford Lett to its first-ever appearance. Seven years later on their fourth appearance, the Gators made their first deep run under coach Lon Kruger, whose squad got bumped in the Final Four by a dominant Duke Blue Devils team.
It was Billy Donovan who eventually led Florida to the promised land during the mid-aughts, winning back-to-back championships with the famous “Oh-Fours” class that included a plethora of NBA talent. However, success dried up a bit in Gainesville after the high-water mark and after failing to return to the top of the mountain, Donovan left Florida for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In total, the Gators have made the NCAA Tournament 22 times with a combined record of 48-20, though due to sanctions, the 1987 and 1988 records have been vacated by the NCAA making their official mark 45–18.
Below is a look at every appearance Florida has made in March Madness including overall records and postseason results. (*) Denotes that the tournament results were vacated by the NCAA due to program penalties that occurred under head coach Norm Sloan.