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Florida enters NCAA Tournament play as a No. 7 seed for just the second time in school history.
And apparently, 7 is an unlucky number when it comes to making a deep run. Since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, no seven seeds have made the Final Four and only six have made the Elite Eight.
In that span, seven seeds have won 60 percent (65 of 108) of their first-round games against No. 10 seeds.
Florida was on the other end of that pendulum when it was a No. 10 seed in the 2010 NCAA Tournament in Oklahoma City. The Gators took No. 7 seed BYU to double-overtime before falling 99-92.
The last time Florida was a seven seed, it didn’t go well. After winning their first SEC regular season title in school history, the No. 7 seed Gators were routed 68-46 by No. 10 seed Colorado State in the opening round of the 1989 NCAA Tournament.
Here’s a look at Florida’s history in the NCAA Tournament, related to its seeding:
1987 — 6 seed, lost to Syracuse in Sweet 16
1988 — 6 seed, lost to Michigan in Round of 32
1989 — 7 seed, lost to Colorado State in opening round
1993 — 3 seed, lost to Duke in Final Four
1999 — 6 seed, lost to Gonzaga in Sweet 16
2000 –5 seed, lost to Michigan State in NCAA Finals
2001 — 3 seed, lost to Temple in Round of 32
2002 –5 seed, lost to Creighton in opening round
2003 — 2 seed, lost to Michigan State in Round of 32
2004 — 5 seed, lost to Manhattan in opening round
2005 — 4 seed, lost to Villanova in Round of 32
2006 — 3 seed, won national title
2007 — 1 seed, won national title
2010 — 10 seed, lost to BYU in opening round
2011 — 2 seed, lost to Butler in Elite Eight
Source: GatorSports.com - Hoops Scoop