Men’s NCAA Tournament consensus bracket predictions: The Athletic's picks for Florida

March Madness has already officially kicked off with the start of the First Four action, but the NCAA Tournament still has a long way to go until a champion is crowned on Monday, April 8.

This year, the Florida Gators earned a No. 1 seed in the West Region while the Southeastern Conference logged a record-shattering 14-member schools in the tourney. It has been a banner season for the SEC and the Gator Nation alike, and hopefully, their successes will continue into next month.

Ahead of the action, The Athletic surveyed 24 of its writers and editors for their men’s NCAA Tournament consensus bracket predictions, including Todd Golden's team. While the consensus leans toward the favorites, there are plenty of wrinkles in their brackets along the way.

Download your March Madness bracket here!

First-round picks

All 24 respondents picked Florida to beat the No. 16-seeded Norfolk State Vikings in the opening round held in Raliegh, North Carolina. Eight other teams were unanimous first-round picks, including a trio of fellow SEC programs: the No. 1-seeded Auburn Tigers, plus the No. 2-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide and Tennessee Volunteers.

Meanwhile, the No. 3-seeded Kentucky Wildcats earned 22 of 24 votes of confidence while the No. 4-seeded Texas A&M Aggies got 17.

"Though 8/9 games are often viewed as toss-ups, not so here: 21 voters picked UConn to beat Oklahoma, 20 voters like Gonzaga to beat Georgia, and 16 picked Louisville over Creighton. All are No. 8 seeds. The closest call is 14 votes for No. 9 seed Baylor to beat Mississippi State," the article notes.

Who will advance to the Sweet 16?

The Gator won the confidence of 21 of the 24 respondents in this round, but they were not alone. Only the Duke Blue Devils earned all 24 votes while Auburn and Tennessee earned 22; Alabama received 17.

The other team to earn 22 votes was the Michigan State Spartans, while the Houston Cougars are tied at 21 with Florida as well as potential Elite 8 opponent, the St. John's Red Storm. The Texas Tech Red Raiders are just ahead of 'Bama with 18 votes.

"The only team that unanimously advanced to the Sweet 16 in our consensus bracket is Duke. Among the other No. 1 seeds, two voters picked Auburn to lose to Louisville in the second round, three voters picked Florida to lose to UConn, and three voters picked Houston to lose to Gonzaga."

Who got an Elite 8 vote?

The voters remained bullish on the Orange and Blue this round, giving Golden's gang 20 of 24 votes, just behind Duke (22) and Auburn (21) and tied with Michigan State. Houston and St. John's received 17 votes each while Tennessee comes in with 16 and Alabama with 12.

No other team earned more than five votes.

"Twenty-nine teams received at least one vote to win in the Sweet 16 to advance to the Elite 8, including four double-digit seeds: No. 10 seeds Arkansas and Vanderbilt, No. 11 seed VCU and No. 12 seed Colorado State."

Final Four selection

Getting close to the end here, Florida remains among the top vote-getters in this bracket.

"Fifteen teams received at least one vote to make it to the Final Four, headlined by 21 for Duke, 16 for Florida, 14 for Michigan State and 13 for Houston. They form our consensus Final Four. No. 2 seed Michigan State got five more votes than No. 1 Auburn (nine) in the South."

National Champions

Cue the drumroll!

"Nine voters predict a Duke vs. Florida matchup for the national title, followed by four for Duke vs. Auburn. The only other pairings to receive multiple votes: two each for Houston vs. St. John’s, Duke vs. Michigan State and Houston vs. Michigan State."

As for why some chose the Gators to bring home the bacon, Justin Williams stated that "Florida is the best team entering the tournament, with an offense good enough to win any style of game against any style of opponent, and a defense good enough to tide them over if the offense struggles.”

Coming up for Florida

Florida will face off against Norfolk State in the first round on Friday, March 21. That game will be held in Raleigh, N.C. Tipoff is slated for 6:50 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on TNT.

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida basketball's NCAA Tournament predictions for March Madness

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