{"id":151512,"date":"2026-03-15T20:31:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T00:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=151512"},"modified":"2026-03-25T14:22:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T18:22:40","slug":"ucf-mens-basketball-bound-for-ncaa-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-mens-basketball-bound-for-ncaa-tournament\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Men\u2019s Basketball Bound for NCAA Tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Let the Madness begin.<\/p>\n<p>The UCF men\u2019s basketball team is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in seven years, earning an at-large bid to college basketball\u2019s premiere postseason tournament.<\/p>\n<p>The Knights head to Philadelphia as the No. 10 seed and will play 7-seed UCLA on Friday, March 20, at 7:25 p.m. The game will air on TBS and stream on HBO Max and NCAA March Madness Live.<\/p>\n<p>UCF is one of eight Big 12 teams featured in the 68-team tournament, matching a league record.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_151516\" style=\"max-width: 1200px;\" class=\"figure\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid w-100 wp-image-151516 size-full\" style=\"font-weight: bold;font-size: 1rem\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/ncaa-tournament-graphics.jpg\" alt=\"2 black and gold graphics side by side. On the left: Johnny Dawkins profile is above word that read &quot;we're in.&quot; on the right: large #10 with UCLA next to it\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/ncaa-tournament-graphics.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/ncaa-tournament-graphics-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/ncaa-tournament-graphics-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/ncaa-tournament-graphics-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/ncaa-tournament-graphics-360x240.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid w-100 wp-image-151516 size-full lazyload\" style=\"font-weight: bold;font-size: 1rem\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201200%20800%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"2 black and gold graphics side by side. On the left: Johnny Dawkins profile is above word that read &quot;we're in.&quot; on the right: large #10 with UCLA next to it\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201200%20800%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/ncaa-tournament-graphics.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/ncaa-tournament-graphics-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/ncaa-tournament-graphics-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/ncaa-tournament-graphics-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/ncaa-tournament-graphics-360x240.jpg 360w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/ncaa-tournament-graphics.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">(Graphics by UCF Athletics)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>UCF\u2019s Bracket Outlook<\/h2>\n<p>UCF was slotted into the East Region, which features Duke as the No. 1 seed. The Knights will play their first-round matchup in Philadelphia at Xfinity Mobile Arena.<\/p>\n<p>UCF (21-11) meets UCLA (23-11) for the first time in school history on Friday, March 20. UCLA has won six of its last eight games and defeated Rutgers and Michigan State to advance to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals before falling to Purdue.<\/p>\n<p>If the Knights advance, they will face the winner of No. 2-seed UConn and No. 15-seed Furman on Sunday, March 22.<\/p>\n<p>The Final Four will be held April 4-6 in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n<h2>The Road to March Madness<\/h2>\n<p>With 13 newcomers and zero points returning from last year\u2019s squad, UCF was dismissed as a bottom-dweller in the Big 12 Conference preseason poll. But the Knights produced a resume worthy of selection with their second-straight 20-win season in one of the best basketball conferences in the nation.<\/p>\n<p>UCF pulled out a gutsy road win at Texas A&amp;M early in its non-conference schedule and went on to upset three ranked teams during conference play (No. 17 Kansas, No. 11 Texas Tech and No. 19 BYU), tying a school record for the most wins over Top 25 opponents in a season.<\/p>\n<p>After <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-mens-hoops-topples-no-17-kansas\/\">edging Kansas in their Big 12 Conference opener<\/a>, the Knights cracked into the Associated Press national poll for the first time since 2019 at No. 25.<\/p>\n<p>UCF advanced to its first quarterfinals appearance in the Big 12 Conference Tournament after clinching a thrilling overtime win against Cincinnati in the second round.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_151518\" style=\"max-width: 1200px;\" class=\"figure mx-auto d-block\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" class=\"figure-img size-full wp-image-151518 img-fluid\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-MBB-Big-12-Tournament-Win.jpg\" alt=\"Men's basketball players wearing white UCF jerseys stand by white board bracket ready to put UCF sticker on bracket\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-MBB-Big-12-Tournament-Win.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-MBB-Big-12-Tournament-Win-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-MBB-Big-12-Tournament-Win-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-MBB-Big-12-Tournament-Win-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-MBB-Big-12-Tournament-Win-360x240.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" class=\"figure-img size-full wp-image-151518 img-fluid lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201200%20800%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Men's basketball players wearing white UCF jerseys stand by white board bracket ready to put UCF sticker on bracket\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201200%20800%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-MBB-Big-12-Tournament-Win.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-MBB-Big-12-Tournament-Win-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-MBB-Big-12-Tournament-Win-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-MBB-Big-12-Tournament-Win-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-MBB-Big-12-Tournament-Win-360x240.jpg 360w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-MBB-Big-12-Tournament-Win.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">The men&#8217;s basketball team celebrates its OT win over Utah in the Big 12 Conference second round. (Photo courtesy of UCF Athletics)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>UCF March Madness Events<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Team Bus Send-off (Orlando)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Date: Wednesday, March 18<\/p>\n<p>Time: 3:45 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>Location: Alleyway between Garage F and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/location\/the-venue\/\">The Venue<\/a> (4275 E Plaza Drive, Orlando)<\/p>\n<p>Free parking available at Garage F. Bring signs, flags, and don&#8217;t forget the palm fronds.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>ChargeOn Tailgate (Philadelphia)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Date: Friday, March 20<\/p>\n<p>Time: 4:30-6:30 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>Location: The Pub at Stateside Live! (1100 Pattison Ave, Philadelphia)<\/p>\n<p>RSVP: <a href=\"https:\/\/foundation.ucf.edu\/marchon\">foundation.ucf.edu\/marchon<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Watch Party (Orlando)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Date: Friday, March 20<\/p>\n<p>Time: 7:25 p.m. (tip-off)<\/p>\n<p>Location: Miller&#8217;s Ale House &#8211; Waterford Lakes (641 N Alafaya Trail, Orlando)<\/p>\n<h2>UCF\u2019s NCAA Tournament History<\/h2>\n<p>UCF earned its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance since joining the Division I ranks in 1984-85. This year\u2019s selection marks second at-large berth in program history.<\/p>\n<p>The Knights earned automatic qualifiers in 1994, 1996, 2004 and 2005 when the Black and Gold won the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament. UCF received its first at-large bid in 2019, following a successful season in the American Athletic Conference.<\/p>\n<p>The last time UCF appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2019, the Knights made history with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/getting-lost-in-the-fight\/\">their first win in the tournament in school history before meeting top-ranked Duke<\/a> in what would become an instant classic.<noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"975\" height=\"650\" class=\"img-fluid aligncenter wp-image-151515 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-Tournament-History.jpg\" alt=\"graph of UCF's year by year tournament history with results\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-Tournament-History.jpg 975w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-Tournament-History-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-Tournament-History-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-Tournament-History-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-Tournament-History-360x240.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 975px) 100vw, 975px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"975\" height=\"650\" class=\"img-fluid aligncenter wp-image-151515 size-full lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20975%20650%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"graph of UCF's year by year tournament history with results\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20975%20650%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 975w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 975px) 100vw, 975px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-Tournament-History.jpg 975w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-Tournament-History-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-Tournament-History-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-Tournament-History-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-Tournament-History-360x240.jpg 360w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/UCF-Tournament-History.jpg\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Knights will face UCLA in the first round of March Madness in Philadelphia on Friday, March 20.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":151514,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5,26],"tags":[15793,3086,3346],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-151512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","category-sports","tag-johnny-dawkins","tag-mens-basketball","tag-ncaa"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>NCAA Tournament Bound! UCF Men&#039;s Basketball Secures March Madness Berth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Knights will face UCLA in the first round of March Madness in Philadelphia on Friday, March 20.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-mens-basketball-bound-for-ncaa-tournament\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UCF Men\u2019s Basketball Bound for NCAA Tournament\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Knights will face UCLA in the first round of March Madness in Philadelphia on Friday, March 20.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-mens-basketball-bound-for-ncaa-tournament\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"University of Central Florida News | UCF Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UCF\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-16T00:31:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-25T18:22:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/03\/NCAA-selection-show-UCF-reaction.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jenna Lee\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@UCF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UCF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jenna Lee\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-mens-basketball-bound-for-ncaa-tournament\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-mens-basketball-bound-for-ncaa-tournament\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jenna Lee\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bbcb2bbfa580f27936bd841c70479c63\"},\"headline\":\"UCF Men\u2019s Basketball Bound for NCAA Tournament\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-16T00:31:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-25T18:22:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-mens-basketball-bound-for-ncaa-tournament\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":576,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-mens-basketball-bound-for-ncaa-tournament\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/20\\\/files\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/NCAA-selection-show-UCF-reaction.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Johnny Dawkins\",\"men's basketball\",\"NCAA\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Colleges &amp; Campus\",\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2026\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-mens-basketball-bound-for-ncaa-tournament\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-mens-basketball-bound-for-ncaa-tournament\\\/\",\"name\":\"NCAA Tournament Bound! 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