Florida basketball coaches and players had their cell phones flooded with congratulatory text messages after UF clinched the school's fifth SEC Tournament title on Sunday.

Then, on the tarmac at Nashville International Airport, the Florida Gators (30-4) learned they secured the No. 1 seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament and a matchup with 16-seed Norfolk State in Raleigh, N.C., on Friday (6:50 p.m., TNT).

National media attention has followed this week as UF has become a trendy pick to cut down the nets in San Antonio and win its third national title in school history and first since 2007. ESPN college basketball analysts Seth Greenberg, Jay Bilas and Jay Williams all picked the Gators to win it all on the network's Selection Sunday show.

These are heady times for the Gators, who will leave for the NCAA Tournament after a full practice on Wednesday. Staying grounded will be one of the themes for UF heading into their second straight NCAA Tournament trip under head coach Todd Golden.

"We can’t let it change who we’ve been over the course of the season," Golden said. "I’m pretty confident our guys will be good that way. I think this group enjoys being in an underdog role and kind of creating that mentality if it’s not there already. But it’s definitely something we’re going to have to manage and deal with over the next few days, for sure.”

Golden is pleased that UF is staying in a geographically friendly site on the east coast to start the tournament. UF has already done some preliminary scouting on Norfolk State, and he and his staff will pour into the Spartans as the week progresses.

Florida is 45-20 all-time in NCAA Tournament play but hasn't made the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament since the Chris Chiozza-led Gators made an Elite Eight run in 2017 under former coach Mike White.

"As far as the bracket goes, every bracket is really good at this point," Golden said. "For us, the key is, we’re just focused on this first weekend, doing everything we can to prepare for Norfolk State on Friday, and if we’re fortunate enough to get past them, preparing for Oklahoma and UConn, whichever opponent we see."

Florida basketball players motivated to advance in NCAA Tournament

Returning Florida basketball players are motivated to advance in the NCAA Tournament after last season's disappointment. As a 7 seed, Florida lost 102-100 to 10-seed Colorado in the 2024 NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis, Ind.

"We know what March Madness is, you know, it's like upsets and like it happens all the time," Florida sophomore forward Thomas Haugh said. "So we just try not to be the team that gets upset. You know, we're going to go into practice with that same mentality that we’re the underdogs and take that to the tournament like that way.”

Haugh said the underdog mentality comes from having a number of players that were overlooked out of high school either as transfers from smaller schools or as two to three-star recruits.

"We got like, underrated guys, zero-star recruits and stuff like that," Haugh said. "So, we're gonna take it like that, kind of just keep that mentality going into the tournament."

Florida basketball G Walter Clayton Jr earns first team AP All-American honors

Florida senior point guard Walter Clayton Jr., who was named a first team Sporting News All-American last week, added AP first team All-American honors to his ledger on Tuesday.

The 6-foot-3 Clayton, a transfer from Iona, is coming off a weekend in which he earned SEC Tournament MVP honors after averaging 20.7 points and 4.7 assists in UF wins over Missouri, Alabama and Tennessee.

Clayton is averaging team highs in scoring (17.5 ppg) and (4.3 apg) for the Gators this season and has scored in double figures in 20 straight games. A transfer from Iona before the start of the 2023-24, Clayton has made the successful transition from moving off the ball last season to playing point guard as a senior.

"Our staff had a really good idea of how good and how special he would be this year for us, especially moving on to the ball and having a little more opportunity to impact the game," Golden said. "But, yeah, he's been even better probably than we thought he could be, and I think he's been the best guard in America this year."