Today at approximately 6:30 ET, the Florida Gators officially ended their NCAA Tournament drought.

The Florida Gators will meet the BYU Cougars on Thursday, March 18 in Oklahoma City. They are a 10 seed, and BYU is a 7 seed.

After a rough day for bubble teams yesterday (Houston surprising UTEP, Mississippi State upsetting Vandy, many more) speculation was rapant that Dan Werner would play yet another game in front of his under-appreciative fans.

Instead, they are heading to OKC. Some more facts below...

The fact that the Gators received a 10 seed is amazing. This means, in the eyes of the committee, it wasn't even close. Perhaps we should take a hint, as Gator fans, and evaluate our team for what they are (NCAA Tourney-bound) and not for what they aren't (back-to-back national champions). After all, the #3 seed 2006 Florida Gators were 10-6 in regular season conference play. The difference? Those Gators were undefeated in non-conference games (including the NCAA Tourney) and undefeated on a neutral court (including both post-season tournaments). The 10-6 regular season SEC record must mean something compared to our 9-7 showing this year, however.

Another amazing fact concerning UF's seed this March: two of our biggest wins (probably THE two biggest wins) were over Tennessee and Michigan State. Those teams received a #6 and a #5 seed, respectively. This made the announcement that the Florida Gators are headed to March Madness all the more amazing.

The last two times the Final Four was in Indianapolis (in 2000 and 2006), the Florida Gators made the Final Four. They are 3-1 in those games (the lone loss being the 2000 NCAA Championship against Michigan State). Hey, weirder things have happened- including the last time the Final Four was in Indianapolis (Florida's opponent was 13-seed, bubble team George Mason).

The Florida Gators hold the NCAA's longest active streak of NCAA Tournament wins, with 12. Additionally, in the last six years, we've now made the NCAA tournament four times (05, 06, 07, 10), won the SEC Tournament three times (05, 06, 07) and made 3 final fours (NCAA: 06, 07; NIT: 08).

Oklahoma City is between 3 and 4 hours from my house.  I am seriously considering making the trip, depending on what time the game is (not announced yet).  Due to Kansas being the top seed in the other pool, and Kansas State being the top seed in our pool, tickets on craigslist were going for $300-400 immediately after the matchups were announced on CBS.  Ouch!