Dabo Swinney tells Florida fan ‘Go Gators’ at NCAA Tournament in Tampa
By David Wasson
Published:
The Florida Gators were so dominant in their 2026 NCAA Tournament debut, they had an ACC football coach temporarily switching sides.
Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney was in Tampa to watch the eighth-seeded Tigers fall to ninth-seeded Iowa 67-61 on Friday and stayed to check out top-seeded Florida dismantle 16th-seeded Prairie View A&M 114-55.
Swinney was so impressed that he gave a “Go Gators” to a Florida fan while departing Benchmark International Arena at halftime – a greeting the fan then used to playfully chide Clemson fans also on their way up the staircase.
Florida, which plays ninth-seeded Iowa in a South Regional second-round game (7:10 pm ET, TBS) leads the eight-team SEC contingent to advance to the Round of 32. That success ties the conference’s record of second-round teams set just last year.
Florida was dominant against Prairie View on Friday, recording the second-largest margin of victory in NCAA Tournament history. Boogie Fland scored 16 points to lead seven players in double figures, whose 59-point margin fell short of only Loyola Chicago’s 111-42 win over Tennessee Tech in 1963.
Fland, Thomas Haugh (14 points), Ruben Chinyelu (14 points), Alex Condon (13 points), Urban Klavzar (11 points) and Xaivian Lee (10 points) all were in double figures as the Gators got minutes for 14 players.
Will Florida keep it going? Kalshi is taking action on predictions for UF vs. Iowa!
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
