Florida first No. 1 seed eliminated as Iowa stuns defending champions 

There will be no repeat champion in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The defending champion Florida Gators became the first No. 1 seed to be eliminated in the 2026 tournament, losing a thrilling (and at times very intense) 73-72 decision to the No. 9 seed Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday. 

Basketball Florida’s comeback effort comes up short as Iowa moves on

Iowa built a 12-point lead for itself in the second half and seemed to be in complete control of the game as it outplayed and out-muscled the heavily favored Gators. 

Eventually, though, Florida started to chip away and turned the final six minutes into a back-and-forth race that finally ended when Iowa’s Alvaro Folgueiras hit a game-winning corner 3-pointer to give the Hawkeyes the lead with 4.5 seconds to play in regulation.

Iowa then completely shut down Florida’s final possession, not even allowing the Gators to get off a shot with the game on the line. It perfectly illustrated what sort of game this was by the Hawkeyes as they clinched their trip into the Sweet 16 since the 1999 season. 

Folgueiras’ game-winning shot was obviously the one that will get the most attention, but he made a huge impact beyond that with 14 points coming off the bench. Florida’s bench managed just eight points total. 

This game also had some real intensity to it as Florida coach Todd Golden and Iowa coach Ben McCollum exchanged words early in the first half following an altercation on the floor between the two teams. 

McCollum then called Golden and the Florida bench “sensitive” during an in-game interview. 

Iowa is one of six Big Ten teams to reach the Sweet 16 in this year’s tournament, and will play conference rival Nebraska later this week.