1986–87 Florida Gators men's basketball team
American college basketball season
The 1986–87 Florida Gators men's basketball team represented the University of Florida as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1986–87 NCAA men's basketball season. Led by head coach Norm Sloan , the team played their home games at the O'Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida . After finishing second in the SEC regular season standings, Florida was bounced in the quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament by LSU. The Gators received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament , the school's (technically) first appearance in the tournament, where they made a run to the Sweet Sixteen. In the opening round, Florida defeated NC State[ 1] and followed that by knocking off No. 3 seed Purdue .[ 2] The run ended in the East Regional semifinal,[ 3] where Florida was beaten by eventual National runner-up Syracuse, 87–81.[ 4] The team finished with a record of 23–11 (12–6 SEC).
Roster
1986–87 Florida Gators men's basketball team
Players
Coaches
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on
Schedule and results
Date time, TV
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 28, 1986 *
at Florida State
L 76–80
0–1
Donald L. Tucker Center Tallahassee, Florida
Dec 1, 1986 *
vs. Stetson
W 98–75
1–1
Dec 2, 1986 *
Western Carolina
W 116–68
2–1
Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida
Dec 4, 1986 *
vs. SMU
W 110–70
3–1
Dec 10, 1986 *
Central Florida
W 89–54
4–1
Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida
Dec 13, 1986 *
at South Florida
W 68–62
5–1
Sun Dome Tampa, Florida
Dec 16, 1986
LSU
W 96–75
6–1 (1–0)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida
Dec 19, 1986 *
vs. Virginia Tech Gator Bowl Tournament
W 82–60
7–1
Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum Jacksonville, Florida
Dec 20, 1986 *
vs. Ohio State Gator Bowl Tournament
W 82–72
8–1
Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum Jacksonville, Florida
Dec 27, 1986 *
No. 20
vs. California Rainbow Classic
L 80–83
8–2
Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, Hawaii
Dec 29, 1986 *
No. 20
at Hawaii Rainbow Classic
W 110–83
9–2
Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, Hawaii
Dec 30, 1986 *
No. 20
vs. Ohio State Rainbow Classic
L 84–88
9–3
Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, Hawaii
Jan 3, 1987 3:00 p.m., JPT
at Georgia
W 87–80
10–3 (2–0)
Stegeman Coliseum Athens, Georgia
Jan 7, 1987
Mississippi State
W 100–56
11–3 (3–0)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida
Jan 10, 1987
at Ole Miss
W 80–72
12–3 (4–0)
Tad Smith Coliseum Oxford, Mississippi
Jan 14, 1987
at Kentucky
L 62–67
12–4 (4–1)
Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Jan 17, 1987
Tennessee
W 97–90
13–4 (5–1)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida
Jan 21, 1987
at LSU
W 75–51
14–4 (6–1)
Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jan 24, 1987
Vanderbilt
W 85–81
15–4 (7–1)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida
Jan 28, 1987
No. 19
No. 9 Alabama
W 90–80
16–4 (8–1)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida
Jan 31, 1987
No. 19
at No. 18 Auburn
L 68–81
16–5 (8–2)
Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum Auburn, Alabama
Feb 4, 1987
Georgia
W 66–52
17–5 (9–2)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida
Feb 7, 1987
at Mississippi State
W 84–56
18–5 (10–2)
Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, Mississippi
Feb 9, 1987
No. 19
Auburn
L 70–84
18–6 (10–3)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida
Feb 11, 1987
No. 19
Ole Miss
W 85–62
19–6 (11–3)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida
Feb 14, 1987 3:00 p.m., JPT
No. 19
Kentucky
W 74–56
20–6 (12–3)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida
Feb 18, 1987 8:00 p.m., JPT
No. 18
at Tennessee
L 71–81
20–7 (12–4)
Stokely Athletics Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 21, 1987 *
No. 18
Miami (FL)
W 99–60
21–7
Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida
Feb 25, 1987
No. 18
at Vanderbilt
L 76–84
21–8 (12–5)
Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee
Feb 28, 1987 3:00 p.m., JPT
No. 18
at No. 10 Alabama
L 85–86
21–9 (12–6)
Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama
SEC Tournament
Mar 6, 1987 * JPT
vs. LSU Quarterfinals
L 66–72
21–10
The Omni Atlanta, Georgia
NCAA Tournament
Mar 13, 1987 *
(6 E)
vs. (11 E) NC State First round
W 82–70
22–10
Carrier Dome Syracuse, New York
Mar 15, 1987 *
(6 E)
vs. (3 E) No. 7 Purdue Second round
W 85–66
23–10
Carrier Dome Syracuse, New York
Mar 19, 1987 * CBS
(6 E)
vs. (2 E) No. 10 Syracuse East Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen
L 81–87
23–11
Brendan Byrne Arena East Rutherford, New Jersey
*Non-conference game.
# Rankings from
AP Poll . (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
The NCAA tournament results were vacated.
[ 5]
Rankings
References
Venues Rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics