1986–87 Florida Gators men's basketball team

1986–87 Florida Gators men's basketball
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Record23–11 (12–6 SEC)
Head coach
Assistant coachMonte Towe (7th season)
Home arenaO'Connell Center
1986–87 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 9 Alabama 16 2   .889 28 5   .848
Florida 12 6   .667 23 11   .676
Georgia 10 8   .556 18 12   .600
Kentucky 10 8   .556 18 11   .621
Auburn 9 9   .500 18 13   .581
Ole Miss 8 10   .444 15 14   .517
LSU 8 10   .444 24 15   .615
Tennessee 7 11   .389 14 15   .483
Vanderbilt 7 11   .389 18 16   .529
Mississippi State 3 15   .167 7 21   .250
1987 SEC tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

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 and followed that by knocking off No. 3 seed Purdue. The run ended in the East Regional semifinal, where Florida was beaten by eventual National runner-up Syracuse, 87–81. The team finished with a record of 23–11 (12–6 SEC).