No. 4 Florida vs No. 13 East Tennessee State preview: Game time, broadcast, betting line, prediction

The 4th-seeded Florida Gators (24-8) take on the No. 13 seed East Tennessee State Buccaneers (27-7) in the first round of the East Region. The game will be played at the Amway Center in Orlando on Thursday.

Preview: Florida was the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament but was upset by seventh-seeded Vanderbilt. The Gators are led by sophomore guard KeVaughn Allen (13.9 ppg) and senior guard Canyon Berry (12.1 ppg). Big man John Egbunu is out with a torn ACL, which hurts the Gators' chances of making a deep run.

ETSU won the Southern Conference Tournament with a 79-74 victory over UNC Greensboro. Senior guard T.J. Cromer averages 19.1 points, 3.2 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game to lead the way.

You can check out the entire NCAA Tournament bracket here. You can also see how the committee ranked the teams 1-68 here.

Date: Thursday, March 16

Time: 3:10 p.m. E.T.

TV Channel: truTV

Location: Amway Center in Orlando, Fla.

Announcers: Ian Eagle, Steve Lavin, Evan Washburn

Opening Betting Line: Florida -11.5, via OddsShark

Florida is making its 20th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance. The Gators last went dancing in 2014, when they went 36-3 and reached the Final Four.

This is ETSU's 10th NCAA Tournament trip. The last time the Bucs made it was as a 16-seed in 2010, when they lost 100-71 to Kentucky. They last won a tourney game in 1992 as a 14-seed, upsetting No.3 seed Arizona.

Prediction: We've seen some pundits suggesting this will be an upset special. Florida has lost two games in a row and three of its last four. As we said above, Egbunu's absence leaves a big void.

We're not quite ready to say goodnight to the Gators yet, however. In our bracket, Florida pulls this one out.

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