'Dem Apples: What the Florida Gators Told Their Critics

Mike Conley Jr. called them a "good team." Dick Vitale said they wouldn't make it past Arizona...or Purdue...or Butler...or Oregon.

 

In fact, the only folks who believed that the University of Florida would repeat as national champs were the diehard citizens of Gator Nation. 

 

On Monday night, the Gators made history by beating the Ohio State Buckeyes for their second consecutive NCAA crown. My question for all the doubters:

 

How do you like 'dem apples?

 

What makes the Gators' run so special? Plenty, actually—but three points in particular will have the fans in Gainesville talking about '06-'07 for years to come.

Repeat Champions

 

The 2007 Gators were the first NCAA team to repeat as national champs since the 1992 Duke Blue Devils. It's a new era in college basketball, and anyone who doesn't believe that Florida is one par with the Dukes, North Carolinas, and UCLAs of the past isn't a real hoops fan.

 

 

From Start to Finish

 

Last year, the Gators won a championship with a bunch of guys no one had heard of. This year, the only difference was the name recognition, as Florida became the first team in history to win back-to-back titles with the same group of starters. So much for those bull's-eyes on their chests.

 

 

Double Trouble

 

Three months ago, the Florida Gators football team defeated Ohio State in the BCS National Championship Game. Billy Donovan was on hand in January to root for his tag-team partner Urban Meyer. Meyer returned the favor on Monday night, and the Gators made history by becoming the first school to win football and basketball titles in the same academic year. Not bad for a couple of teams that everyone wrote off.

 

 

About Monday's game: In Ohio State's defense, the Buckeyes did make a run. But I predicted that the outcome would be decided in the first four minutes of the second half—and sure enough, the Gators pulled away when it counted.

 

In the end, the hype around Conley and Greg Oden wasn't enough to get OSU over the hump. The Buckeyes shot a dismal 46 percent from the field and an even more dismal 17 percent from beyond the arc. The Gators, on the other hand, shot 55 percent from three-point land and 45 percent from the floor.

 

The Gators's win boosted the SEC's tournament record to an impressive 11-4. They also polished off a clean sweep of the next-best team in the country...which was only gravy on top of a second-straight national title. And with all the controversy surrounding Billy Donovan and the Kentucky job...

 

Well, that's a column for another time.

 

For now, the Gators can bask in their historic success. With Lon Kruger and Steve Spurrier little more than distant memories, Donovan and Meyer have brought greatness back to Gator Nation. For the record, I think Florida has earned its stripes, and the Gator crew can officially put the question to their foes in the Big Ten, their SEC rivals in Nashville and Lexington, Dick Vitale and Digger Phelps, and, while we're at it, any sportswriter who doubted UF at any point in the last twelve months:

 

HOW DO YOU LIKE 'DEM APPLES?