Colleges

UF joins list in best-ever talk

At the risk of sounding biased or boastful, Florida coach Billy Donovan insists his team's second straight national title secures its place in history alongside any team you can name.

By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published April 4, 2007

ATLANTA - At the risk of sounding biased or boastful, Florida coach Billy Donovan insists his team's second straight national title secures its place in history alongside any team you can name.

UCLA during the Lew Alcindor era of the late 1960s. UCLA with Bill Walton in the early '70s. Duke with Christian Laettner, Grant Hill and Bobby Hurley in 1991-92, the last group to repeat.

Pick one. Any one.

You better then include the Gators in the conversation.

"I'm not saying they were the most talented," Donovan said of his bunch shortly after the 84-75 win against Ohio State on Monday night at the Georgia Dome. "I'm not saying they were flawless. But when you talk about the word 'team,' what that encompasses in terms of unselfishness, sacrifice, playing together, they have got to go down and be considered, in my opinion, one of the best teams to ever play."

He's got plenty of company in that assessment.

Even from folks not clad in orange and blue.

"If you want to compare them with other teams, you would start, to me, with the other teams that have repeated," said CBS analyst Clark Kellogg, a former Buckeye star. "How short is that roll call list?"

It was six programs. Oklahoma State, Kentucky, San Francisco, Cincinnati, UCLA and Duke.

Florida makes seven and the first that had the same starting five for a repeat.

"You start looking at all the unique aspects of what they did, their place is sealed for a long, long time in the history of the game," Kellogg said. "And that's going to be special the more time passes."

"The accomplishment that Florida has put up in winning two in a row puts them in elite company," echoed ESPN's Jay Bilas, a former Duke standout and an assistant coach when the Blue Devils went back-to-back. "Other teams have had the opportunity to do that in their era and very few teams have been able to accomplish that and ... that puts them on the top shelf. I'm a believer, and I think other people should to."

To him and others, any debate on how this Gator group would fare against the UCLA teams of the past or even some of the top teams that came close to repeats Indiana in the mid 1970s, Georgetown in the mid '80s, UNLV in the early '90s, Arkansas in the early '90s and Kentucky in the mid '90s may be interesting and fun, but not particularly relevant or meaningful.

They played - and beat - the teams on the court, not in the annals.

"You can't compare teams of different eras," legendary UCLA coach John Wooden said. His Bruins won 10 titles in 12 years, including a stretch of seven in a row. "But they're an outstanding team. What I really like is they have quickness, and I always felt quickness is the most important physical asset for any sport; it has to be under control, of course.

"And they have great balance, in every way. Balance is the second most important word in our language. They have offensive balance. They have defensive balance. They have squad balance. It seems to me they have all the characteristics you would like to have."

All the characteristics that great teams have had.

Just pick one. Any one.

[Last modified April 3, 2007, 23:20:20]