Florida has been on a rollercoaster ride through the rankings the last two years.
The Gators leapt into the top 25 after winning three quality nonconference games last week, coming in at No. 13 in the Associated Press poll and No. 17 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll.
The last two seasons, UF has been in the AP Top 25 seven times. The Gators made two one-week appearances during the 2007-08 season and were ranked from No. 17 to No. 23 the first four weeks of the 2008-09 season before falling out and making a brief return in January.
Fresh off his team’s highest ranking since winning back-to-back national championships, coach Billy Donovan is looking to see how UF (6-0) handles its recent success in its game tonight at 7 in the O’Connell Center against Florida A&M (0-7).
“The biggest thing is going to be to have a level of humility,” Donovan said. “Hopefully through their past experiences, these guys can deal with the fact that we had a great week.”
The last time Florida was in the top 25 was Jan. 19, when it snuck in at No. 24 before losing to South Carolina and falling back out of the rankings. That instance was largely representative of UF’s inability to stay ranked throughout the last two seasons — something Donovan attributed to his team’s immaturity during that span.
“Failures and disappointments are always a lot easier to handle than successes,” Donovan said. “Generally when you’re going through adversity, it’s pretty clear you have one thing to do. You’ve got to fight, you’ve got to battle, you’ve got to keep on working — it’s pretty clear-cut. But how do you manage when you have a level of success?”
Although UF won’t be facing the high-caliber teams it did last week, the Gators are focused on not letting up despite the lower level of competition.
“It’s like I told these guys, ‘Is that all we’re playing for? To have a great week?’” Donovan said. “The goal is how do we improve and how do we get better, because I think we still have a lot of room for improvement.”
Despite the ranking, Donovan pointed out that his team is still committing too many turnovers, not rebounding as well as it should be and shooting poorly from 3-point range (26 percent). But given the way the Gators have grinded their way to an undefeated start even with those flaws, Donovan is encouraged by the potential his team has shown.
“I would be concerned right now as a coach if I said, ‘Gosh, we’re clicking on all cylinders here in November. I don’t see any room for improvement,’” Donovan said. “I still think we can get a lot better than we are right now.”
WALKER WINS SEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: After being named MVP of the Legends Classic this weekend, Erving Walker earned another honor Monday, winning Southeastern Conference Player of the Week.
The sophomore point guard averaged 12 points, five assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game last week in Florida’s wins against Florida State, Michigan State and Rutgers. His clutch performance down the stretch against the Spartans, including a 3-pointer with 1:55 remaining, helped lead the Gators to their biggest win in more than two years.
Walker is the first Florida player to earn the honor since Nick Calathes did so on Jan. 12 and the second since Corey Brewer won it on Feb. 12, 2007.
“I’m happy with that,” Walker said. “But I’m much more happy with our two wins down there in New Jersey and our whole team’s improvement.”
