Today, No. 1 seed Florida will begin what Joakim Noah once called the “purest form of sports:” the NCAA Tournament.
But this year’s Gators squad (32-2) — which will face No. 16 seed Albany Great Danes (19-14) at 4:10 p.m. in Orlando — has heard enough of Noah. They’ve heard enough of Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Lee Humphrey, too.
After every win, after every record broken and after every rise in the rankings, the Gators have been bombarded with comparisons to the 2007 national championship squad.
News flash: This is a different team.
For the first time in the program’s 95 years, Florida has a 26-game win streak and counting. For the first time in the Southeastern Conference’s 82-year history, a school emerged unscathed from an 18-game league schedule — or 21, if you count the conference tournament.
And no matter what this year’s group does over the next three weeks, the banners hanging from the O’Connell Center rafters will still be there. No matter how many comparisons you make, the facts are that those are artifacts from the past, and it’s impossible to determine the Gators’ future from their history.
Not only is coach Billy Donovan not worried about his past team’s accomplishments, but he also isn’t even concerned with what Florida has done during the regular season.
“Now that the seeding is set, the only thing that matters is playing well and putting yourself in a position to win and advance,” Donovan said. “We’re excited for another opportunity to play but the No. 1 seed, the overall seed, whatever it is, is great. But that’s probably a reflection of what’s happened from November all the way to here in March.”
Although a No. 16 seed has not upset a No. 1 seed since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, the Gators aren’t taking anything for granted when they face off against the Great Danes.
In its 71-64 win over Mount St. Mary’s in the play-in game Tuesday night, Albany knocked down 27 of its 47 shots, with only two of those made field goals coming from beyond the three-point arc.
The Great Danes jumped out to a 21-2 lead over the Mountaineers on 9-of-14 shooting. However, Albany then made just 1 of 6 field goals immediately following its run to allow Mount St. Mary’s to go on a 24-4 stretch of its own.
Scottie Wilbekin said once teams enter a one-and-done scenario like the NCAA Tournament, all it takes is 40 minutes of good basketball to force an upset.
“Coach D really does a good job of reminding us that no matter what the rankings are, every year there’s upsets and so it really doesn’t matter once the ball goes up,” the senior point guard said. “Anything can happen. Anybody can beat anybody, so we’ve got to be on our toes no matter what.”
Casey Prather took his teammate’s answer one step further when talking about Albany’s chances at taking down No. 1 seed Florida.
“They definitely can beat us,” Prather said.
“They’re a good team.”
Despite what the players say, the Gators are 21.5-point favorites to advance to the Round of 32 where they would face the winner of Colorado-Pittsburgh on Saturday.
If Florida were to continue its run in the South Region, it would have an opportunity for a rematch against Kansas in the Elite Eight. When the Jayhawks visited the O’Connell Center on Dec. 10, the Gators were coming off a buzzer-beater loss to UConn but rebounded strong with a 67-61 victory, which kicked off their 26-game win streak.
The Elite Eight has meant the end of the road for Florida the past three years. Overcoming the obstacle would result in Donovan’s first Final Four appearance since 2007.
However, just as Donovan isn’t looking backward or forward for answers, neither are his seniors.
“As far as what happened those last three years, I don’t know and to be honest I don’t really care because we’re not thinking about that,” Wilbekin said.
“Nobody on our team or on the coaching staff is thinking about the last couple of years. It might be cliché, but all we think about is the next game.”
But, as Donovan said, all good teams have attributes in common with one another no matter how many years separate their success. So, naturally, comparisons will be made with the 2007 team that captivated the country.
And even that squad wasn’t able to avoid the discussions of living up to the previous year’s standard and the pressure of repeating as national champions.
“Those conversations, they either take you into the past and get you hung up on statistics, or they take you into the future,” Donovan said on March 12, 2007 — just four days prior to beginning Florida’s last title run. “Right now, the most important thing is that our guys are focused on the present.”
Seven years later, and some things never change.
Follow Jonathan Czupryn on Twitter @jczupryn
Scottie Wilbekin prepares to shoot during Florida’s 61-60 win against Kentucky on March 16 in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
