Florida spent the last three seasons answering questions about getting back to the NCAA tournament. The subject dominated preseason talk and virtually every postgame interview session in February and March.
It's over - at least for now.
``I don't know what you guys are going to do? You can't talk about the bubble anymore,'' coach Billy Donovan said Monday.
Nope, but there's a new buzzword surrounding the Gators: Complacency.
Donovan wants to make sure his players, who had the unenviable task off following those guys who captured back-to-back national titles in 2006 and 2007, aren't satisfied with merely earning a spot in the 65-team field.
``That's what this whole thing is about right now,'' Donovan said. ``Are we happy? Are we complacent? Do we feel like we've reached our goal or do we have more to do?''
Florida (21-12) earned a surprisingly high No. 10 seed in the West Region and will play seventh-seeded BYU (29-5) in Oklahoma City, Okla., on Thursday. For the Gators, it's a chance reset their goals and start over after stumbling down the stretch the last three seasons.
``We've had a rough two years, so I'm happy for the program to get back there,'' forward Chandler Parsons said. ``We have higher standards than just getting there. We want to make noise and prove to people that we belong here. We think we can. We think we can play with anybody in this country. I think we have a great opportunity and I like where we're placed.''
It might not be the best matchup for the Gators, though.
The Cougars rank second in the nation in 3-point shooting (41.9 percent), with guards Jimmer Fredette and Jackson Emery leading the way, and have hit double-digit 3s eight times this season.
Florida, meanwhile, has struggled to defend the arc in conference play and has allowed seven or more in five of its last six games.
``The Great Equalizer,'' as Donovan calls the 3-point line, could be Florida's Great Eliminator.
``That is a great challenge and a huge key in the game, but it's not like that's all they do,'' Donovan said. ``The 3-point line is critical because if they're shooting in the 40-percent tile they're really, really hard to beat unless you match them and make a lot yourself.''
That probably won't happen.
This is Donovan's worst-shooting team from 3-point range in 14 seasons in Gainesville. Florida is hitting just 31 percent from behind the arc, way shy of the previous low (35.3 percent) set during the 2001-02 season.
Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker have been streaky. Dan Werner has been downright awful, hitting just five of his last 46 this season. Chandler Parsons has been Florida's best from that distance, but his 36.7 percent is worse than any of BYU's top seven shooters.
Nonetheless, Florida's shooting woes have been mostly overshadowed by the program's two-year absence from the NCAA field.
``There's been so much talk about our team not getting to the tournament the last two years, and now that we're there, how do we handle that?'' Donovan said.
His players insist they aren't satisfied with ending the drought.
``We definitely want to think bigger than just getting in the tournament,'' Boynton said. ``Anything can happen now. ... We're definitely looking forward to making a big impact in the tournament.''
Florida did that in 2006 and 2007, winning it all behind Corey Brewer, Taurean Green, Al Horford, Lee Humphrey and Joakim Noah. All five turned pro after the second title, along with backup center Chris Richard.
Donovan made it clear Monday that he believes his subsequent teams overachieved by winning 70 games the last three years and avoiding the kind of drop-off that North Carolina, Connecticut, Arizona and UCLA went through this season. He pointed out that he also lost center Marreese Speights in 2008 and leading scorer Nick Calathes last year. Both turned pro.
``What these kids have done, and the changes and the growths I have seen, it will go down as one of the special groups of guys I've ever coached,'' Donovan said. ``These kids every year got better and better and better. Those are the things that are so rewarding.
``Really it probably should have taken a lot longer to get there with what we've lost the last three years than it did. These kids deserve a lot of credit with a team that didn't have a lot of depth and a team that had no experience in the backcourt. For them to do what they did, I'm just really proud of them.''
