The non-conference slate has ended, and the Florida Gators are 12-3 — a great start considering the quality of competition, and the fact that all three losses came on the road.
Even the most optimistic forecast should have seen the team with two losses headed into SEC play. So, all things considered, this is a team that has really great potential. But just how good is Florida?
Well, that's simple. They're very good — and getting better. The Gators are ranked in the top 15 this week, but they may be much better than their ranking.
In fact, since a heartbreaking triple-OT loss to Rutgers last week, the Gators have made substantial strides in developing their half court offense by running things through sophomore big man Patric Young. The result has been convincing wins over Yale and UAB.
The Gators are eighth in the nation with 17.8 assists per game and have the nation's second-best offensive efficiency at 1.182 points per possession. But against really good competition, they have been one-dimensional when the game is on the line.
Since the Rutgers loss, Donovan and his staff have invested long hours drilling home the importance of getting the ball to Young early in every possession, and against an athletic and long UAB team, the Gators responded.
It is the final piece of the puzzle for this team to have another blockbuster season and should have Gator fans really excited about what lies ahead.
It is my feeling, barring injuries, that Florida will get through the first half of the conference schedule undefeated and could very well be 8-0 in SEC play when they visit Kentucky in Lexington on Feb. 7.
Florida will still have to play Alabama twice, Vanderiblt once and Kentucky for a second time after that Feb. 7 matchup, but it's entirely possible — and maybe even likely — that the Gators could win the regular-season SEC crown.
Since we are looking through an orange and blue crystal ball, the outright conference championship would earn Florida no worse than a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, and if the Gators could then win the SEC tournament, they'll probably go dancing as a No. 1 seed.
As one of the top eight teams in the tournament field, I think Florida will convert their seeding into the fifth Final Four appearance in school history, and North Carolina, Missouri and Syracuse will join them in New Orleans.
I know what you're saying. What Kool-Aid have I been drinking over the weekend? But my high expectations are hardly unrealistic.
First of all, Florida has an explosive ability to score the basketball. They are one of the top 10 three-point shooting teams in basketball this season, hitting 41.4 percent of their long-distance shots. Secondly, they are coachable, an uncommon characteristic among college teams these days.
Third, Florida's players really get along well with each other and have a passion to get to another Final Four. Fourth, Young and Erik Murphy are getting more comfortable playing with each other and Will Yeguete is a warrior.
When the tough games are on the line the remainder of this year, the Gators will take a team approach to winning. Trying to do things individually has led to three losses, and the Florida players have painfully accepted the realization that they need each other to win. This is a team that hates to lose, and the Rutgers loss left a grapefruit size pit in their stomachs.
Now that football season is finally over in Gainesville, the O-Dome will fill up and energize everyone with the kind of crowds that inspire a home court dynasty. Florida has had two undefeated seasons in the O'Connell Center, and both times the teams ended up in the Final Four.
It will be one additional piece of motivation for this team during what should be a very successful next couple of months.
