March Madness: Ranking every national champion from this century

11. Florida (2006)

For 12 years, Florida has struggled to regain the luster it had under head coach Billy Donovan in the mid-2000s, especially with the talent in place that stuck around for back-to-back championships. The first of them falls in the middle of the pack, as a game 2006 team, with players basketball fans would grow to know for the next decade, rose to the occasion.

A young Al Horford and Joakim Noah aligned to make a dominant frontcourt defensively, as they patrolled the rim and had Corey Brewer and Taurean Green work off them. Lee Humphrey, however, was, perhaps, their best three-point shooter.

Despite this talent, Florida only entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 3 seed, but only after winning their conference tournament.

That corner of March Madness had talented teams, including No. 2 Ohio State who fell in the second round, but Florida’s path to the title featured two double-digit seeds, Georgetown and their perennial downfalls under John Thompson III and George Mason’s miraculous run that was crushed in the Final Four.

Sure, No. 1 Villanova was the Elite Eight opponent, but Florida had a relatively easy run to the title, competition wise. It proved to be a worthwhile experience, however, as this team’s core returned for 2007 and topped what they did the year before.