If you're playing a word association game, saying the phrase "2000s Florida Gators basketball" will likely elicit many answers of "Joakim Noah" and "Al Horford" and "Back to back national champions" and all of those will be valid.
For basketball fans born in the late 90s, watching the Florida Gators win two straight NCAA Tournaments are a core sports memory — yes, I am speaking from experience. Florida's run at the top of the college hoops world was breif but explosive.
When did Florida last win the NCAA Tournament?
If you're an avid college hoops head, it probably doesn't feel like nearly two decades since Florida was on top of the CBB world — but it has been. UF's last national title came in 2006-07, when the Gators beat Ohio State in the National Championship game, 84-75. In very mid-2000s fashion, this game was a low-post brawl between Al Horford of Florida (18 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks) and Greg Oden (25 points, 12 rebounds, 4 blocks).
Florida's outside shooting (10 made 3-pointers to Ohio State's 4) pushed them over the edge in this game. Corey Brewer won Most Outstanding Player for the tourney.
Winning a national title in college basketball is more difficult than any other sport, but Florida's title run was doubly impressive because it was their second straight year hoisting the trophy. The year prior, in 2005-06, Florida won the NCAA National Championship by cruising past UCLA, 73-57. In that game, Joakim Noah led Florida with 16 points, and the Gators chewed up UCLA on defense, holding the Bruins to 36 percent from the field.
Full list of Florida Gators National Championships
Well... you just read it. Florida's magical back-to-back run remains the only two men's basketball championships they've won.
Year | Seed | Region | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
2005-06 | No. 3 | Minneapolis | W vs. UCLA (73-57) |
2006-07 | No. 1 | Midwest | W vs. Ohio State (84-75) |
The Gators made — and lost — the national championship in 2000 as well, falling to Michigan State. A winning record in the national championship isn't something most schools can boast, so going 2-1 on the biggest stage isn't bad!
How Florida has performed since its last national title
About as inconsistently as possible. Florida missed the NCAA Tournament completely in the two years following its two straight championships, then lost in the first round in 2010, then made four straight Final 4 runs, missed the tournament again, made a deep run, missed a few tournaments — it's been a wild ride.
Florida hasn't won a tourney game since 2021, and that was only one game — UF was stunned by No. 15 seed Oral Roberts in the second round.
The last Sweet 16 appearance for Florida was 2017, a year they advanced to the Elite 8 before falling to South Carolina.
In other words — this is the best Florida team in many years, and anything less than a Sweet 16 run would be a disappointment. Todd Golden's team has stood tall in a deep SEC, but March Madness is a different beast. Losing to Oral Roberts a few years ago will give Gators fans pause to get too excited before the tournament actually starts.
Has Florida ever won the SEC Tournament?
The Gators have four conference tournament crowns, each coming in a decade from 2005 to 2014. It's been over a decade since the program went all the way in the SEC tourney, and that team went undefeated in regular season conference play.
Can Florida win another national championship soon?
Yes — maybe in 2025. The highs for this team have been very high, and the Gators catching fire this month isn't far-fetched. They will be a top five KENPOM team heading into the big dance, and no one in your bracket group would scoff at you if you take them all the way.
Walter Clayton leads the scoring charge for Florida, but the Gators don't rely solely on him to score in bunches. Instead, six players score at least eight points per game, and Alex Condon has developed into a versatile big man who paces the paint, holding down the back line for an elite defensive unit.
I'll be honest, I'm kind of talking myself into taking Florida all the way right now. The Gators aren't close to Auburn in terms of Quad 1 wins — no team is, to be fair — but this team has passed some pretty difficult tests, including beating Auburn and Tennessee, two of the conference's toughest teams.