Florida belongs to an elite class of teams

After the Florida Gators took home their second championship in as many years, the debate… After the Florida Gators took home their second championship in as many years, the debate began. Where does this team rank all-time in the history of NCAA basketball?

This concept is tough to swallow considering the greatest college teams of all time obviously can’t just lace up and play. There is no real set way to determine whether these Gators would actually beat the 1991-92 Duke Blue Devils or the 1971-72 UCLA Bruins.

However, I can use my imagination and put together potential matchups between the Gators and the old NCAA powerhouses. Without further suspense, here is how the Gators would fare against the best teams throughout the last century.

The first opponent for the Gators would be the 1955-1956 San Francisco Dons. I’m sure you’re wondering why San Francisco would be a formidable opponent, but look no further than the fact that they also won back-to-back championships. Not to mention they were led by NBA Hall of Famers Bill Russell and K.C. Jones.

Russell, like Ohio State’s Greg Oden, would be way too tough for the Florida frontcourt trio of Joakim Noah, Al Horford and Chris Richard. K.C. Jones also had the capability of shutting down players like Taurean Green and Corey Brewer.

However, I still like the Gators in this one because of the superior backcourt. If Florida were to shoot 3-pointers in this game like it did against Ohio State, it’d take down the Dons.

The 1961-1962 Cincinnati Bearcats were the next team to pull off back-to-back championships and are the next opponent for the Gators.

This would be the easiest matchup for the Gators out of all of them. This Cincinnati team had no real superstars, and their best players would be no competition for the likes of Horford, Brewer and Noah.

So far, the Gators are undefeated but hit a bump in the road the size of the Rocky Mountains when we move into the mid- to late-1960s. John Wooden and company stand in the way of Florida’s road to the top.

The first Wooden-led teams to achieve greatness were in 1964 and 1965 and are the next opponent for the Gators.

That team was led by future NBA starters Walt Hazzard and Gail Goodrich, a deadly tandem of guards. They could shoot the lights out but weren’t as athletic as the Gators.

This would be the best matchup of them all and probably the closest game. I have to give the edge here once again to Florida because of its big guys. This Bruins team, unlike the ones to come, wasn’t as athletically dominant as the Gators frontcourt.

The Gators earn their first loss when they take on the Bruins squad that cut down the nets three consecutive years from 1967-1969.

This team was led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of the greatest players to ever put on both a college and NBA uniform. His skill and technique was far superior to that of Oden and would be a force inside for the Bruins. In the three championship games they won, he averaged an amazing 30 points and 18 rebounds.

Florida’s athleticism isn’t enough in this matchup.

The next great Bruins squad finished off a streak of seven titles in a row. They were the stars of the 1972-1973 teams, led by Bill Walton. Walton was an unstoppable force inside and being paired up with future NBA star Jamal Wilkes made this team as strong as the 1967-69 Bruins.

The Bruins’ all-star tandem would be too much for the Gators, and Florida would drop its second in a row.

For our last matchup, let’s look at the team that most recently took home back-to-back titles, the 1991-92 Duke Blue Devils.

The trio of Christian Laettner, Grant Hill and Bobby Hurley led Duke. Laettner led the team in scoring and to an overall No. 1 seed in the tournament in 1992.

But let’s be honest, Laettner was just plain soft, and the Florida big men are like the Hulk in comparison. Noah, Horford and Richard would carve up the frontcourt of Laettner and Cherokee Parks – another NBA bust like Laettner – like Thanksgiving turkey.

Bobby Hurley also could never match the athleticism of Taurean Green to add to the matter.

Overall, the Gators went 4-2 and proved that they have a spot among the all-time greatest teams.

Whether they are the best remains up for debate, but just the sheer fact that the whole starting lineup scored more than 1,000 points and passed up on NBA stardom for another shot at the title puts them up there in my book.