Gators best college hoops team ever? Fact…or fiction?

1. The 2007 Florida Gators are the best team in college basketball history.

Jeff Greer:… 1. The 2007 Florida Gators are the best team in college basketball history.

Jeff Greer: Fiction. But they are up there. I’d like to see this year’s Gators match up with the 2005 North Carolina team that won the title with four first-round draft picks or the Duke team that repeated as champs in the early ’90s. Those would be classic matchups. But in an age of superpower programs, Florida certainly ranks at the top of the heap. The Gators had everything this year – size, shooting, experience, depth and coaching. It’s scary to think about the solid backups they have returning next year.

Pat Mitsch: Fact. How often does a national championship team return five starters as talented as the Gators did this year and then win another championship? Not often, if at all. I’d take the tandem of Joakim Noah and Al Horford over Sean May any day. Look how they wore down Greg Oden in the second half of Monday’s championship game? Throw in Lee Humphrey, the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player Corey Brewer and point guard Taurean Green, and they’re the best – ever.

2. The Pirates will be .500 this season.

JG: Fiction. The Bucs don’t have the pitching experience or enough of a lineup to really sustain a successful season. But I will say they are certainly headed in the right direction. Adding Adam LaRoche to the lineup will protect Jason Bay and the development of the younger guys both on the pitching staff and in the field, but I think the Pirates need one more season before they become a .500 team and, ultimately, a tough NL Central contender.

PM: Fact. The effect Adam LaRoche will have on the Pirates lineup should be catalyst for at least seven or eight wins by itself. LaRoche is also a great fielding first baseman, which the Pirates have lacked for years. The rest of the pitching in the NL Central may be tough, but the new Pirates lineup will definitely win more of the one-run games that plagued them last year. The starting pitchers may be young, but all had great spring trainings and are looking true to form. They also have a very strong bullpen behind them with Solomon Torres and Matt Capps. I think this is the year.

3. With the NCAA granting Mallorie Winn another season of eligibility, Pitt women’s hoops will make the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament next year.

JG: Fact. The Panthers return every player but one to their lineup for next season and add Winn, who, before her season-ending injury, was Pitt’s best perimeter player. With everyone one year older, point guard Jania Sims developed and a bevy of guards capable of scoring at any time, it’s hard to imagine Pitt doing much less than making the Sweet 16. And I haven’t even mentioned returning post-presence Marcedes Walker. I like the ingredients already, and it’s April.

PM: Fact. There’s really not a solid argument against Agnus Berenato’s team. It has talent, depth and experience at every single position, inside and out. I think they’ll have a great Big East season, which should get them a high enough seed to make it to the Sweet 16. The only concern is that the Panthers lacked a go-to shooter this year. But thanks to the NCAA, Mallorie Winn is back for her final season at Pitt. She and Walker, as seniors, definitely have something more to prove. Berenato wants to win big, and every member of this team buys into her philosophy.

4. New Jersey Devils General Manager Lou Lamoriello’s firing of coach Claude Julien will help the Penguins overcome a troubled Devils team to win the division title.

JG: Fact. Lamoriello’s move this late in the season is foolish and might come back to haunt the Devils. With the Pens firing on all cylinders and the Devils limping to the season’s end, it’s hard to imagine Sid Crosby and company finishing second in the Atlantic Division. Firing a coach at this juncture in any season or any sport is a bad move, I don’t care who you are. Lamoriello said he didn’t like where the Devils stood, but that doesn’t matter – Julien got them this far, you can’t dismiss him right before the playoffs begin.

PM: Fiction. Well, obviously my response would be based on how both the Devils and Penguins fared last night. But I think New Jersey’s last two games against Philadelphia and the Islanders are easier for them to win than the Penguins’ last two against Ottawa and the Rangers. Martin Brodeur alone could carry the Devils into keeping the No. 2 seed heading into the playoffs, though it’s going to be a one- or two-point difference between who gets No. 2 and who gets No. 5.