Florida Gators Basketball Information

Before the 1990s the basketball teams couldnt be called very successful, as their participation in different tournaments wasnt very effective, though in 1987 the team participated in the Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament. But it all changed with the new head coach Lon Kruger, who showed the team what a real game should be like. In his second year of coaching he led the team to the NIT (the National Invitation Tournament) Final Four. In 1993-1994 season the Florida Gators won over the University of Connecticut, but unfortunately, they were defeated by Duke University in the semifinal (with the score 70-65). In the next season the team didnt even make it to the second round, and the 1995-1996 season was absolutely losing to the Florida Gators. After that season the Lon Kruger left.

The athletics director decided to hire someone with a proven record history and chose Billy Donovan to be the next basketball coach. From the year of his appearance the Florida Gators havent miss any NCAA Tournament, and thus set their new record. Billy Donovan is only forty years old but his professional basketball career is very long, among the longest ones in the SEC history.

In 2005-2006 season the team became the SEC Champion for the first time, having beaten Kentucky basketball team. The next season the team started with their new record, 17-0, the best in their universitys history, and became the winner of the 2nd consecutive Southeastern Tournament Championship. In the first round they beat Alabama (76-50), the second round ended with the win over Milwaukee (82-60), in the Sweet 16 they defeated Georgetown (57-53) and moved to the Elite 8, where they met Villanova. After a wonderful game the rival was defeated with the score 75-62. In the Final 4 the Florida Gators managed to beat George Mason, an experienced basketball team (73-58), and in the final they easily made the UCLA (the University of California Los Angeles) surrender (with 73-57 score).

After the 2005-2006 season the Florida Gators were ranked first in the media polls. Currently the basketball team is number four in the rankings.

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