The Top 10 Men's College Basketball Teams of the 2000's - THE NUMBER 5 TEAM

Florida Gators (372 pts)
Conference: SEC
Coach: William Donovan
Most notable player of the decade: There really isn’t one given what happened: Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer, Al Horford all share it

Record from 1999-2000 to 2008-2009
99-00: 29-8, Runner Up
00-01: 24-7, Round 2
01-02: 22-9, Round 1
02-03: 25-8, Round 2
03-04: 20-11, Round 1
04-05: 24-8, Round 2
05-06: 33-6, National Champions
06-07: 35-5, National Champions
07-08: 24-12, NIT Semifinals
08-09: 25-11, NIT Quarterfinals
Total: 261-85

PRO FACTORY
NBA 1st Round Picks in the 2000-2009 Drafts: 7
NBA 2nd Round Picks in the 2000-2009 Drafts: 3

THE BOTTOM LINE
We now enter the Top five (the end is near…)

Billy Donovan’s coming out party was in the 2000 season, when the Gators made a surprising run to the National Championship game against Michigan State. Since then and including that season, Florida averaged 26.1 wins and 8.5 losses this decade, highlighted with two back to back national championships in 2006 and 2007, three Final Fours, and eight NCAA Tournament appearances.

Donovan was known as a top recruiter since his days at Marshall University. A number of notable future NBA players, past and present once called Gainesville, FL home, including Wizards forward Mike Miller, Magic guard Jason Williams, Knicks forward David Lee, and the frontcourt of Florida’s starting lineup from the national championship teams, Bulls center Joakim Noah, Wolves forward Corey Brewer, and Hawks center Al Horford.

The national championships and the constant 20 win seasons get the Gators to crack the Top 5. They were hurt point-wise by their NIT appearances in the two years following the championship seasons, and also for the fact that the Gators couldn’t make a single sweet 16 between the 2000 Runner Up and the 2006 championship seasons. Also, Donovan has yet to win a National COY award, but given what he's done, he will get one sooner or later. To top it off, the Gators had no Consensus All Americans and no National POY's, which could have moved them higher.

THE GATORS’ HIGH POINT OF THE DECADE
The 2006-07 National Championship season was the Gators’ true high point. The 2005-06 championship was great, but also somewhat of a result of capitalizing on the absence of other top teams due to upsets in the tournament, most notably paper favorite Duke losing to Louisiana State in the Sweet 16, and the other paper favorite Connecticut losing to CAA power George Mason in the Elite Eight. The 2006-07 team kept the entire starting lineup from the previous season and this team didn’t fail either, making a high in wins (35) for the decade and finished the repeat with a win over a talented but inexperienced Ohio State team.

THE GATORS’ LOW POINT OF THE DECADE
The ends of the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. Though the Gators had 20 win seasons up through the end of the conference tournaments, they only ended up in the NIT, despite going far in those as well. The NIT appearances were also partly attributed to weak non-conference scheduling and a weaker SEC as well as a whole in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons.

OUTLOOK FOR NEXT DECADE
Billy Donovan had a great chance to reach Coach K status after the back to back national championships, but has failed to even get to the Dance since 2007. I however think that the weak SEC of the last couple of years contributed to the Gators’ misfortunes as well to a degree. Since Donovan is only 44, he has plenty of years ahead of him to get back into the Dance and win more ships. The Gators’ recruiting remains among the elite, and the program is now among the most storied in college hoops, but can they build on it next decade? I’m saying yes, because Donovan still brings top talent to Florida, and next year is when they get the monkey off their back and go back to the Dance, and hopefully in the next decade, the Gators will consistently make more deep runs in the Dance (at least a Sweet 16). Also, can any of these top recruits become All Americans and win National POY Awards? Those too will greatly help the prestige of this SEC power.

That is el ultimo for today. The remaining four are for tomorrow and Sunday. Not too many programs left so I guess they're pretty obvious, though I won't mention names.