University of Florida basketball succeeds by showing admirable traits |
If you always cheer for the underdogs in March Madness, you're not rooting for my alma mater.
The University of Florida men's basketball team won the NCAA championship in 2025 and is among the favorites to win it all again this year.
Still, you don't have to be a shameless homer like me to root for these guys. The team succeeds because the players show characteristics that we could all stand to see more often in everyday life.
Gators do the grunt work, gleefully
It starts with work ethic. The Gators aren't afraid to do the unglamorous parts of their jobs – rebounding, playing defense, chasing after loose balls – in order to win games. Now, any decent recreational league coach will tell you that's necessary. But the Gators tackle those mundane tasks with a zeal that seems to unsettle and frustrate their opponents.
For example, in a Feb. 1 game, University of Alabama's star guard Labaron Philon found himself temporarily matched against Gator center Rueben Chinyelu. As the smaller and presumably quicker player, Philon repeatedly tried to drive past Chinyelu for an easy basket. Yet no matter which way Philon zigged or zagged, his path to the basket remained blocked by the 6-foot-10, 265-pound Chinyelu.
Alabama eventually surrendered the ball after failing to get a shot off. Chinyelu's fast footwork didn't show up anywhere on the stat sheet that night. Yet the home crowd roared its approval in a game that ended as a Gator rout of a highly ranked opponent.
Florida Gators' strength is overcoming hardships
The Gators are also a team that's remarkably resilient in the face of adversity. Dealing with a tough early-season schedule and the challenge of replacing some key players from last year's team, they started the season with a so-so record of 5 wins and 4 losses.
Since the Gators only lost four games the entire previous season, it would have been easy to conclude it was a rebuilding year, the players could coast through without serious expectations to repeat as champions.
That obviously didn't happen. The team jelled over those remaining 22 games and put itself back into a strong position to defend its title.
Shaking off adversity is something the Gators do well inside the context of individual games, too. Numerous times this season, I've watched players from opposing teams hit long-range shots or thunderous dunks against them, then pause to celebrate with their teammates for a moment or two.
Against the Gators, this is a mistake. While the opponents are flexing and mugging for the cameras, the Gators will quickly take the ball inbounds and race the length of the court, often getting ridiculously easy baskets to cancel out the shots the opponents were celebrating.
It brings to mind that old Kenny Rogers song lyric from "The Gambler" about not counting your money while you're sitting at the table.
In a 'me first' society, Gators basketball stands apart by sharing
What really makes the team special is the players' unselfishness and willingness to share the glory.
In the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons, the Gators won back-to-back national championships with a starting five players who each averaged at least 10 points per game, but none more than 15 points per game.
Some teams rely on one or two star players to carry them, allowing opponents to concentrate on stopping the biggest threats. Against those Gator teams, there were too many threats to defend.
This year's team is built the same way, with all five starters averaging between 11 and 18 points per game for the regular season. Because all of the starters and some key reserves are capable scorers, there's a lot of ball movement when the Gators are on offense.
My girlfriend put it this way when we were recapping a recent game: "The difference is, the Gators pass the basketball. I mean, all teams pass the basketball. But not like the Gators do."
She's right. Trying to keep track of the ball at a Gator game is a bit like playing five-card monte. The ball is moving, moving, moving, moving ... then suddenly it's in the basket.
That concept of sharing glory also manifests itself late in blowout games.
Predictably, Florida fans go nuts when Olivier Rioux, a 7-foot-9 giant who is the tallest player in college basketball history, or other little-used reserves, check in for a few minutes of playing time during lopsided games. When walk-on Cooper Josefsberg hit a long-range 3-point shot against Mississippi State, the crowd reacted as if he had sunk the game winner.
What was telling during that moment was the reaction of the starters who were out of the game. They weren't resting on the bench, sipping on Gatorade. They were jumping around, waving towels in the air, happy to share the joy of a teammate who had just experienced one of the greatest moments of his career.
No doubt, this is a week where people who know little to nothing about High Point University, Queens University and Siena College will become some of those schools' biggest fans as they face bigger schools with more impressive basketball pedigrees.
History suggests most of the underdogs won't make it past the tournament's opening weekend, though.
You could hate the Gators for being good at what they do. Or, you could admit the world would be a better place if more people took pride in even the smallest parts of their jobs, if they bounced back more quickly from disappointments, if they sacrificed individual glory in favor of group goals and enthusiastically celebrated their co-workers' successes.
Repeating last year's championship run wouldn't be easy.
However, to paraphrase Roy Hobbs, the virtuous athlete played by the late Robert Redford in "The Natural," I wouldn't bet against them.
Blake Fontenay is USA TODAY's commentary editor.