By Chris Harry
GatorZone Contributing Writer
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Tonight's nationally televised clash with Syracuse will mark the fifth time Florida has faced the mighty Orangemen, if you count the 1987 NCAA regional semifinal berth that eventually was wiped from the books due to NCAA violations by the UF program.
Even with that game, the Gators can claim just one victory against the 'Cuse.
But it was an important one.
One day after beating Wake Forest in the semifinals of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic six years ago, Billy Donovan took his unranked and unheralded version of the Gators into Madison Square Garden and unleashed them on the 16th-ranked Orangemen for a 75-70 victory in the tournament title game.
Nov. 18, 2005 became something of a coming-out party for a quartet of sophomores: Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Taurean Green.
“They are young and eager just to be out there playing,” Donovan said that night. “There's a lot of unselfishness with them.”
Little did we know.
Green, named tournament MVP, scored 23 points and had eight during a 12-0 that started with just under seven minutes to go and erased a Syracuse lead. Lee Humphrey had 13 points and Noah added 12, but the moment belonged to Green -- and his entire family -- in what was a remarkable night of emotion and closure, as chronicled here by ESPN's Andy Katz.
The win was the unbeaten Gators' fourth and vaulted them into the Top 25 for what would be an ascension to a school-record 17-0 start and much, much more.
You probably know the rest.
UF has never played Syracuse on its home floor, so this will be the Gators' first taste of the rapid Big Orange and the anticipated 25,000-or-so fans [Note: Traffic into the Carrier Dome was backed up when I was arriving at the team hotel around 4:30].
The Gators have played in the Carrier Dome twice, both in NCAA tournaments. The last time Florida was here it defeated both No. 1-ranked and top-seeded Duke along with third-seeded Oklahoma State in the 2000 NCAA East Region to advance to Donovan's first Final Four. Some may not remember, but the MVP of that regional was senior swingman Kenyan Weaks.
