GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A year like no other. That's indisputable.
And yet it was so normal for so long. I've told the story a number of times the last two months. At 8 a.m. on the morning of March 12, I was with the men's basketball team in Nashville, Tenn., for the Southeastern Conference Tournament. The buzz among league officials, even with the NBA closing down the night before, was that games would go on — 100 percent.
Ninety minutes later, that changed.
Then everything changed.
That was a Thursday. On Friday morning, Florida coaches were seated in the southwest corner of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium — socially distanced, of course — as Athletic Director
Scott Stricklin told them that all sports activities would be shut down by 5 p.m. Things, of course, accelerated from there and exactly no one knows where we're headed.
We do, however, know where we've been, as in the 2019-20 athletic calendar; what there was of it, that is. UF athletics were about two-thirds complete when everything came to a crashing halt, but there were some memorable moments along the way that forever will be etched in our orange-and-blue minds. Each year,
FloridaGators.com reviews the Top 10 team and individual achievements. Covid-19 won't stop us from doing it this year, but certainly will find its way into the proceedings.
At the top, actually.
1) The end
It wasn't one to be celebrated, but it was the one fans — and history — will recall for years to come.
When the world came to a virtual standstill, so did sports, which meant the cancelation of competitions across the board. The action, of course, was necessary, but that didn't make it any less cruel, especially on the UF homefront. The NCAA Tournament was the big hit, but the below snapshot of Gators teams at the time made things particularly painful
Here's a review.
2) Billy D's fabulous homecoming
The notion of an on-campus ode to
Billy Donovan, one of the greatest coaches (any sport, any level) in the history of our state, was never a matter of if, but when. The news broke in December that the floor at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center would be christened "Billy Donovan Court" during the Feb. 15 game against Vanderbilt and Gator Nation immediately went all in.
So did Donovan's former players.
If they could make it back, they were there that night. Horford. Noah. Humphrey. Beal. Finney-Smith. Chiozza. Some of them could have opted for the glitz and glamour of NBA All-Star Weekend, but instead came to pay homage to one of the most beloved figures in UF history.
The hype and run-up to the official halftime dedication was through the O'Dome roof, with the home team taking its cue some 24 hours after Donovan, invited back to the basketball complex by Coach
Mike White, gave them a fiery and unforgettable speech the night before the game. The Gators had a 22-point lead when they went to the locker room at halftime, thus giving way to Donovan to take the mic on his floor and speak to the adoring crowd. The emotion he exuded was rivaled only by his trademark humility. "Billy D" credited everybody — administrators, coaches, players, support staff, fans — for the accolade. Everyone, that is, except himself.
The Gators went on finish the night with an easy victory. It was an unforgettable weekend that could not have gone better.
3) Fantastic football finish for second straight year
In
Dan Mullen's inaugural 2018 season, the Gators won nine of their last 10 games, went to Tallahassee for the regular-season finale and smashed rival Florida State 41-14 on the road, for the first win over the Seminoles in six years, then destroyed No. 7 Michigan in the Peach Bowl for the program's first 10-win season since 2016.
How could Mullen top that?
Easily, as it turned out.
In 2019, Florida won its first seven games before falling (like everybody else) against unbeaten and eventual national-champion LSU at Baton Rouge. The Gators, it so happened, were the only team that actually led the Tigers in the second half during the entire season, before succumbing to a 42-28 loss. Still, UF went on to win its last four games and did the FSU/Bowl double again. The Gators smashed the Seminoles 40-17, marking their first home win the series since 2009, then defeated Virginia 36-28 in the Orange Bowl to secure the first 11-victory season since 2012 — and just the eighth in program history.
Florida's final ranking in the
Associated Press: No. 6. That was the highest since after the 2009 season.
Can you say, "momentum"?
4) Perfect 10 (and 0)
On Feb. 28, the No. 2 UF gymnastics team went on the road to face 10th-ranked Georgia, having already clinched the league's regular-season title by defeating No. 8 Alabama the week before in a rousing Link to Pink meet. The Gators' duel-meet record stood at a 8-0.
They'd never finished a league season with an unblemished record. The closest? The 5-0-1 mark in 2007, with the tie coming against — guess who — UGA on the road.
Spurred on by a private, pre-meet "Beat the Bulldogs" video message from
Dan Mullen, the Gators moved rotation to rotation cheering their performers with calls of "Do it for Dan!" When it was over, UF prevailed 197.80 to 196.50 in front of a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum crowd to move to 9-0 overall and finish SEC regular-season action at 7-0.
This duo claimed top honors in 2020 Southeastern Conference awards: Trinity Thomas (SEC Gymnast of Year) and Jenny Rowland (SEC Coach of the Year).
The Gators defeated No. 25 Penn State a week later, then had its March 13 regular-season finale against Texas Women's University canceled, the news coming one week before UF would have gone to Duluth, Ga., to try to add the SEC Championship meet title to its 2020 SEC regular-season crown..
Instead, Coach
Jenny Rowland's squad had to settle for SEC dual-meet perfection; a first in program history. Not a bad consolation prize. Ditto her SEC Coach of the Year honors, plus first-team All-America and SEC Gymnast of the Year honors for sophomore superstar
Trinity Thomas.
5) Diamond dogs
Florida's baseball team entered the 2020 campaign ranked 10th. Didn't stay 10th very long.
The greatest start in school history changed that.
The Gators opened the season by winning their first 16 games, highlighted by a huge road sweep of state-rival Miami, and did not lose until the day before the Covid shutdown.
Ironically, that loss came at home to another state rival, Florida State, in what was the team's first setback to the Seminoles in 11 games, a run that dated to June 2016. To that point, the Gators were getting solid across-the-board play — offensive, defensively and on the mound — up and down the roster, with Coach
Kevin O'Sullivan getting contributions from all classes.
The season ended as the team was readying to open SEC play at home against Georgia.
Oh, and the Gators were ranked No. 1 at the time.
6) Hang another volleyball banner
A week into the 2019 volleyball season, UF had back-to-back mega-home matches, starting with No. 1 Stanford on a Wednesday night, followed by a visit from No. 8 Minnesota on Saturday night. The Gators got swept 3-0 in both. Didn't win a game.
Eight weeks later, however, the scene at the O'Dome was much like it's been in any number of past seasons. It was Senior Night and the regular-season finale, with UF fighting off Texas A&M for a rugged five-set, 3-2 win behind 16 kills from
Thayer Hall, 13 more from
Rachael Kramer (both eventual All Americans), plus 40 assists from
Marlie Monserez. The win clinched a share of the 24th SEC crown in program history, the third-most by any sport (men or women) in the league since volleyball was introduced into the SEC in 1979.
All two dozen, of course, have come during Coach
Mary Wise's 29 seasons. In other words, the Gators have won 83 percent of the league titles during her tenure, with the 24 titles marking the second-best total at Florida since 1984, behind the 26 championships in women's tennis.
7) Turtle soup
Shannon Kavanagh scored a stunning eight goals in UF's just-as-stunning road upset of top-ranked and defending champion Maryland.
With less than a minute to play, a Florida offensive charge ended with midfielder
Shannon Kavanagh scoring her career-high eighth goal for what turned out to be the game-winner, and the No. 14 Gators shocked reigning NCAA champion and top-ranked Maryland 15-14, snapping the mighty Terrapins 86-game home winning streak.
The Terps had not lost at College Park, Md., since March 10, 2012 when they fell 10-9 against Syracuse.
The Gators had not defeated a top-ranked team since May 12, 2012 when they knocked off Northwestern 8-7.
Coach
Amanda O'Leary's bunch was 6-2 and ranked No. 6 when the season shut down.
8) Historic Rallies
From left: Scottie Lewis, Andrew Nembhard, Tre Mann, Kerry Blackshear Jr., and Keyontae Johnson whoop it up in the closing moments of UF's rally from 22 down to beat Georgia on Feb. 5.
In the SEC opener on Jan. 4 at the O'Dome, Alabama led by 21 points with just over two minutes to go in the first half, but UF scored the final seven points of the period to take some momentum into the locker room, then nine of the first 10 after intermission to get a sense of belief. Even so, the Crimson Tide were up 13 with just under three minutes to go, by eight inside two minutes, and five with 28 seconds to go. Florida, though, forced overtime, then another, before knocking down some clutch free throws in the second extra period to claim an epic 104-98 victory, behind a career-high 25 points from sophomore point guard
Andrew Nembhard. The 21-point comeback marked the second-largest in UF history.
A month later, the Gators topped it.
On Feb. 5, also at home, Georgia rolled to a 15-point halftime edge that soon became 22 four minutes into the second period. But Florida's ridiculous run of 37-5 had the Gators up by 10 with six minutes to go. The Bulldogs didn't go away. They cut the lead to two with 2:55 left, but again it was Nembhard — again with 25 points — making the finishing plays, as UF matched the largest comeback in school history, equaling a 22-point rally at South Carolina on Feb. 24, 1993.
The pandemic shutdown canceled the SEC Tournament, denying White and his program a shot at a fifth straight 20-win season, not to mention what would have been a fourth straight NCAA Tournament berth.
9) Make that eight straight
The UF men's swimming and diving team kept its run of conference domination intact by cruising to an eighth straight league title in the SEC Championships at Auburn. It wasn't close, either.
The Gators, in capturing their 41st conference crown, out-pointed second-place Texas A&M 1,194 to 975.5, with Georgia placing third with 953.5 points. Led by standouts,
Kieran Smith and
Robert Finke, the Gators claimed five gold medals, four silver, six bronze and captured a quartet of relays, including the 800 freestyle for the eighth straight year.
Florida's run of conference championships tied the third-longest among SEC men and left Coach
Anthony Nesty 2-for-2 on the league deck.
10) Orange-and-Bluegrass victory
Three weeks earlier, Kentucky came to Gainesville and smashed the UF women's basketball team 65-45. On Feb. 2, the No. 13 Wildcats and Gators squared off in Lexington for a rematch. For Florida, it was a fifth game in six against a ranked foe. Yes, UK was without
Rhyne Howard, the eventual SEC scoring leader, but UF had not beaten a ranked team on the road since 2016.
Enter freshman forward
Lavender Briggs, who poured in 18 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and helped the Gators erase a 10-point halftime deficit and beat the Cats 70-62.
The game gave Coach
Cam Newbauer, in his third season of a massive rebuild, his first signature conference victory, and when the season ended Florida stood at 15-15, posting its first non-losing season in four years. Were it not for the shutdown, UF would have likely hosted a WNIT game and played in its first postseason tournament since '16. Wasn't to be, but Newbauer, Briggs and company are headed in the right direction.
