STF State Project - #28 Florida

Sunshine, palm trees, South Beach, Tim Tebow. Yes, we get it. There are tons of other things to do it in Florida other than follow college basketball. But while the 07-08 season may not have been the best for America's Wang, the state has plenty of college hoop prestige to go around.

First off, there is the two-time NCAA Champion Florida Gators. Despite being the second most important team at their owns school, Joakim Noah and crew dominated the college basketball world like no team since Duke in the early 90s. They also managed to piss off about 98% of college basketball fans in the process.

Miami and Florida State are also two schools known for football (well, used to be at least), but both the Canes and Noles have remained competitive in the basketball-centric ACC. The Canes even look like they may be a Top 15 team in 08-09. The Noles, meanwhile, remain on the bubble.

Florida even has plenty of mid-majors to go around, eight in total, ranging from directionals (North Florida), HBCUs ( Florida A&M, Bethune-Cookman), internationals (Florida International) and brand-spanking new schools (Florida Gulf Coast).

So cmon Floridians, I know that laying out by the pool and boarding up for hurricanes has to get old at some point. When it does, how about some college hoops?

State Winning Percentage: .460

Number of Teams: 13

NCAA Tournament Teams: 
1
Conference Champions: 
0
Most Wins: Florida (24)
Least Wins: North Florida (3)
Teams With Winning Records: 5 (Miami, Florida, Jacksonville, Central Florida, Florida State)
Team with Single Digit Wins: 2 (North Florida, Florida International)



Historical Breakdown



Most Memorable Team - Let’s just morph the 2006 and 2007 championship Gator teams into one, because both were comprised of the same players.
Top Player All-Time - With respect to Dave Cowens, Sam Cassell (FSU) and Rick Barry (Miami), Joakim Noah’s mark on the world of college basketball (good, bad and very very ugly) will not be forgotten for some time.

Favorite Coach - Billy Donovan, Florida
Top Player 2008 - Jack McClinton, Miami (FL) - It is my personal quest as one of only 15 Miami basketball fans nationwide to make Jack a household name by season’s end.
Best On-Campus Venue - O’Connell Center, Florida
Most Prestigious Program - #20 Florida
Best NCAA Venue - Instead of venue, let’s go with best host city. Tampa has not only hosted one of the best opening round regionals in history last season (with four first day upsets), but one of the best title games (Duke-UConn 99) in the past 10 years.
Best Nickname: Hatters gets the nickname crown over Rattlers and Dolphins, but how some love for the Sunshine State’s creative use of directionals (Atlantic, Gulf Coast, International, Intergalactic).
STF’s Favorite Program: Florida Gators in a romp (or is it chomp?)

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Previous States:
#36 New Jersey
#35 Colorado
#34 Georgia
#33 South Carolina
#32 Louisiana
#31 Illinois
#30 Missouri