4 Reasons Why the Florida Gators Could Win it All This Year


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The Florida Gators are a Final Four Team

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Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Once again, the Florida Gators are off to a great start. Although the Gators’ lineup has changed a little bit since last year’s Elite Eight team, Billy Donovan has put together a very good team that could very well win a national championship in the 2012-13 college basketball season.

Forget about making a third straight Elite Eight, Gator fans want more. Although Florida would obviously have to make the Elite Eight to make it to the championship game, fans don’t want to see their team blow yet another lead in a game that they should have won.

In the past two seasons, Florida had the game in their hands in the NCAA tournament, but blew it.

Erving Walker was one of the best players to ever put on a Florida uniform and Bradley Beal may have been one of the most talented players in Gators’ history, but that is all in the past now. The Gators have moved on and they have a great team this year. Just ask the Wisconsin Badgers, who got thrown out of the building last week by Florida. Not literally, but a 74-56 victory in Florida’s favor was pretty embarrassing for a good Badgers team.

For the amount of talent that this team has this season, they are yet again underrated. Last season, Florida was in the top 10 for most of the season, but somehow managed to get a No. 7 seed in the Big Dance. This team will once again have to prove its worth this year, despite being ranked in the top 10 right now.

Read on to see why the Gators can chomp their way to a national title this season.

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A True Star

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Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Kenny Boynton is not only one of the best shooting guards in the country, but one of the best players. Boynton started off the season as a field general, thanks to Scottie Wilbekin being suspended.

Now that Wilbekin is back, look for Boynton’s numbers to increase some, however, 17.3 points per game is not bad by anyone’s standards. This is, of course, the most on the team, but you could expect that since Boynton is the go-to guy on Florida.

Boynton was already a good shooter last season, but he is an even better one this year, shooting 51.6 percent from the field and 50 percent from the three-point line.

This kid can score in a variety of ways, whether if it is draining from behind the arc or driving to the basket. However, Boynton has also shown that he can run an offense, being the PG for the first couple of games.

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Strength of Schedule

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Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Outside of being the most well-rounded team in the SEC, the Florida Gators are really going to capitalize off of their strength of schedule this year.

Sure, many great teams this year have tough schedules, but Florida’s is not easy by any means. It is too bad that the game wasn’t finished against Georgetown because that would have been a big win for either team.

However, Florida will also play Marquette, Florida State, Arizona and Kansas State in its out-of-conference schedule. It already played Wisconsin as stated earlier in the article.

These are games that are really going to get the Gators tournament ready. Not to mention, Florida will have to play Kentucky and Missouri twice each this season.

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One of the Best Backcourts in the Nation

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Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Florida clearly has one of the best backcourts in the country this year. Some teams have two great guards on their team, but Florida technically has six. Kenny Boynton is clearly one of the best players in the country, averaging 17.3 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game and 3.3 assists per game.

Then their is fellow senior Mike Rosario, who is really showing off his skills this year. Rosario is putting up 12.7 points per game, compared to only 6.6 points per game last season.

Scottie Wilbekin is finally back and he made an instant impact for the Gators against Middle Tennessee. Coming off of the bench, Wilbekin provided Florida with pure point guard talent.

Florida has two very talented freshmen in Michael Frazier II and Braxton Ogbueze. Although these players aren’t getting a whole lot of playing time, they are talented enough to start for most teams.

Once Casey Prather comes back, they will have a great defensive player that can guard multiple positions.

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So Much Depth

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Phil Sears-US PRESSWIRE

As you can see from the last slide, Florida has a lot of depth and we were only talking about its guards. The Gators also have Patric Young and Erik Murphy, who make up one heck of a front court.

Unlike Florida teams in the past, the Gators’ front court is just as talented as its backcourt, so this team is very hard to stop on offense.

Murphy is the second leading scorer on this team, with 15 points per game. Young hasn't been a huge force yet, but he is still managing 9.7 points per game and 7 rebounds per game.

Will Yeguete is also a very talented player on this team. Yeguete is a great defender, who can cover any position on the court. He is averaging 7.7 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game.

It doesn’t matter who touches the ball on this team, starters or players on the bench, backcourt or front court, because the Florida Gators are talented from top to bottom.

If you’re a tweeter, feel free to follow me @TheTrevorLowry.

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