The obituary of No. 14 Florida’s race to repeat as men’s basketball national champions was widely written Jan. 3, when the Gators lost in ugly fashion to Missouri to open SEC play. The holes were obvious: shaky point guard play, poor shooting, limited bench production. The Gators looked very far away from the top contenders in the sport and at 9–5 looked poised for a potentially disappointing 2025–26 season.
Six weeks later, back-to-back national championships don’t look so outlandish.
