On their way to a 2025 NCAA Tournament Championship the Florida Gators were known for their overwhelming ability to rebound the ball. With Walter Clayton operating in the backcourt hunting three-point looks, opponents were in a bind knowing that even if they were able to force a miss there was a good chance that Florida would come up with the offensive rebound and create a second chance opportunity. Finishing the year with a 38.5% offensive rebound rate, the Gators were 5th nationally in that category.
Saying that Florida was an awesome rebounding team wouldn’t exactly be breaking any new ground, but it’s important to note that when people talked about Florida’s rebounding, they were often specifically talking about Florida’s offensive rebounding. That’s because, despite the two-center lineups and activity up and down the lineup, the Gators weren’t actually needle movers when it came to grabbing misses on their own end. Being 5th on the offensive rebounding side you might have assumed Florida was somewhere similar on the defensive end but that wasn’t the case at all–the Gators were actually 138th. So, while people had an idea that the Gators were a completely great rebounding team–they actually had a lot of room to improve.
Well, improve they have.
At the time of this article the Gators are currently 1st in the nation in offensive rebounding percentage and, wait for it–2nd in defensive rebounding percentage. Now, these numbers can change quickly so it might be slightly different by the time you’re reading this, but whatever the case may be–the Gators are once again in the mix for the best offensive rebounding team in the country just like they were a year prior, but they have drastically improved their defensive rebounding and are now also competing to be one of the best defensive rebounding teams in the country.
It’s also worth noting that these are not adjusted numbers, meaning they don’t account for quality of competition, and the fact that the Gators are nearly number one in both categories while playing a strong non-conference schedule also speaks to how good they’ve been.
Seeing the Gators at #1 and #2 in the rebounding categories, a question popped into my mind:
Are we seeing one of the greatest rebounding teams ever?
It was rhetorical for the moment, but it led me to go look at the best rebounding teams in college basketball over the last 30 years. The cutoff for this is pretty simple–it’s about the time that the “modern” box score started being used fully in college basketball, and it’s about the cutoff for where we have reliable data to do somewhat of a study for this. If you think that a team prior to 1996 was the best rebounding team ever, please leave a comment.
After looking at where teams ranked in offensive and defensive rebounding, these are the teams that have been near the top in both categories:
Saint Mary’s 2023-24
Offensive Rebounding: 3rd
Defensive Rebounding: 1st
Colorado State 2012-13
Offensive Rebounding: 2nd
Defensive Rebounding: 1st
Michigan State 2000-01
Offensive Rebounding: 4th
Defensive Rebounding: 5th
After an exhaustive list of the last 30 years, if Florida were to hold somewhat close to where they are now in rebounding, I truly believe these are the only other three teams in that category. Looking at 2012-13 Colorado State being as close to perfect as possible, is there a chance that Florida could match them? Would the Gators have to be #1 in both categories to truly usurp them? You could make that argument. Your first thought might be that Colorado State played a much weaker schedule, and while they certainly didn’t play anything like the SEC, the Mountain West was extremely strong back then and Colorado State played a solid non-conference schedule which resulted in their overall strength of schedule being 37th in the country.
For further reference, 2023-24 Saint Mary’s strength of schedule was 103rd, and 2000-01 Michigan State’s was 24th. Right now Florida’s SOS is 12th, and that number should stay similar in the SEC (it’s worth noting Florida has an easy SEC schedule–so their difficulty might not go up like you might expect as other high-major teams play tougher league schedules). For that reason, Florida probably has to finish top 3 in both offensive and defensive rebounding for there to be an argument as the greatest rebounding team ever, but it seems like a distinct possibility.
At this point you might be wondering why this year’s Florida team is so much better than last year’s on the defensive glass. With the returning frontcourt you’d expect the same offensive rebounding production, but how did the defensive rebounding go from 138th to 2nd?
Some of this does have to do with the even larger lineup with Thomas Haugh moving to the “3,” and the Gators may have gotten even more rebounding juice with Xaivian Lee and Boogie Fland than they had with the backcourt last year, but it isn’t just a personnel thing.
The biggest reason that Florida has been a better defensive rebounding team is the fact that they have gotten so much better as a half court defensive team, and staying out of rotation and scramble situations has allowed them to maintain matchups and stay in proper position to get a rebound once a shot goes up. According to KenPom the Gators were a better defensive team a year ago than this season, but the film, other advanced stats like Synergy, and opposing coaches would all point to the Gators being a much improved defensive team this year that has been running around a lot less than the year before. There have also been some schematic changes. Last year the Gators tried to create a lot more steals which they were able to do, but when those steal attempts didn’t work it meant the Gators were in scramble mode and when those shots went up they wouldn’t be in position to box out and grab the board. This year Florida is much more conservative and that has kept them out of scramble situations which is perfect for when an opponent shot goes up.
Personnel plays a role, scheme plays a role, and execution plays a role–but it’s also clear that the team has a very clear identity when it comes to rebounding and knows how pivotal it is to their success, and that drive could also push them to be an all-time great rebounding team. At some point if they keep up the current rankings in the rebounding categories it will also be made known that they could be the best rebounding team ever which could also push them to get even better in that area, and if so–watch out.
As ever, great insight and explanation.