Once upon a time, Florida dominated its rivalry series with Florida State. The Gators won 12 of 16 games from 1998-2013, and they hold the advantage in the all-time series at 43-29.
But those days feel like a lifetime ago now. The Seminoles have won seven consecutive games, the longest streak by either team in the rivalry’s history.
Six of those losses have come under coach Mike White’s watch, and most of them, frankly, haven’t even been competitive. The average margin of defeat in White’s six cracks at FSU is 11.7 points.
White and the Gators will get their latest chance to snap the streak when they host No. 20 Florida State on Sunday afternoon.
“Outside of it being Florida-Florida State, this is an opportunity we’ve all been waiting for, our first big game,” UF guard Brandon McKissic said. “Elon showed us what we need to work on, what we need to focus on for this upcoming game, but this game is personal on a lot of different levels. Not just because of the Florida-Florida State rivalry, but we don’t want to lose. We don’t want to lose a game period. Every game we’re taking as if it’s personal.
“It would mean the world. I came here to get wins. That’s why I came. I came here to win, and, bringing that win back for the Florida Gators, that would mean a lot to me. It’s my first year, but everyone here feels like family. It just means something to this wonderful program.”
Though the Seminoles lost six players from their 2020-21 team that advanced to the Sweet 16 – including the players who led the team in scoring, rebounding, assists, shot-blocking and stealing – the challenge will once again be formidable. Coach Leonard Hamilton restocked his roster with the nation’s No. 14 recruiting class, according to 247Sports, and he also added a couple of big-time transfers in guards Cam’Ron Fletcher (Kentucky) and Caleb Mills (Houston).
Perhaps the biggest thing that FSU has going for it, though, is an identity on both ends of the floor. While the names and jersey numbers change every year, their style of play does not. Hamilton’s teams are going to be extremely long, athletic and physical, which makes them difficult to score on. With Hamilton’s recruiting picking up in recent years, they’ve also become increasingly skilled on the offensive end, which makes them a complete team.
That formula is being used again this year. All five of their projected starters are listed at 6-foot-4 or taller. By contrast, the Gators’ three starting guards against Elon were all 6-foot-3 or shorter. When Florida’s guards do get past them, they’ll usually have one of their four 7-footers on the floor to swat some shots away.
FSU’s length and physicality makes it difficult to get high-percentage looks in the paint against them and can often lead to teams getting frustrated and launching too many threes.
That very scenario has played out in the last few Florida-Florida State games. The Gators have started fast a couple of times, but the Seminoles have eventually worn them down every time.
McKissic believes that the Gators are finally prepared to match the Seminoles’ physicality this time around.
“I feel like if you look across our roster, we have a lot of guys, a lot of players that not only are athletically or fundamentally skilled but also just play with a lot of heart,” he said. “We have a lot of motor on our team. So, I look down the line at those guys on the Gator roster, and I feel confident about our team.
“I like our team against Florida State. They’re very physical. They play hard. But that’s who we’ve started to become, too, a team that’s played really hard and is very gritty and is aggressive as well. So, it’s going to be an interesting game. I’m really excited for it.”
Offensively, Hamilton’s teams typically don’t have those one or two star players who put up gaudy statistics, but they’ll have six or seven players with solid stats. That looks to be the case again this season, as four Seminoles scored in double digits in their 105-70 season-opening win over Pennsylvania on Wednesday.
“A confident team, especially considering the turnover they had and the guys they lost,” White said. “Have very limited film on them, of course, but I thought they looked really good the other night. Playing downhill offensively and on the offensive glass. Forcing a lot of turnovers defensively. A group that’s playing really hard, as expected, and a team that’s going to compete at a high level in the ACC again.”
The Seminoles’ size in the frontcourt could exploit one of the Gators’ biggest weaknesses – a lack of frontcourt depth. Beyond starting center Colin Castleton, the Gators don’t have much size. Jason Jitoboh is 6-foot-11 and 305 pounds, but he’s had trouble staying in shape throughout his career and isn’t much of an offensive threat. If Castleton gets in foul trouble and Jitoboh has to play 15-20 minutes, that probably won’t end well for the Gators.
It’s important that Castleton and forward Anthony Duruji match FSU’s physicality but also play with discipline so that they can avoid fouling.
“We’re trying to extend more, and with that extension of our defense comes the importance of playing disciplined and showing hands, keeping the other team out of the bonus,” White said. “So, we’ll get better and better at it throughout the year, of course, and it’s going to have to be pretty good Sunday to have a chance.”
Florida’s guards are also going to have to do a tremendous job of rebounding. Because the Gators lack size, there are going to be times when the Gators have a 6-foot-3 guard trying to box out a 6-foot-8 small forward. They’ve got to win some of those matchups.
“Rebounding down is an emphasis that we have across the team,” McKissic said. “We have great rebounders in Colin and [Duruji] and CJ [Felder]. Even [Phlandrous Fleming’s] a really good rebounder.
“We have to come down and rebound down and make sure we secure rebounds because, if we secure defensive rebounds and don’t let people get secondary shots, we’re a really hard team to score on.”
Forward Malik Osborne and guards Anthony Polite and Mills are some individuals to keep an eye on, as they could pose matchup problems for the Gators. Osborne scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in 23 minutes against Pennsylvania. He attempted 12 free throws in the game and also made a three-pointer, which shows his versatility.
Polite buried three shots from long range to score 17 points in their opener. He also used his 6-foot-6 frame to haul down six rebounds.
Mills is probably their best player. At 6-foot-5, he can guard multiple positions and get his hands in passing lanes to create turnovers. On the offensive end, he can either play on or off of the ball with near equal effectiveness.
As a redshirt freshman at Houston in 2019-20, he averaged 13.2 points and shot 36.5 percent from deep to earn Second Team All-AAC honors.
He was named the AAC Preseason Player of the Year prior to last season but opted to transfer after just four games. He was considered the best player on a team that eventually went to the Final Four, which should tell you how good he is.
“A really talented guy,” White said. “That was my first time seeing him play. In the past 48 hours, we went back and watched some film of him from his last spot. Not only offensively but defensively, he plays hard. He’s got good length. He has the ability to pester the basketball.
“Offensively, boy, is he versatile. He can hurt you in so many different ways. He has a lot to his game. Going either way, hesitate, step-backs, inside moves, you name it; [he] has a lot to his offensive game. He’s going to be very difficult to defend. I assume he’s going to have a big year for them.”
The Gators have had some good teams over the past few years. They’re one of only six programs in the country to have won at least one game in each of the past four NCAA Tournaments.
Ultimately, though, that’s not enough at a school like Florida. Gators fans know what this program is capable of when it’s at its best – a national championship. To not even come close to being the best team in the state of Florida for most of the last seven years has been a tough pill to swallow.
In a sport like basketball where every team is going to play 30-plus games and change drastically by the time the postseason rolls around, it’s hard to label an early-season non-conference game as a must-win game.
This isn’t a must-win for White or the Gators, but it would definitely feel very good to finally overcome the Florida State obstacle.
“It’d be huge,” White said. “It just would. I do say this every year, and I do mean it, that every single game on the schedule is really, really important. Imagine if we had fallen short against Elon how big of a game had that been, right? This game is really, really big for different reasons, of course, and that next game is going to be really big.
“Some of these games on the schedule we absolutely have to win. Some of these games on your schedule could potentially be game-changing victories for you in terms of March, so this one’s big for a few reasons. They’ve had a great run, obviously. For a while now, they’ve been a really, really consistent program.
“And, hopefully, five, 10 minutes left in the game, we’re sitting there with a chance, obviously, to have a chance to win, and that’s what I’m hoping for.”
That would certainly beat the heck out of what has transpired over the last few years.