2005–06 Florida Gators men's basketball team

2005–06 Florida Gators men's basketball
2005–06 Florida Gators men's basketball
NCAA tournament National Champions; SEC tournament champions
National Championship Game, ; W 73-57 vs. UCLA
Conference	Southeastern Conference
	East
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 11
Record	33–6 (10–6 SEC)
Head coach	Billy Donovan (10th season);
Assistant coach	Anthony Grant; Donnie Jones; Larry Shyatt
Home arena	O'Connell Center
	Seasons ← 2004–05 2006–07 →

2005–06 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
East
No. 18 Tennessee	12	–	4	.750	22	–	8	.733
No. 11 Florida †	10	–	6	.625	33	–	6	.846
Kentucky	9	–	7	.563	22	–	13	.629
Vanderbilt	7	–	9	.438	17	–	13	.567
South Carolina	6	–	10	.375	23	–	15	.605
Georgia	5	–	11	.313	15	–	15	.500
West
No. 19 LSU	14	–	2	.875	27	–	9	.750
Alabama	10	–	6	.625	18	–	13	.581
Arkansas	10	–	6	.625	22	–	10	.688
Mississippi State	5	–	11	.313	15	–	15	.500
Auburn	4	–	12	.250	12	–	16	.429
Ole Miss	4	–	12	.250	14	–	16	.467

† 2006 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 2005–06 Florida Gators men's basketball team represented the University of Florida in the sport of basketball during the 2005–06 college basketball season. The Gators competed in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by head coach Billy Donovan, and played their home games in the O'Connell Center on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus.

The Gators started the season looking to end their recent streak of losing in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. They finished the season with a 24–6 record entering the SEC Championship. They won all three games and received a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, eventually playing in the final against UCLA. On April 3, 2006, Florida beat UCLA 73–57 to win their first ever NCAA Championship.^[2]

Class of 2005

^[3]^[4]^[5]

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Walter Hodge PG	Melbourne, Florida	Florida Air Academy	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Apr 11, 2005
Walter Hodge PG	Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A
David Huertas SG	Jacksonville, Florida	Arlington Country Day School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Jul 2, 2004
David Huertas SG	Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A
Jimmie Sutton C	Coconut Creek, Florida	North Broward Prep	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	250 lb (110 kg)	Sep 11, 2004
Jimmie Sutton C	Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A
Overall Recruiting Rankings: Scout – 21 Rivals – NR ^[6] ESPN –

Roster

Name	Number	Position	Height	Weight	Class	Hometown
Jack Berry	22	G	6–6	215	Sophomore	Windermere, Florida
Corey Brewer	2	F	6–9	185	Sophomore	Portland, Tennessee
Taurean Green	11	G	6–0	177	Sophomore	Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Walter Hodge	15	G	6–0	170	Freshman	Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
Al Horford	42	F/C	6–10	245	Sophomore	Grand Ledge, Michigan
David Huertas	33	G	6–5	185	Freshman	Humacao, Puerto Rico
Lee Humphrey	12	G	6–2	192	Junior	Maryville, Tennessee
Adrian Moss	4	F	6–9	247	Senior	Houston, Texas
Joakim Noah	13	F/C	6–11	230	Sophomore	New York, New York
Chris Richard	32	F/C	6–9	255	Junior	Lakeland, Florida
Jimmie Sutton	5	F/C	6–10	252	Freshman	Deerfield Beach, Florida
Brett Swanson	1	G	6–2	180	Junior	Pace, Florida

Coaches

Name	Type	College	Graduating year
Billy Donovan	Head Coach	Providence College	1987
Anthony Grant	Associate head coach	University of Dayton	1987
Donnie Jones	AssistantCoach	Pikeville College	1988
Larry Shyatt	Assistant Coach	College of Wooster	1973
Darren Hertz	Assistant to the head coach	University of Florida	1997
Adam Beaupre	Video coordinator	University of Florida	1999
Matt Herring	Strength & Conditioning Coordinator	University of Texas Southwestern	1994
Dave Werner	Athletic Trainer	Eastern Kentucky University	1991
Tom Williams	Academic Counselor

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Exhibition
November 1, 2005* 7:00 pm		Embry-Riddle	W 86–48		O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL
November 4, 2005* 7:00 pm		West Florida	W 84–41		O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL
Regular season
November 9, 2005* 7:30 pm, FSN		St. Peter's College	W 80–51	1–0	O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL
November 10, 2005* 8:00 pm, FSN		Albany College	W 83–64	2–0	O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL
November 17, 2005* 7:00 pm, ESPN		vs. No. 19 Wake Forest	W 77–72	3–0	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
November 18, 2005* 9:15 pm, ESPN2		vs. No. 16 Syracuse	W 75–70	4–0	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
November 25, 2005* 7:30 pm, FSN	No. 14	Florida State	W 74–66	5–0	O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL
November 28, 2005* 7:00 pm, FSN	No. 14	Alabama State	W 87–60	6–0	O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL
December 3, 2005* 12:00 pm, SUN	No. 11	Central Florida	W 80–47	7–0	O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL
December 6, 2005* 7:30 pm, SUN	No. 10	at Providence	W 87–77	8–0	Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI
December 9, 2005* 8:30 pm, FSN	No. 10	Bethune-Cookman	W 88–58	9–0	O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL
December 18, 2005* 1:00 pm, SUN	No. 7	Jacksonville	W 101–58	10–0	O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL
December 22, 2005* 7:00 pm, FSN	No. 5	at Miami	W 77–67	11–0	BankUnited Center Coral Gables, FL
December 30, 2005* 1:00 pm, SUN	No. 5	Florida A&M	W 84–47	12–0	O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL
January 3, 2006* 6:00 pm	No. 5	Morgan State	W 92–49	13–0	O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL
January 7, 2006 12:00 pm, JP	No. 5	at Georgia	W 90–72	14–0 (1–0)	Stegeman Coliseum Athens, GA
January 11, 2006 7:00 pm	No. 2	Mississippi State	W 75–60	15–0 (2–0)	O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL
January 14, 2006 6:00 pm, FSN	No. 2	Auburn	W 69–57	16–0 (3–0)	O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL
January 18, 2006* 7:00 pm	No. 2	Savannah State	W 113–62	17–0	O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL
January 21, 2006 7:00 pm, FSN	No. 2	at Tennessee	L 76–80	17–1 (3–1)	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
January 25, 2006 8:00 pm, JP	No. 5	at South Carolina	L 62–68	17–2 (3–2)	Colonial Center Columbia, SC
January 28, 2006 1:00 pm, JP	No. 5	Vanderbilt	W 81–58	18–2 (4–2)	O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL
January 31, 2006 8:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 8	at Ole Miss	W 69–58	19–2 (5–2)	Tad Smith Coliseum Oxford, MS
February 4, 2006 9:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 8	Kentucky ESPN College GameDay	W 95–80	20–2 (6–2)	O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL
February 8, 2006 7:00 pm, SUN	No. 7	South Carolina	L 67–71	20–3 (6–3)	O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL
February 11, 2006 1:00 pm, JP	No. 7	LSU	W 71–62	21–3 (7–3)	O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL
February 15, 2006 8:00 pm, SUN	No. 10	at Vanderbilt	W 73–68	22–3 (8–3)	Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, TN
February 18, 2006 2:00 pm, JP	No. 10	at Arkansas	L 81–85	22–4 (8–4)	Bud Walton Arena Fayetteville, AR
February 22, 2006 8:00 pm, JP	No. 12	No. 10 Tennessee	L 72–76	22–5 (8–5)	O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL
February 26, 2006 4:00 pm, CBS	No. 12	at Alabama	L 77–82	22–6 (8–6)	Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, AL
March 1, 2006 7:00 pm, FSN	No. 17	Georgia	W 77–66	23–6 (9–6)	O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL
March 6, 2006 7:00 pm, CBS	No. 16	at Kentucky	W 79–64	24–6 (10–6)	Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
SEC Tournament
March 10, 2006 9:45 pm, JP	No. 16	vs. Arkansas SEC Championship round 2	W 74–71	25–6	Gaylord Entertainment Center Nashville, TN
March 11, 2006 3:15 pm, JP	No. 16	vs. No. 18 LSU SEC Championship round 3	W 81–65	26–6	Gaylord Entertainment Center Nashville, TN
March 12, 2006 1:00 pm, CBS	No. 16	vs. South Carolina SEC Championship game	W 49–47	27–6	Gaylord Entertainment Center Nashville, TN
NCAA Division I Tournament
March 16, 2006 2:45 pm, CBS	(3) No. 11	vs. (14) South Alabama First round	W 76–50	28–6	Veterans Memorial Arena Jacksonville, FL
March 18, 2006 3:20 pm, CBS	(3) No. 11	vs. (11) UW-Milwaukee Second round	W 82–60	29–6	Veterans Memorial Arena Jacksonville, FL
March 24, 2006 9:40 pm, CBS	(3) No. 11	vs. (7) No. 23 Georgetown Sweet Sixteen	W 57–53	30–6	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN
March 26, 2006 5:05 pm, CBS	(3) No. 11	vs. (1) No. 3 Villanova Elite Eight	W 75–62	31–6	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN
April 1, 2006 6:05 pm, CBS	(3) No. 11	vs. (11) George Mason Final Four	W 73–58	32–6	RCA Dome Indianapolis, IN
April 3, 2006 9:21 pm, CBS	(3) No. 11	vs. (2) No. 7 UCLA National Championship Game	W 73–57	33–6	RCA Dome Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Accomplishments

First National Championship in school history.

References

^ sports-reference.com 2005-06 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
^ ESPN – Gators clamp down on UCLA to win NCAA title – Men's College Basketball
^ Florida Class of 2005 – Rivals
^ Florida Class of 2005 – Scout
^ Florida Class of 2005 – ESPN
^ "2005 Team Recruiting Rankings – Rivals". Archived from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2011.

[1] sports-reference.com 2005-06 Southeastern Conference Season Summary

[2] ESPN – Gators clamp down on UCLA to win NCAA title – Men's College Basketball

[3] Florida Class of 2005 – Rivals

[4] Florida Class of 2005 – Scout

[5] Florida Class of 2005 – ESPN

[rivals1-6] "2005 Team Recruiting Rankings – Rivals". Archived from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2011.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t e Florida Gators men's basketball
Venues	University Gymnasium (1919–1927) New Gymasium (1927–1949) Florida Gymnasium (1949–1980) Stephen C. O'Connell Center (1980–present)
Rivalries	Florida State Kentucky
Culture & lore	Dazzlers Jumpman Invitational
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1915–16 1916–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics