No. 1 always has a nice ring to it.
But the Gators, the newly appointed kings of the Associated Press poll, have rung a constant tune all season: Rankings mean nothing.
“On any given night, in between the lines, there’s a lot of teams that can be No. 1 in the country,” coach Billy Donovan said. “On any given night, anybody could play to that level.
“It’s not like all of a sudden Florida is No. 1 or you get a ranking and we’re the best team in the country. We’ve been given a number, and that’s about the extent of it.”
The Gators (25-2, 14-0 Southeastern Conference) received 47 of 65 first-place votes in Monday’s AP poll. Undefeated Wichita State moved up to No. 2, with Arizona, Syracuse and Kansas rounding out the top five.
Florida had not been No. 1 in the AP poll since the week of Feb. 12, 2007 — a time when Corey Brewer, Al Horford and Joakim Noah were battling to win their second consecutive national title.
“It’s an honor — I’m not dismissing that,” Donovan said. “But I think what happens is sometimes you can get focused on that and what happens is now everything that you do is attached to a ranking. No. 1 Florida — if we stay No. 1. … You never hear like No. 2 Florida. It’s No. 1. It’s that ranking that gets dragged with your team.”
Donovan, never an advocate of rankings or polls, said the only reason why UF garnered a No. 1 ranking Monday is because the teams previously above it have lost.
“Any time you do what Syracuse did and you’ve won out 25 games in a row, you kind of do what Arizona did before they had Brandon Ashley’s injury, you do what Wichita State is doing. Those are really, really impressive things, what they’re doing on the court in my opinion,” Donovan said.
“A lot of times it has nothing to do with about what you do. It has to do with what other people do.
“When you start to be affected by what happens to other people, you get focused on the wrong things and your focus gets a lot broader where you really need to narrow your focus this year in terms of what we do need to do.”
During UF’s repeat season, it was No. 1 in the polls for five consecutive weeks during its SEC slate until getting upset by Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn., on Feb. 17, 2007.
Ironically, the No. 1 Gators’ next game will take place in Memorial Gym against the Commodores tonight at 7.
Florida will look to win its 20th straight and clinch at least a share of the SEC title when both teams square off.
But the Gators know winning in Nashville is no easy task.
“We know we’re in this position,” Will Yeguete said.
“We know that teams are going to probably give us their best shots. It’s obviously something that we need to respond and try to keep calm as well.
“Whether we’re No. 1, I think every team wants to beat us, especially because we’re undefeated in the SEC. So we just got to take one game at a time and just be able to be ready from the get-go and not let them get on a run early.”
Hill still doubtful: Point guard Kasey Hill (groin) looks doubtful for No. 1 Florida’s matchup at Vanderbilt (15-11, 7-7 SEC) tonight but will be a game-time decision, Donovan said Monday.
Hill is progressing, but Donovan fears the freshman may re-aggravate his injury if he returns too soon.
Since suffering the injury at Kentucky on Feb. 15, Hill has missed UF’s past two games.
During the combined seven minutes Scottie Wilbekin rested in UF’s two contests last week, the Gators had forward Dorian Finney-Smith, guard Michael Frazier II and swingman DeVon Walker alternate backup point guard duties and make up for Hill’s absence.
Hill averaged 5.6 points and 3.1 assists in 21 games before suffering his groin injury.
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Billy Donovan questions a call during Florida’s 71-66 win over Auburn on Feb. 19. The Gators moved to No. 1 in the Associated Press poll following their win against Ole Miss and former No. 1 Syracuse’s losses to Boston College and Duke.
