April 3, 2006: Gators win first-ever basketball title vs. UCLA, 73-57
After starting the college basketball season with a 17-0 record, a Florida Gator basketball team without stars swept through the NCAA Tournament and became the first Division 1 team from the state to win the national basketball championship by beating UCLA in the title game, 73-57, in Indianapolis' Hoosier Dome. At 40, Billy Donovan became the second-youngest coach among active coaches to win a national title. At the time, Florida became only the seventh school to win national championships in basketball and football. But the milestones were only beginning. The Gator football team that took the field the following fall went on to beat Ohio State for the BCS National Championship, making the Gators the first program ever to hold football and men's basketball titles at the same time. Then the Gators basketball team won another national championship in 2007, also by beating Ohio State, to become the first-ever school to win football and basketball championships in the same year by defeating the same school. They also became the first-ever school to win back-to-back basketball championships with the same starting five. Read the story in the St. Petersburg Times: Florida defeats UCLA 73-57 for its first NCAA basketball championship • Read the story on espn.com: Florida first to hold football, hoops titles at same time • Read the story in the New York Times: Gators Repeat as National Champions