Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Finalist Florida almost fell in first round

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Monday, April 3, 2000

Finalist Florida almost fell in first round
Donovan grateful for close-call victory over Butler that sparked Gators' tourney run
By Mark Zuckerman
Caller-Times
INDIANAPOLIS - In an NCAA tournament filled with upsets, it's easy to forget that Florida, which faces Michigan State tonight in the national championship, nearly didn't make it out of the first round.
   The Gators, seeded fifth in the East regional, needed a last-second Mike Miller running jumper to beat 12-seed Butler, 69-68, in Winston-Salem, N.C. If Miller didn't make the shot, Florida wouldn't be in Indianapolis right now.
   The significance is not lost on head coach Billy Donovan.
   "I'll be the first one to tell you that instead of sitting up here today, I could be sitting at home or be on the road recruiting," Donovan said. "So I understand how fragile this whole thing is right now.
   "But I also realize that if you go through basically every team that's won a national championship, there's been that game. I look back at UCLA, with Tyus Edney making his shot at the buzzer against Missouri (in 1995). Everybody has close games."
   A DOME SWEET DOME: Playing in the cavernous RCA Dome, home to the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, all four teams had trouble shooting in Saturday's semifinal games. Not one team shot better than 40 percent from the field.
   But Michigan State and Florida aren't using the dome and its backdrop as an excuse for their poor shooting.
   "I think this is probably as nice a domed stadium that we've ever played in as far as having some closeness to it and not feeling like you're out in the middle," said Michigan State coach Tom Izzo.
   "I don't think it was the dome setting," said Florida's Brett Nelson. "We played in the Georgia Dome in the SEC tournament and the Carrier Dome (in the East regionals). I just think we were taking some bad shots when we got open looks."
   A SMALL WORLD: Growing up in Iron Mountain, Mich., Izzo was best friends with a kid named Steve Mariucci. Yes, the same Mariucci who know coaches the San Francisco 49ers.
   The two were Iron Mountain High School teammates in football, basketball, baseball and track, and as college roomates at Northern Michigan, both became walk-ons, Izzo with the basketball team, Mariucci with the football team.
   They remain close friends to this day (Mariucci is in town for the Final Four). They also have a friendly rivalry brewing.
   "I have to admit, we've got a race to see which one gets (a championship) first," Izzo said. "It's been a great relationship. He came in and watched some film with us last night. I didn't understand him. He kept telling me to blitz in that situation."
   A FOOTBALL/BASKETBALL: If Florida wins tonight's game, the university will set an unusual record: shortest span between national titles in football and basketball.
   The Gator football team was national champions in 1996, so with a basketball banner this season, the school would have pulled off the double-title in a four-year span.
   The current record is held by Ohio State, which won the football championship in 1954 and the basketball championship in 1960. Michigan is next up, having gone eight years between basketball and football titles from 1989 to 1997.



Staff writer Mark Zuckerman can be reached at 886-3747 or by e-mail at zuckermanm@caller.com

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