If Ever There's Another 2020, I Trust The Florida Gators

It’s really hard to believe that we have been living in this weird world for nine months now. Many of those who work in the sports industry will tell you that we measure time by seasons and games.

So in March when many seasons and countless games were scrubbed, it had many of us in the industry feeling like we were living in this timeless eternity. For example, and I’ve told this story a lot, I was covering three to four softball games a week. That’s a lot of time spent in a press box.

One day I was watching the Gators beat up on Penn in a midweek matinee, the next night I was following along from home as Florida topped Florida State in a top-10 matchup.

Little did I know, that with over 30 games left on the schedule, that weird, borderline boring game against Penn would be my last time in Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium, a place that was becoming a second home to me.

And I had really high hopes for the Gators softball team that no one gave a chance after the graduation of Kelly Barnhill and Amanda Lorenz.

Florida softball was all smiles just days before their season was scrapped. Courtesy of Hannah White / UAA

Not to mention, just down the street, softball’s counterpart was ranked as the best baseball team in the country. Celebrating its last season in Alfred McKethan Stadium, Florida baseball had no idea that its last homestand in Florida’s former ballpark would result in a blackeye from the Florida State Seminoles.

But I’ve told this story before. The story of what we didn’t get to see happen.

But what about what we did get to see happen? And better yet, what we will get to see happen?

First off, there’s a lot... no, a TON owed to SEC commissioner Greg Sankey.

While the governing body that we call the NCAA fumbled around, Sankey and the SEC picked up the rope. And while what has taken place in 2020 has been a slippery slope that none of us were prepared for, Sankey and the rest of the league’s front office could put on a clinic if this were ever to happen again (if you’re reading, knock on wood right now).

Florida played an entire football season this fall. The Gators have 11 games under their belt. Forget the record... that 11 games. Those are 11 games that, in August, I was sure wouldn’t be played.

And while there were certainly hiccups that came about through the course of the season, it was nothing that derailed the program. And that can be credited partly to the athletic association and conference, but also to the program.

And because of the diligence, Dan Mullen and Florida Gators are heading to their third straight New Year’s Six bowl game. They also have a slew of guys who are slated as finalists for major awards.

Sure, there’s plenty to gripe about. But there’s a whole lot more to gush about... just ask Keyontae Johnson and his family.

When we talk about double-edged swords, the Keyontae Johnson story is a poster child for the age-old cliché.

Johnson’s terrifying midgame collapse on December 12 is something no one... absolutely no one... wanted to take place. And imagining being on the floor when it happened, whether as a teammate, coach or opponent, is enough to really make someone do some thinking.

Not to mention the thought of being Johnson’s family, which was in Virginia at the time of the scare.

And though the unknowing of the situation made everyone uneasy, the outpouring of support Johnson, his family and the Florida basketball program received was just an unbelievable sight... One that really puts things into perspective, which we all needed after this year.

Now, as the university announced on Tuesday, Johnson won’t have to spend his Christmas in a hospital bed. Which, all things considered, is a massive victory to round out 2020.

Sharing the O’Connell Center with Johnson and Mike White’s Gators is Florida’s women’s basketball team, which is off to a remarkable start to its 2020 season.

In the final years of Amanda Butler’s tenure as the head of the Gators’ women’s basketball team, it seemed as though the women’s program was a deadweight being pulled behind the efforts of all of the other teams on campus. And as unfortunate as it was, considering Butler spent her college career in Gainesville, the sun had set on the Amanda Butler era and it was time that Scott Stricklin cleaned his house.

Bringing in Cam Newbauer, who previously coached at Belmont, was a shocking hire, in my opinion. After the demise of the program, whoever the Gators hired would have a full rebuild on their hands. And Newbauer just didn’t seem like the splash hire that Florida would need to get that done.

The young gun that is Cam Newbauer has the Gators' women's basketball team trending in the right direction. Courtesy of TIm Casey / UAA

The now 42-year-old young gun was hired in 2017, and his first two seasons came with some major growing pains. In those two slates, the Gators were a combined 19-42.

However, now getting into the 2020 season, the Gators are off to a 7-1 start. The Gators have won six in a row as they prepare to open conference play against Vanderbilt on December 31.

Is Florida’s women’s basketball team set to go out and win a conference championship this season?

Well, no. The big, bad South Carolina Gamecocks likely stand in the way of that feat.

However, the strides the program has made and continue to make are just another example of how the Florida Gators have gracefully navigated the oddity-filled 2020 year. I think they call it capitalizing?

And speaking of capitalizing, expect Kevin O’Sullivan and the Gators baseball team to enter the 2021 baseball season in perfect stride with where they were headed in 2020: legitimate contenders for a national championship.

Despite the last time the Florida Gators took the diamond it resulted in a loss, the Gators maintained their top dog status as the No. 1 team in the country through the lengthened offseason.

And now, as preseason polls begin rolling out, the Gators are widely expected to carry that No. 1 ranking into February, when the 2021 season gets underway. Collegiate Baseball Newspaper released its preseason poll on Monday, where Florida topped the list. Rounding out the top three was Vanderbilt and UCLA.

During the offseason, O’Sullivan and the Gators also signed the top 2021 recruiting class.

When Florida baseball takes the field in the new Florida Ballpark this spring, I have a feeling it’s going to be an experience like no other for the team and its fans. And that’s hard to believe when you think about what happened in the spring of 2020.

All of this goes to say that, yes, 2020 was horrible and I hope no part of it comes back to haunt us.

But in the same breath, many of the Gators sports teams saw a lot of high points, even in the unprecedented times this year brought.

And for that, the athletic administration in Gainesville deserves a great applause. Look around the country.

The Gators were a part of the lucky few.