Florida Stands Out From Other Defending Champs
May 1st, 2009 ║ Posted By: John Pennington ║ Permalink ║ Tags: Florida
Ivan Maisel of ESPN.com takes a quick little look at the sheer number of returning starters (and backups) at Florida in his most recent blog post.
Here’s the key: In 16 seasons since the NFL shortened their draft to seven rounds, only three other national championship teams had fewer than five players drafted (UF had three):
Southern Cal (2003 season, 2004 draft) = 4 players drafted
Oklahoma (2000 season, 2001 draft) = 2 players drafted
Florida (1996 season, 1997 draft) = 4 players drafted.
So how did those teams do? The Trojans did indeed repeat as national champs… but the Sooners finished 6th in 2001 and the Gators wound up 4th in 1997.
So even though the Gators might not win back-to-back titles, barring a wave of injuries, Urban Meyer’s team should at least be in the hunt.
But then again, we already knew this.
