Home-Court Advantage Aids Gators in Historical Start

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- With its latest win against the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday, the No. 5 Florida Gators men’s basketball team has equaled the best start in program history.

This year’s squad joins the 2013-14, 2012-13, 2006-07 and 2005-06 teams to start 18-2 in the first 20 games of the season. The 2005-06 and 2006-07 teams won national championships, the 2012-13 team made the Elite Eight while the 2013-14 squad is the program's most-recent Final Four team.

One of the biggest reasons it has been able to achieve this success is the home court advantage that is created by the fans in the O’Dome. Florida has played in front of five sellout crowds at home this season while having at least two more on the schedule.

“Before I continue, our crowd has been amazing, absolutely amazing, especially on these weekend games,” head coach Todd Golden said on Saturday. “They help create such a great home-court advantage for us.”

It’s easy to see why Golden believes this.

Prior to the recent loss to Missouri, the Gators had won 16 consecutive games at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Moreover, it had taken down their first eight opponents at home by an average of 29.5 points. And, since then, they bested Texas and Georgia with ease.

This success also extends to the tougher opponents Florida has faced at home. The Gators dominated then-ranked No. 1 Tennessee by 30 points.

This success makes it seem like the Gators enter home games with this certain aura or preconceived notion that they’re untouchable or invincible.

The players agree to an extent.

“Yeah, we have a lot of confidence when we play at home,” Alex Condon said.

Guard Alijah Martin echoed Condon's sentiment.

“Super confident,” Alijah Martin said. “I don't know how many we've won in a row, but we feel confident. A little sharp with guarding. We're having fun. We're enjoying it. We're enjoying the fans and how they keep up the energy. We're enjoying everything.”

However, Florida enters arguably its toughest slate of the season with three of its next four opponents being ranked and being played on the road.

Florida has trips to No. 6 Tennessee, No. 1 Auburn and No. 14 Mississippi Stats lined up. In between the Tennessee and Auburn game, the Gators will host Vanderbilt, who is coming off an upset against No. 6 Kentucky.

Nonetheless, the team’s best start in over 10 years is clearly coinciding with the raucous environment spearheaded by the Rowdy Reptiles and all the other fans seated in the crowd, and it will go a long way into Florida establishing itself as a contender this season.