Four letters. UCLA. Four more letters. UNLV. And a four-letter word. Duke. That doesn't even include a dominant Kentucky team.

Any team from the seven straight UCLA champions from 1967-1973 would be favored over these Gators. While Florida has owned the Bruins the past two years, a match-up with one of John Wooden's squads would tell a much different story.

But, since that was a different era - one without a 3-point or the possibility of NBA defection - we'll move on to a more modern era for purposes of this argument.

Even then, however, the case for Florida is suspect. Despite its off-the-court issues and lack of class, the 1990 UNLV squad merits recognition as one of the greatest of all time. They wouldn't dismantle Florida by 30, as they did to Duke in 1990 (103-73), but there would be too much of Greg Anthony, Stacy Augmon, Anderson Hunt (29 points against Duke) and Larry Johnson for the "Gator Boys" to handle. The oddsmakers in Las Vegas would pick the hometown team.

Duke's 1992 championship team, which featured Bobby Hurley, Grant Hill and Christian Laettner, would also be favored over Florida. In addition to these three well-known stars, this team also had x-factors Thomas Hill (the one who cries in the famous Laettner clip), who averaged 14 points per game, as well as Brian Davis (11.2 points per game).

This too would be a classic, but if the stars cancel each other out, so to speak, Duke would have more depth. Seven members from the 1992 team were eventually drafted by NBA franchises.

Should Billy Donovan bolt for Kentucky, it is teams like the 1996 one that fans hope he would help replicate. This incredibly balanced club sent six players to the NBA, rattled off 27 straight victories and scored 86 points in a half of one game.

They only lost twice while cruising to the National Championship. It appears that Tony Delk, Antoine Walker, Ron Mercer and Derek Anderson would have something to say about Florida going down as the best ever.

In his press conference, Donovan seemed to concede that champions of the past would likely defeat his Gator team.
"Again, the UNLV teams, the UCLA teams, the Kentucky teams, the Duke teams, I'm not sitting up here saying that these guys on our team could beat them," he said. "I'm saying the word ‘team...,' I think they've got to be talked about."

When all is said and done, the 2006-07 Gators did what one could ask them to do: beat the teams in front of them. They've shown what staying in school instead of leaving for NBA millions can lead to, and they had a lot of fun while doing it. They entertained America in the process.

Still, that doesn't mean Grant Hill or Larry Johnson wouldn't dominate or that the Rick Pitino press wouldn't confuse them.

In the end, it's a matter of preference.