Ever since Florida’s National Championship in 2006 there’s been whispers about Billy Donovan leaving Florida. Those whispers turned to roars following Florida’s repeat a couple months back. It looked like Billy D. would remain loyal to the Gators, even rejecting the once-prestigious job at Kentucky. Let’s see how loyal he is now. It’s reported that the Orlando Magic have offered Donovan their vacant coaching position.

Team officials told the Orlando Sentinel, which first reported the story on its Web site, that Donovan is expected to take the job. But as of 4 p.m. ET, multiple sources close to Billy Donovan confirmed to ESPN.com’s Andy Katz that Donovan has not accepted the job yet.

What’s this all mean? For now, we’re not sure. It’s no surprise that the Magic’s hometown paper would jump the gun on the announcement but until Donovan says anything, we’re unsure of it. Can Donovan’s style translate to the professional game? We all know the struggles that some college coaches have in the NFL. Rick Pitino, Pete Carroll, and Steve Spurrier come immediately to mind. The money ($6 million a year) and glamor of the NBA are definitely appealing but dollar signs shouldn’t be a huge influence on Donovan. After all, his new contract at Gainesville will pay him around $3 million a year, which isn’t a bad chunk of change.

The Magic have a couple pieces in Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson but you can’t beat the sports atmosphere at Florida. They’re twice-defending basketball champions and also the reigning champions in college football. It’s a fun time to be on that campus and I don’t think it’s worth trading for guys like Hedo Turkoglu.

Update: It’s official. Donovan has agreed to coach the Magic. The twice-defending champs now need a new coach. Press conference tomorrow at 11 AM EST. Good luck Billy, you’re going to need it.

Wouldn’t it be something for a program to win three straight NCAA basketball championships? Well, Florida already has two, why not make it three?

As unlikely as it would be for the starting five to return again for Florida, at least the Gators can find comfort in knowing their leader is coming back. Billy Donovan gave the good old stiff arm to the Kentucky job, saying that he’ll stick to coaching Florida. The Kentucky job is a fantastic opportunity; a rich tradition, a school that wants to win, and one of the best fan bases and recruiting tags in the nation. Sounds like a great opportunity for any coach. Then again, having two rings in two years with a program that is quickly rising to be one of the best year in and year out in Florida isn’t a terrible opportunity either. For a talented coach such as Donovan to stick around is huge for the school. Donovan constructed the Gators out of nothing, taking them to three national title games in his time as coach. It’s a great trend in college basketball that we have coaches such as Billy Donovan, Bruce Pearl at Tennessee, and Billy Gillespie at Texas A&M who are resurrecting programs at big name schools.

Sorry Kentucky, but you’ll have to look elsewhere for your new coach. Donovan belongs in Florida, where he is building a powerhouse. Maybe they should look to Hollywood for a new coach?

Wheaties has announced that they will feature the 2007 national champion Florida Gators on a new box of theirs. This is the first time that Wheaties box will feature the winner of an NCAA tournament.

Of all teams to put on there, I have to wonder why they started with this team. It is incredibly impressive that the Gators won back to back titles, but their most recognizable face is Joakim Noah, and let’s face it, that isn’t the prettiest face. I’m hoping that they add some of his jibberish onto the box so we have even more to laugh about. I wonder what would have happened if Ohio State had won. Would they have still put them on the box? I think it would have confused all the kids who were eating it; “Mom, who is this 40 year old on the cover of Wheaties, and why is he in a college uniform.”

This is just one more honor for the Gators, who probably didn’t need another honor besides victory. They will get their logo as well as an image of them cutting down the nets on the cover. I have to assume that the football team is pissed about this, they thought they could be the team to get all the glory this year but the basketball team had to go and show them up. So here’s one more collectible for UF fans to go snag, a Wheaties box.

The Florida Gators are national champions again. The Gators have captured the last two basketball national championships and the last football championship. That’s an incredibly impressive accomplishment, and I would say that they could call themselves the best sports program in the nation.

The game last night against Ohio State wasn’t even close. Greg Oden had a very good game, but his 25 points and 12 rebounds wasn’t enough to get it done. Oden had to play 38 of 40 minutes, and to be honest he probably tired himself out. Chris Richard and Joakim Noah managed to tire out Oden and kept him from being too effective. The entire Gators team can be credited with helping box out Oden to keep that rebound number as low as 12. The Gators led practically all game and never really allowed the Buckeyes to get it close. The starting five for the Gators simply outplayed the Buckeyes who missed significant production from Jamar Butler and Ivan Harris.

In this rematch of the football title game, the Gators again got the better of the Buckeyes. I have to assume that many people predicted this game because of the complete shellacking the Gators gave the Buckeyes earlier in the year. You would think that after two losses like that in the same calendar year Ohio State will be holding some sort of grudge against Florida. There isn’t a conference or a geographic rivalry, but there is certainly a rivalry brewing between these two teams.

We’ll just have to wait until next year for these two teams to face off against each other again. Now the questioning begins, does Oden leave? What about Noah? Will one or both of them stay around? There will be a few months of questions and rumors, but for the next year, the Florida Gators can be the back-to-back defending national champions in men’s basketball.

Considering you’ll hear the word “rematch” about 100 times over the next 30 hours so, I thought I’d post a video of January’s BCS Championship Game between guess who! Ohio State and Florida. It’s the first time there’s ever been the same two teams in both the college basketball and college football championship game. If basketball goes anything like football, there’s definitely going to be some car burning in Columbus. Actually, they’ll probably burn cars regardless.

A year ago, the Florida Gators took some people by surprise when they stormed through the NCAA Tournament on their way to the National Championship. This year, the Gators have made a similar trip back to the Final Four and Championship Game. And despite all the hype about five returning starters going for a repeat, they’re playing the same selfless basketball.

“Right now, we’re in the Final Four and it’s all about winning,” Brewer said. “It’s not about you. It’s about the team.”

I can tell you about who produced the most for the Gators. But does it really matter? All five of these guys play perfect with each other. It doesn’t matter that Joakim Noah scored half as many points as last year’s game against UCLA (16 last year, 8 last night) because he still was dominant inside. Taurean Green hitting just 1/7 from downtown? Doesn’t matter, Lee Humphrey went 4/8. Throw in Corey Brewer’s 19 points and Al Horford’s 17 rebounds and it’s clear that these guys aren’t slowing down.

You have to feel for UCLA. Ben Howland has definitely “restored the roar” in UCLA’s proud program. But the last two seasons, they’ve had no chance against Florida. And can you blame them? Arron Afflalo’s three early fouls was simply a sign of things to come. Three starters fouled out in this one, which indicates how physically inferior they were to Florida. UCLA is a great defensive team but were ruined inside by a deep Gators team.

So now the Gators have earned a meeting with Ohio State, a team they already romped earlier in the year. It doesn’t matter what you throw at them. Billy Donovan moving to Kentucky? UCLA’s motivation from last year? Butler’s three point shooting? Oregon’s backcourt? Doesn’t matter, all they have on their mind is a repeat.