Sit back and watch Florida roll -- again

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Two guys rolled the brown leather recliner out to the free throw line, looked at it, at the rim, back at it and made sure everything was lined up just right. Next, they pulled Mac Holland out of the crowd and told him to take a seat, which seemed reasonable considering the fourth-year Mississippi State student was built like a man who is, well, very comfortable sitting in a recliner.

The Gators should rise to the challenge of winning a second straight title. (AP)

Then they gave him a ball.

Then they told him to shoot it.

A make would send Holland home with a new recliner. So naturally, he swished it, and in a moment of excitement tried to pick the chair up and walk, seemingly willing to just lug the thing back to the stands, where he still had 20 minutes of basketball to watch between his school and the No. 1 team in the nation.

"Everything is definitely going right," said Holland, beside him the recliner, above him the scoreboard indicating a Mississippi State halftime lead. "Now we just have to keep it going."

Alas, they could not.

Which is why this is where that nice story ends and a new one begins -- one about how Florida is on track to be the first team to win back-to-back national titles since Duke in 1991-92. The Gators spent Wednesday night in a sold-out Humphrey Coliseum, took Mississippi State's best punches, fell behind, hung around and ultimately found a way to escape, just like a champion does.

The result was a 70-67 victory.

That's 11 consecutive wins and an 18-2 record.

So here we are in the last full week of January, and everything is as it was supposed to be. The reigning national champions and their five returning starters are atop the Associated Press poll. And if you're one of those who thought Billy Donovan's team just "got hot at the right time" and lucked into history last season, it's time to abandon that idea and recognize that no matter how dominate Greg Oden becomes or fast North Carolina's freshmen mature, these Gators probably own the clearest map of the Road to the Final Four (and beyond).

"Right now we're definitely where we need to be," said Joakim Noah, who had 10 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in this hostile arena he called the loudest in which he's ever played. "We're 5-0 in the (SEC) and ranked No. 1. But we didn't come back to be the No. 1 team in the country in January. We came back to do the big thing."

By do the big thing, Noah meant win the big thing, i.e., the whole thing. If you're seeking gambling advice, my suggestion is to bet on the Gators doing it, and I'll give you three reasons -- one for each starter (Noah, Al Horford and Corey Brewer) who could've turned pro last April but instead returned to college for at least one more season.

1. Great maturity: When Mississippi State tied the score heading into the final media timeout, a ridiculously loud and boisterous crowd stood and yelled and stomped, and on any other night with any other team that's likely the point when momentum would've shifted for good. On the road, visiting teams wilt under such pressure with great regularity. But the Gators merely huddled, took a breath, came out of the break and set Taurean Green up for a 3-pointer that he swished. The game was never tied again. The whole thing seemed like no big deal.