Error 0: Hundreds of Gator fans waited nearly three hours in the sun outside the Gainesville Regional Airport on this date in 2007 to greet the national champions. The University of Florida basketball team returned home to a rowdy celebration on April 4, 2007, after becoming the first team in NCAA Division I history to win back-to-back national championships with the same starting lineup. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,” UF center Al Horford shouted while carrying the championship trophy as fans crowded around him. Fellow UF stars Joakim Noah and Corey Brewer paused to sign basketballs, shirts and posts, while coach Billy Donovan posed for pictures with fans. Florida defeated Ohio State 84-75 the night before in Atlanta, firing up Gator Nation. Fans had grown accustomed to winning after the football team claimed a national championship during the same stretch the basketball team won two titles.
