Of all the teams that lost in the opening round of last season's NCAA tournament, none was more disappointing than Florida.

On the short list of Final Four contenders going into the season, the Gators started 15-1 but stumbled late in the season, losing in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament and finishing 22-9. Injuries and turmoil hampered Florida throughout.

The Gators are still banged up, and Billy Donovan's program is still in upheaval after the recent decision by sophomore forward James White to transfer to Cincinnati. But last week's victory at Maryland could become a starting point for things to settle down in Gainesville.

More than just ending the nation's longest nonconference home winning streak, the victory helped Florida's freshmen gain some confidence that might have been shaken with a road loss earlier to West Virginia, which came four days after the Gators knocked off Kansas in the Preseason National Invitation Tournament.

"I don't think there's anything such as finding a groove. You've got to learn from every game, especially losses," said senior forward Matt Bonner. "We have to learn from our mistakes. [Against West Virginia,] I think we had an emotional letdown. We learned that lesson and then came back."

Two of Florida's freshmen have played a huge role in keeping the Gators competitive.

Matt Walsh, a 6-foot-6 forward, averaged close to 21 points his first five games before suffering a bruised ankle. Anthony Roberson, a 6-1 guard, has been inconsistent shooting, but has had some big games and hit some big shots, none bigger than a late three to help beat Maryland.

"We've got a lot of more improving [to do], but I feel like we're a national championship team," Roberson said.

The Gators, who are 7-2 and play at Miami tomorrow, are still not at full strength. Christian Drejer, a 6-9 freshman from Denmark, hasn't played yet. After suffering an ankle sprain, he developed a staph infection. Senior guard Brett Nelson, who missed the first three games with a stress reaction in his right foot, has come back slowly, as has junior forward Bonell Coles from a chipped pelvis.

Bonner looks at his team being undermanned as a blessing in disguise.

"You can usually let your freshmen sit back and get a feel for what needs to be done," Bonner said. "That wasn't the case this year. They now have experience at this level coming down the stretch against big-time programs and it showed [against Maryland]."

Donovan, now in his seventh year at Florida, said he hopes his young players don't get too carried away with their experience last weekend in College Park or the team's No. 13 ranking.

"You always deal with the next phase," he said after the Maryland game. "To me, the next phase is: 'Can they handle winning a game like this and come back as focused as they were to play today?' Sometimes guys embrace it, but sometimes they don't realize the level of preparation and focus that you have to play this game."

It's academic

Few players have endured more than Memphis' Chris Massie since the end of last season. After averaging 13.0 points and 11.2 rebounds last season in helping Memphis win the National Invitation Tournament, the 6-9 forward declared himself eligible for the NBA draft, but he had a disappointing pre-draft camp in Chicago.

He returned to Memphis, only to learn his participation in Chicago would cost him a two-game suspension. Then Massie was declared academically ineligible for the 2002-03 season unless he passed 21 credit hours in the fall.

While even his coaches and teammates sound a little skeptical as to how Massie accomplished that academic feat, they will be glad to have him back in the lineup Dec. 28 against Illinois.

"I'm surprised, but I'm very happy and proud of him because he had to go do some work," Memphis coach John Calipari told the Commercial Appeal. "But he did the work that he's supposed to do."

Asked if he thought his teammate could regain his eligibility, sophomore Anthony Rice said: "We didn't. It's just amazing all the stuff he went through and all the classes he had to pass."

Valley boys

Creighton's ranking (20th) is the highest for the Blue Jays since 1975, and marks the first time a team from the Missouri Valley Conference was ranked in the Top 20 since Bradley in 1989. Creighton might be undervalued, since the Jays handed No. 9 Notre Dame its only defeat this season.