ATLANTA — Florida answered the Big Question — can the team repeat? — but that has only created several new ones to replace it.

The most relevant one right now is the Gators’ legacy. The first back-to-back champion in 15 years, Florida now ranks up there with some of the other all-time great squads of recent history: The Christian Laettner-led Duke team that was the last to repeat, Larry Johnson’s UNLV team that would have been repeat champions were it not for the Dukies, and the Kentucky team in ’96 that featured six NBA first-round draft picks.

I’m not sure the Gators can hang with any of them on pure talent. Yes, the frontcourt was superb — all three starters will be lottery picks if they come out this spring — but the backcourt was more “efficient” than “awesome,” the bench wasn’t deep, and the Gators didn’t have the overwhelming win-loss records of some of those other teams.

On the other hand, in terms of chemistry, cohesion, and selflessness, Florida is possibly the greatest team the college game has ever seen.

“I’m not saying they were the most talented. I’m not saying they were flawless,” Gators coach Billy Donovan said. “But when you talk about the word ‘team’ … they have got to go down and be considered, in my opinion, one of the best teams to ever play.”

One reason was how complementary all the pieces were. In that sense, the Gators reminded me a lot of the Detroit Pistons of recent yore. They weren’t deep, using a seven-man rotation, but had the perfect blend of pieces.

There was a dominating post scorer in Al Horford. There was a high-energy big man who could run the floor and pass in Joakim Noah. There was a slasher and defensive nuisance in Corey Brewer. There was a deadly 3-point shooter who could guard opposing wings in Lee Humphrey, and a steady point guard who could also hit from long range in Taurean Green. Just for good measure, the bench provided the two pieces the starting lineup lacked: a frontcourt bruiser in Chris Richard, and a waterbug penetrator in Walter Hodge.

“That’s been our strength all year, has been our balance,” Noah said. “We have perimeter guys who do a great job shooting the ball and slashing and doing what they have to do, and if you try to take that away, we’re going to punish you inside, and if you try to take away our inside, we’re going to punish you on the outside. And we can run. And we play defense. We do a lot of things well. We might not even be the most talented team out there, but in terms of best team, I feel like we’re the best team.”

This applied to the Gators’ personalities as well as their basketball skills, particularly the four juniors who were part of the same recruiting class. The high-strung, emotional Noah was the leader of the pack, with the quiet, subdued Horford, the loosey-goosey, smiley Brewer, and the mellow Green following along. Somehow they all got along and complemented one another. In that way, they also reminded me of the Pistons, with Noah playing a bizarro version of Rasheed Wallace.

That said, we should also recognize who was perhaps the most important piece: Donovan. There aren’t many college coaches I hold in high esteem, but after I watched him work this weekend, he’s definitely one of them. His game plans for both UCLA and Ohio State were excellent, and I think this kind of chemistry doesn’t happen by accident — Donovan went out and recruited high-character players who he thought would put the team first, and then got them to hone their skills as a unit.

Of course any discussion of Donovan immediately brings up the question of Florida’s future. Noah, Horford, Green, and Brewer are four talented juniors who could conceivably all come back along with their coach and make a run at a three-peat next year.

But don’t count on it. “If one of us stays, we all stay,” said forward Corey Brewer, which is a really nice way of saying that if one of them leaves, so will everybody else.

And there’s good reason to think at least one of them will be moving on. One reason the Florida crew could stay together as long as it did was that most of the guys didn’t need the NBA’s money — Noah, Horford, and Green were the progeny of professional athletes. But Brewer’s father has serious health problems, so turning down NBA riches a second time is probably too great a sacrifice this time around.

Additionally, the Gators have already proved themselves with the repeat and have done everything they set out to accomplish. “We felt like playing together was more important [than turning pro],” Noah said. “We felt like we were playing for something bigger, playing for history, for our legacy.”

Having done that, is there any reason to stick around another year?

Besides, even if the players come back there’s no guarantee their coach will. Kentucky reportedly is preparing an offer in the $3 million per year range to lure Donovan back to the place where he was an assistant under Rick Pitino 13 years ago.

It seems to me Donovan will turn down that particular offer. Why ditch a perfectly good situation just to coach at another school in the same conference … especially one whose fans probably have the most unrealistic expectations of any in the country?

But that doesn’t mean Donovan is staying in Florida. If the right NBA job comes open, he could get an offer for even more money than Kentucky is offering. And the NBA is the one challenge that the 41-year-old Donovan has yet to answer. Memphis is guaranteed to put in a call, and if they fire their embattled coaches at the end of the season so might Sacramento, Indiana, and Boston.

For now, however, he’s the coach of the first two-time champion in a decade and a half, and one that did it in a way that even the most jaded observer had to admire. In the end, that’s the big takeaway from this year’s Final Four. In one of the most memorable college seasons in history, the finale was the ultimate treat, because a great individual effort by Ohio State’s Greg Oden was trumped by a team for the ages. Wherever these Gators end up next year, they won’t be forgotten any time soon.

jhollinger@nysun.com