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Thoughts of the Day: April 5, 2022

Franz Beard

Rowdy Reptile
Gold Member
Dec 3, 2021
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By Franz Beard
A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning:
CAMP NAPIER: THE MOST IMPORTANT WEEK OF THE SPRING

Any way you slice it, this is the most important week of Billy Napier’s first spring practice as Florida’s head football coach. The Gators got their first scrimmage in last week and they have another scrimmage set for Saturday morning, so the practices today and Thursday will be critical.

Here is a breakdown position by position breakdown of things I’ve picked up from a couple of people who are regulars at practice:

Quarterback: Anthony Richardson wows everyone with his overall athleticism and big play ability. He needs work on accuracy. Jack Miller III doesn’t have Richardson’s athletic ability but he’s seriously accurate.

Running back: Strongest position on the team. Demarkcus Bowman, Lorenzo Lingard and Montrell Johnson have all looked very good and Nay’Quan Wright is practicing again.

Wide receiver: Daejon Reynolds is having a breakout spring. Justin Shorter is the hardest worker. Getting Trent Whittemore back is big but overall, this is a position that needs a lot of work.

Tight end: Can the Gators make it through the last two weeks of spring without another injury here?

O-line: They are responding well to having two coaches. O’Cyrus Torrence is a stud at right guard. The Gators have seven good ones, but they need another three to step up to have the kind of depth they will need in the fall.

D-line: They’re young and inexperienced. There is talent, but the lack of experience says portal.

Linebacker: Ventrell Miller leads and he’s a serious presence in the middle. Diwun Black is playing like a star. Brenton Cox Jr. is healthy for a change. Derek Wingo is having a breakout spring.

Corner: Jason Marshall is responding well to Corey Raymond’s coaching. In fact the entire unit is. Better coaching equals better play on the field. Avery Helm is the other starter.

Safety: Trey Dean III is being coached up by Patrick Toney. You won’t recognize him in the fall. Tre’vez Johnson is having a very good spring.

POLL DANCING: WHERE THE GATORS ARE RANKED
UF BASEBALL: GATORS IN A FREEFALL

In the last couple of weeks the Gators (18-10, 3-6 SEC) have not only fallen out of the top ten, but after getting swept in Athens by Georgia, they’re out of the top 25 in all but the USA Today Coaches poll. The Gators have what should be an easy one tonight (6 p.m., SEC Network+) when they face Florida A&M, but then it’s back to the grind of the SEC when 2nd-ranked Arkansas (21-5, 7-2 SEC) comes to Gainesville Thursday night.

USA Today Coaches Top 25: 1. Tennessee 27-1; 2. Arkansas 21-5; 3. Virginia 25-3; 4. Texas Tech 24-6; 5. Oregon State 20-7; 6. Texas 21-9; 7. Oklahoma State 20-8; 8. Ole Miss 19-8; 9. Arizona 21-7; 10. Georgia 22-6; 11. Miami 21-6; 12. Vanderbilt 20-7; 13. Notre Dame 16-5; 14. Louisville 21-7; 15. Texas State 23-6; 16. LSU 19-9; 17. UCLA 19-8; 18. Gonzaga 18-7; 19. Florida State 16-11; 20. North Carolina 20-8; 21. TCU 19-9; 22. FLORIDA 18-10; 23. Maryland 22-6; 24. Southern Miss 19-8; 25. North Carolina State 18-9

UF SOFTBALL: GATORS STAY IN TOP 10
The Gators went 3-1 during the week with a win over 23rd-ranked UCF and two out of three from 18th-ranked Auburn. So how did D1Softball see it? They dropped the Gators (30-6, 7-5 SEC) one spot in their weekly poll to No. 8 nationally.

The Gators have a chance to make a statement Wednesday (6 p.m., SEC Network) when 3rd-ranked Florida State (35-2) comes to Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. The Gators will be home this weekend against 4th-ranked Alabama.

D1Softball Top 25: 1. Oklahoma 32-0; 2. UCLA 31-3; 3. Florida State 35-2; 4. Virginia Tech 27-3; 5. Alabama 30-5; 6. Northwestern 24-5; 7. Oklahoma State 28-6; 8. FLORIDA 30-6; 9. Duke 28-5; 10. Arkansas 24-7; 11. Kentucky 25-8; 12. Tennessee 25-10; 13. Arizona State 25-5; 14. Georgia 31-6; 15. Texas 29-10-1; 16. Washington 22-11; 17. Oregon 24-8; 18. Auburn 29-6; 19. Clemson 25-10; 20. Oregon State 29-8; 21. Ohio State 23-7; 22. Michigan 20-11; 23. UCF 29-10; 24. Missouri 22-13; 25. San Diego State 25-10

UF LACROSSE: GATORS REMAIN NO. 10
The Gators (8-4, 1-0 AAC) opened the America Athletic Conference portion of their schedule Monday with a 19-12 road win at Cincinnati. The Gators will be facing Old Dominion Saturday at Donald Dizney Stadium in another AAC matchup.

Florida remained No. 10 in the IWLCA Women’s Top 25 poll.

IWLCA Women’s Lacrosse Top 25: 1. North Carolina 12-0; 2. Boston College 11-1; 3. Northwestern 10-2; 4. Syracuse 10-2; 5. Stony Brook 8-2; 6. Loyola 10-1; 7. Duke 13-1; 8. Denver 11-1; 9. Maryland 10-1; 10. FLORIDA 8-4; 11. James Madison 8-4; 12. Princeton 6-2; 13. Southern Cal 8-2; 14. Michigan 9-4; 15. Rutgers 10-2; 16. Virginia 6-7; 17. UMass 10-2; 18. Noter Dame 4-7; 19. Richmond 10-2; 20. UConn 10-1; 21. Jacksonville 7-3; 22. (Tie) Stanford 8-5 and Johns Hopkins (6-6); 24. Navy 10-2; 25. Arizona State 5-6

UF TRACK AND FIELD: MEN AND WOMEN BOTH NO. 3
Both the Florida men and women moved up in the polls this week. The Florida men moved up eight spots to No. 3, while the UF women, who won the NCAA indoor championship, moved up two spots, also to No. 3.

USTFCCA Men’s Top 25: 1. Texas; 2. Texas A&M; 3. FLORIDA; 4. Texas Tech; 5. Baylor; 6. Kentucky; 7. Stanford; 8. Princeton; 9. LSU; 10. Southern Cal; 11. Arizona State; 12. Miami; 13. BYU; 14. Oklahoma; 15. California; 16. Auburn; 17. Clemson; 18. North Carolina A&%; 19. Ohio State; 20. Houston; 21. Georgia; 22. Minnesota; 23. Arkansas; 24. Virginia; 25. Oklahoma State

USTFCCA Women’s Top 25: 1. Texas; 2. Texas A&M; 3. FLORIDA; 4. Texas Tech; 5. Arkansas; 6. Kentucky; 7. Baylor; 8. Oregon; 9. LSU; 10. BYU; 11. Southern Cal; 12. Duke; 13. North Carolina State; 14. South Carolina; 15. California; 16. Ohio State; 17. North Carolina A&T; 18. Oklahoma; 19. New Mexico; 20. Auburn; 21. Villanova; 22. Stanford; 23. Iowa; 24. Colorado; 25. Houston

UF GOLF: WOMEN NO. 11, MEN NO. 16
The Florida women have won two tournaments and finished no worse than 6th in every tournament this spring, yet they’re only ranked 11th nationally in the latest Golf Week poll. The Gators are idle until next week when they go to Birmingham to play in the SEC Championship.

The Florida men were in third place Monday when second round play of the Calusa Cup was suspended. The Gators are currently ranked 16th in the latest Golf Week Coaches poll.

Bushnell/Golf Week Coaches Top 25: 1. Oklahoma; 2. Oklahoma State; 3. Vanderbilt; 4. Arizona State; 5. Pepperdine; 6. Washington; 7. North Carolina; 8. Texas Tech; 9. Georgia; 10. Arkansas; 11. Georgia Tech; 13. Notre Dame; 14. Stanford; 15. Auburn; 16. FLORIDA; 17. Kansas; 18. Tennessee; 19. Wake Forest; 20. Florida State; 21. Clemson; 22. Texas A&M; 23. Illinois; 24. Ole Miss; 25. Purdue

Golf Week Women’s Top 25: 1. Stanford; 2. Oregon; 3. Oklahoma State; 4. South Carolina; 5. Wake Forest; 6. Arizona State; 7. San Jose State; 8. Southern Cal; 9. Alabama; 10. Virginia; 11. FLORIDA; 12. Arkansas; 13. Florida State; 14. Texas; 15. Texas A&M; 16. LSU; 17. LSU; 17. UCLA; 18. Michigan; 19. Baylor; 20. Texas Tech; 21. Auburn; 22. Ole Miss; 23. Duke; 24. Illinois; 25. Kentucky

SEC FOOTBALL/BASKETBALL
Arkansas:
All-SEC guard JD Notae, who led Arkansas with 18.4 points per game, will sign with an agent and enter the NBA Draft ... Center Jaylin Williams, who averaged 10.9 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, is testing the NBA Draft waters but will not hire an agent so he could come back for another year.

Kentucky: Keion Brooks will test the NBA Draft waters but will not hire an agent so he could return to Kentucky next year.

South Carolina: In winning the NCAA women’s championship game, the Gamecocks outrebounded UConn, 49-24. Aliyah Boston grabbed 16 rebounds.

Texas A&M: On WJOX in Birmingham Monday morning, Paul Finebaum talked about the pressure that will be on Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies to produce: “I think that over the last 10 years, every school that’s had a No. 1 signing class has played for a national championship and I think that’s what the expectations are going to be 2-3 years from now. Overall, if we’re sitting here three years from now and you’re asking the question, ‘When is Jimbo Fisher going to get to the Final Four,’ that’s a serious problem for that program. I think he has a bull’s eye on his back. He’s helped to create some of that by going after Lane Kiffin during that explosive press conference a couple months ago, but ultimately, they have to win. The money speaks to that.”



ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT:
The NCAA Tournament is over and Kansas is the 2022 champion after a brilliant second half comeback for a 72-69 win over North Carolina, which blew a 15-point halftime lead. This was the second national championship for Bill Self, the fourth all-time for Kansas and perhaps the end of 65 years of frustration. Back in 1957, after all, North Carolina beat Kansas and Wilt Chamberlain 54-53 in three overtimes to claim the title.

As Kansas celebrated on the podium postgame, NCAA president Mark Emmert stood with a red face and a forced grin. When he was introduced by Jim Nance, rather than offer hearty congratulations to Self and Kansas, Emmert congratulated New Orleans for doing such a dandy job of hosting the Final Four. He deferred to tournament chairman Tom Burnett to hand the trophy to Self, who hoisted it high, which was like giving Emmert and everyone who works for the NCAA a giant finger for God, everyone at the Superdome and a bazillion others watching on TV to see.

Kansas, after all, has chosen to fight the NCAA, which has hit the Jayhawks with five Level I violations including a personal responsibility charge against Self and lack of institutional control. It’s all based on allegations that three Adidas bagmen paid high profile recruits to attend Kansas. Self has proclaimed his innocence even though there are text messages that seem to indicate he knew everything that was going on. Kansas rewarded Self with a lifetime contract and both school and coach have dug in their heels against the NCAA.

Self probably wonders why the NCAA is determined to run him out of coaching when only a few years back the organization had the goods on North Carolina for 18 years of academic fraud that kept star basketball players eligible. Roy Williams proclaimed his innocence. UNC fought back. The NCAA backed down, which made everyone in the college basketball world remember the immortal words of Jerry Tarkanian, who once quipped, “The NCAA is so mad at Kentucky they’re going to give Cleveland State another year of probation.” Bluebloods, after all, get away with stuff for which the regular guys of college basketball get nailed.

College basketball recruiting is an absolute cesspool and it is a complicated mess that involves coaches, boosters, shoe companies and the NCAA. Some coaches are blatant cheaters but the smart ones at the blueblood schools that regularly land the one-and-done 5-star types let the boosters or the shoe companies do the cheating for them. The NCAA knows exactly what is going on but rather than clean up the mess, it selectively chooses who it will punish and who it will let slide. Kansas is a blueblood, but at some point, Self and KU must have pissed off Mark Emmert.

Watching Emmert on the podium Monday night, I laughed out loud. Emmert knows that someone at Kansas cheated and Self probably knew all about it if he didn’t actually sanction it. Since Self knows what goes on everywhere else he’s willing to fight back. Not that he’s innocent or anything, but because he knows eventually Emmert and the NCAA will go spineless and back down. If they don’t back down, Self just might expose them all for the corrupt, inept boobs that they are.
 
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