By Franz Beard
A few thoughts to jump start your Friday morning:
“Billy’s great to work for. He’s the reason I’m here. You’d be hard pressed to find – you always want a great coach. He’s the CEO so everything kind of trickles down from him. He sets the standard for the entire organization but beyond that, not just a great coach, but a great human being, a great man. He’s somebody you can look up to as a great father, a great husband, which is important to me because I’m a father, I’m a husband and I consider him a mentor. You want to have someone in that CEO role that you can look up to in all those areas. I’m not sure there’s a better one in the country. That’s my opinion.” – Mark Hocke, associate head coach
We keep learning more and more about Billy Napier’s approach to transforming Florida football which has gone from the winningest program in the country from 1990-2009 (202-52-1) to the 28th program (95-57) in the last 12 years. From 1990-2009 the Gators never had a losing season. They’ve had three in the last 12 years. From a program that won eight SEC championships and three national championships to one that has spent 12 years spinning its wheels in the muck of mediocrity is tough to swallow.
How do you stop mediocrity in its tracks and reverse the bad fortune that has 12 years of momentum? It starts with a CEO who sets the standard for the entire organization and who understands all that goes into putting a successful product on the football field. When I asked Scott Stricklin several weeks ago about what went into the hiring process, I was struck by this statement: “We asked a lot of questions of a lot of people and no one had anything negative to say about Coach Napier. Everything he does, he does it with integrity and he sets the example for everyone in his organization to follow.”
We’re still 5-1/2 months from the start of the 2022 football season. I have no clue how many games the Gators are going to win this year, but already I can see a football program that is changing before our very eyes and it’s being done the right way. I become more convinced every day that the Gators may have caught lightning in a bottle when Billy Napier was hired as the head football coach.
NCAA WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT: CAN GATORS MAKE IT 26-0?
There is no shortage of incentives for either Florida (21-10) or UCF (25-3) when the two teams meet Saturday in Storrs, Connecticut in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. Florida is 25-0 all time against UCF, a constant grind on the Knights’ mindset. The Gators, meanwhile, feel a bit disrespected, because they have wins over teams seeded three (LSU), four (Tennessee), six (Georgia and Kentucky) and ten (Arkansas) and yet they’re a No. 10 seed. UCF, which has only one win over a ranked team (then No. 24 South Florida), won the American Athletic Conference Championship but the Knights are a No. 7 seed.
All that has done is fuel the fire that burns in UF coach Kelly Rae Finley.
“We love it,” Finley said earlier in the week. “That’s who we are. We want to earn everything. We’re not an entitled group. Going into the NCAA Tournament the mindset is no different. We’re the underdogs. We’re the 10th seed. UCF is the 7th.”
The two teams will face off at 3:30 Saturday, the game televised on ESPN News.
NIT: CALL THIS THE INTERIM BOWL
There is a certain irony about the coaching matchups for Sunday’s (1 p.m., ESPN) second round NIT game between the Gators (20-13) and Xavier (19-13). Florida is 1-0 playing for interim coach Al Pinkins, who took over when Mike White left to become the head coach at Georgia. Xavier, meanwhile, will be playing its first game under interim head coach Jonas Hayes. Hayes became the interim when the school fired Travis Steele Wednesday morning. This was AFTER the Musketeers had beaten Cleveland State, 72-68, Tuesday night in an NIT first round game.
What makes this story so juicy is that Hayes and twin brother Jarvis were stars at Georgia and prior to the surprise announcement that White was leaving Florida to become Georgia’s head coach, Jonas Hayes was thought to be a shoo-in to take the job. If ever there was an unlikely guy to become the Georgia coach it was White. If ever there was an unlikely guy to be passed over as the Georgia head coach by a Florida coach, it is Jonas Hayes.
Florida had one traumatic day to deal with the emotions of White leaving and then the Gators had what Pinkins says might have been their two best practice days of the year. Was that because there had been so much noise in the system regarding White that they were relieved it was all over? Or was it a case of a team deciding coaches don’t shoot, coaches don’t rebound and coaches don’t depend, so it’s up to us and not the coaches to win or lose the game on the floor?
Whatever the case, the Gators played one of the best games they’ve played all year – if not THE best – to defeat Rick Pitino and Iona Wednesday night. They did it for themselves and they also did it for “Coach Pink.” Can they do it a second time Sunday afternoon?
And what about Xavier? How will they react to the firing of Travis Steele? It’s one thing for a coach to leave on his own volition as Mike White did. It’s something altogether different when your coach is fired and you’ve had a winning season.
So, Sunday we’ll have The Interim Bowl and when it’s over, one coach will have the best winning percentage (1.000) in school history, while the other will see his time as the interim crash and burn.
SEC Basketball
NCAA
Thursday’s scores
South Region: 3 Tennessee (27-7) 88, 14 Longwood 56; East Region: 15 Saint Peter’s (20-11) 85, 2 Kentucky (26-8) 79; West Region: 4 Arkansas (26-8) 75, 13 Vermont (26-8) 71
Friday’s games
Midwest Region: 15 Jacksonville State (21-10) vs. 2 Auburn (27-5); 11 Iowa State (20-12) vs. 6 LSU (22-11); West Region: 11 Notre Dame (23-10) vs. 6 Alabama (19-13)
NIT
Saturday’s games
Oregon 20-14 at Texas A&M (24-12)
Sunday’s games
FLORIDA (20-13) at Xavier (19-13); Dayton (24-10) at Vanderbilt (18-16)
UF BASEBALL: GATORS OPEN SEC PLAY AT ALABAMA
Lefty Hunter Barco (3-1, 19.3 ERA) will get the ball tonight (7 p.m., SEC Network+) when the 9th-ranked Gators (13-4) open SEC play against Alabama (12-6) in Tuscaloosa. Alabama will counter Barco with its own ace, righty Garrett McMillan (2-0, 1.80 ERA).
The three-game weekend series will mark Florida’s first trip outside the state this season. The Gators are 4-1 on the road this season, their only loss in the opening game of the Miami series a couple of weeks ago. Alabama is 12-2 at home, 0-4 on the road.
For Saturday’s 4 p.m. matchup, Florida will send righthander Brandon Sproat (3-1, 2.11 ERA) against Alabama lefty Antoine Jeane (1-1, 2.60 ERA).
UF SOFTBALL: NO. 5 GATORS ON THE ROAD AT TEXAS A&M
The Gators (23-2, 2-1 SEC) venture out of state for the first time this season when they travel to College Station to face Texas A&M (16-8, 0-3 SEC). The Gators lead the SEC in ERA (1.48) and rank third in hitting (.363). The Gators are next to last in the league in home runs (19) but second in runs scored (183) and first in stolen bases (68).
The Gators will likely go with a rotation of Elizabeth Hightower (6-0, 1.35 ERA), Natlie Lugo (5-1, 0.56 ERA) and Lexie Delbrey (8-1, 1.96 ERA).
Other UF sports: The 2nd-ranked Gators (13-0-1) already own the SEC regular season gymnastics championship. The Gators will try to add the SEC Championship Meet trophy to their collection in Birmingham on Saturday … Florida women’s swimming team is 12th with 62 points after two days of the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships … The No. 1 Florida men’s tennis team (12-2, 4-0 SEC) will face Ole Miss (11-5, 1-2 SEC) today and Mississippi State (11-6, 1-3 SEC) at the Ring Tennis Center on campus … The No. 16 UF women’s tennis team (10-4, 2-2 SEC) will be on the road this weekend, at Missouri (6-10, 1-2 SEC) today and Arkansas (10-3, 3-0 SEC) on Sunday … The No. 13 lacrosse team (3-4) is at Drexel on Sunday … The women’s golf team, ranked 10th nationally, will be at the Mountainview Collegiate Tournament in Tucson this weekend … The Florida men’s golf team, ranked 17th, will be at the Linger Longer Tournament in Greensboro, Georgia starting Sunday.
MARCHING TO THE MADNESS
Power conference standings: SEC 2-1; Big 12 2-0; Big Ten 2-2; ACC 2-0; Pac-12 2-0
Upset central: No. 15 Saint Peter’s 86, No. 2 Kentucky 79 in the East; No. 12 Richmond 67, No. 5 Iowa 63 in the Midwest
Studs: Drew Timme, Gonzaga (32 points, 13 rebounds); Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga (19 points, 17 rebounds, 7 blocks); Santiago Vescovi, Tennessee (18 points, 6-8 on 3-pointers, 7 assists); Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky (30 points, 16 rebounds); Daryl Banks III, Saint Peter’s (27 points, 5-8 on 3-pointers); Brady Manek, North Carolina (28 points, 5-10 on 3-pointers, 11 rebounds)
Duds: The Mountain West got four teams in the tournament. They’ve all lost.
Friday upsets: I like No. 10 Loyola over No. 7 Ohio State and No. 12 UAB to upset No. 5 Houston.
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Saint Peter’s 85, Kentucky 79. Overtime. Almost in synch, however many million members there are in the Big Blue Nation clutched their hearts and did their best impersonation of Fred G. Sanford: “It’s the big one, Elizabeth!” Simply calling Kentucky losing to a 15th-seeded team ranks with the understatements of the century.
At some point over the next week or so, reality will set in and the Good Ship Saint Peter’s will strike an iceberg and sink to the bottom of the NCAA Tournament ocean. Until that inevitable moment happens – inevitable since no No. 15 has ever made it to the Final Four – the wonderfully-named Peacocks will bask in the glow of one of the more stunning upsets in NCAA Tournament history. This wasn’t just No. 15 kneecapping a No. 2, it was No. 15 kneecapping Kentucky, winner of eight NCAA championships in its illustrious history.
What Saint Peter’s did Thursday night should grab the lapels of the three braindead commissioners who head “The Alliance,” which has stood in the way of expanding the College Football Playoff. The NCAA Tournament makes it possible for a Saint Peter’s to dream the impossible dream. The College Football Playoff that we’re stuck with until 2026 doesn’t allow for dreamers or Cinderella. Four teams will make the playoff field in December. It’s mid-March and the odds are the four semifinalists will emerge from this pack: Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma or Notre Dame.
The same can’t be said about the NCAA Tournament. If mighty Kentucky can flame out in the first round, then what other upsets are brewing? This is why for three straight weekends the NCAA Tournament grips the entire country and when they play “One Shining Moment” the champ won’t necessarily be the best team in the country. As Billy Donovan used to point out, the NCAA Tournament is about one team going 6-0 over three weekends and the team that wins it all might be 6-0 because it had the easiest path through the brackets while the best team got stuck in a bracket with bad matchups.
We desperately need college football to learn from its basketball brethren. We need an expanded playoff that opens the possibility for a team from nowhere to hoist the big trophy. Odds are that a Group of Five team will never win an expanded playoff, but that’s not the point. It is the idea that one of them actually could do it someday that makes an expanded playoff so intriguing. Someone needs to shove ammonia capsules up the nostrils of Kevin Warren (Big Ten), Jim Phillips (ACC) and George Kliavkoff (Pac-12), the commissioners of “The Alliance.” They seriously need to wake up from their self-imposed comas and quit being an obstacle to College Football Playoff expansion.
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