By Franz Beard
A few thoughts to jump start your Monday morning:
CALIPARI THINKS THE GATORS BELONG IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
With an NCAA Net Ranking of 53, the Gators (19-12, 9-9 SEC) are firmly on the NCAA Tournament Bubble. If we go strictly by the Net Rankings – they aren’t the only criteria the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee takes into consideration – then the Gators will have to win two games at the Southeastern Conference Tournament at Amalie Arena in Tampa this week. The Gators won’t get any bump if they beat Texas A&M (20-11, 9-9 SEC) in their first game Thursday because the Aggies have a Net Ranking of 56, so it would take beating SEC champion Auburn (Net Ranking 10) in the quarterfinals to ease into the tournament.
Kentucky coach John Calipari doesn’t necessarily agree with the Net Rankings or with ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi, who touts six SEC teams making the tournament, one of which isn’t Florida, which lost to UK, 71-63, Saturday night on Twitter, Cal stated: “Any team in the SEC that’s 9-9 should be in the tournament. The top four teams in our league went 35-1 at home. Crazy. We are the best league and our teams deserve that respect.” Lunardi has eight from the Big Ten, seven from the Big East and six each from the SEC and Big 12.
Five SEC teams finished the season tied for fifth in the final regular season standings with 9-9 records – South Carolina, LSU, Texas A&M, No. 25 Alabama and Florida.
Based on RPI, the SEC isn’t the top league in the country but it is second. The top ranking belongs to the Big 12, which is interesting when you consider the SEC beat the Big 12 6-4 head-to-head in the annual SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Among the wins were Kentucky’s 80-62 blowout of then No. 5 Kansas and Alabama’s 87-78 win over then No. 4 Baylor.
The NCAA Tournament Committee also takes strength of schedule into consideration. According to Kenpom.com, here is the strength of schedule ranking for all SEC teams that had at least a 9-9 record in league play: 1. Alabama; 7. Tennessee; 27. LSU; 28. South Carolina; 31. Auburn; 36. Kentucky; 45. Florida; 50. Arkansas; and 66. Texas A&M.
SEC Basketball Tournament
Wednesday’s games: 1. Ole Miss (13-18, 4-14 SEC) vs. Missouri (11-20, 5-13 SEC); 2. Georgia (6-25, 1-17 SEC) vs. Vanderbilt (15-15, 7-11 SEC)
Thursday’s games: 3. Florida (19-12, 9-9 SEC) vs. Texas A&M (20-11, 9-9 SEC); 4. Winner game 1 vs. LSU (21-10, 9-9 SEC); 5. Mississippi State (17-14, 8-10 SEC) vs. South Carolina (18-12, 9-9 SEC); 6. winner game 2 vs. No. 25 Alabama (19-12, 9-9 SEC)
Friday’s games: 7. Game 3 winner vs. No. 5 Auburn (27-4, 15-3 SEC); 8. Game 4 winner vs. No. 14 Arkansas (24-7, 13-5 SEC); Game 5 winner vs. No. 13 Tennessee (23-7, 14-4 SEC); 10. Game 6 winner vs. No. 7 Kentucky (25-6, 14-4 SEC)
SEC CHAMPS! UF GYMNASTICS MAKES IT FOUR IN A ROW
The final score Friday night was Florida 198.575, Auburn 198.575, important because a tie not only gave the Gators sole possession of their fourth Southeastern Conference championship, Florida’s fourth in a row, but the fourth highest team score in NCAA history and the highest score for two teams in NCAA history. Florida has been involved in six of the nine highest scoring meets in NCAA history.
Florida got a perfect 10 from Trinity Thomas on vault and another 10 from freshman Sloane Blakely on floor. For Thomas it was her NCAA-leading sixth 10 of the season and the 14th of her career.
The win moved the Gators up to No. 2 nationally, trailing only Oklahoma, the same OU team the Gators beat a week ago. Florida owns wins this season over No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 5 (tie) Alabama and Auburn, No. 7 LSU, No. 9 Kentucky, No. 11 Missouri, No. 18 Arkansas and No. 24 Georgia.
UF BASEBALL: TWO OUT OF THREE AIN’T BAD
After taking the series opener with Miami on the chin at Mark Light Stadium in Coral Gables, the 14th-ranked Gators (10-3) bounced back with two dominating wins to take the series from the Hurricanes. UF took out the Hurricanes, 8-1, Saturday evening and then finished off the series with an 11-3 blowout win.
The Gators couldn’t get the bats untracked Friday night when they fell to the Hurricanes, 5-2, but Saturday and Sunday were completely different stories. Home runs from Jud Fabian and Kendrick Calilao backed the combined six hit pitching of Brandon Sproat and Nick Ficarrotta Saturday to even the series at a game apiece. Fabian hit a 2-run homer in the second and Calilao hit a 3-run shot in the ninth. Sproat (2-1) pitched 6-1/3 strong shutout innings (4 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts) to earn the win and Ficarrotta (2-2/3 innings, 2 hits, 1 unearned run, 5 strikeouts).
Jud Fabian’s RBI double highlighted a 3-run first inning on Sunday as the Gators jumped all over the Hurricanes and then kept pounding away. Fabian had only that one hit all day, but the Hurricanes walked him four times. Calilao hit his second homer in two days as part of a 3-run sixth. Wyatt Langford, who went 3-3 on the day, had a 2-run double in the sixth. Florida’s 9-hit attack was helped out by 14 walks and one hit batter.
Blake Purnell (2-0) got the win with 3-2/3 innings of relief of starter Timmy Manning. Purnell held the Hurricanes scoreless, gave up two hits and struck out four.
The Gators will face Jacksonville Tuesday and Wednesday night at the Florida Ballpark and host Seton Hall for a 3-game weekend set.
BUBLY INVITATIONAL: GATORS 42, EVERYBODY ELSE 2
Now, granted the competition wasn’t exactly the kind that keeps Tim Walton up at night, but a couple of very good things happened at the Bubly Invitational. The 5-0 weekend improved the 3rd-ranked Gators to 21-1 heading with SEC play beginning next Saturday with Mississippi State.
Elizabeth Hightower (5-0), who has had a nagging back injury, got two starts and went four innings in each. She got one win, allowed three hits two earned runs, walked six and struck out nine. The walks are most likely from the layoff. Her control is usually pretty sharp.
Lexie Delbrey (7-1), who has struggled in the early innings, got two wins in 11 innings. She allowed three hits and struck out 15 but she walked seven so she still has to get sharper with her location.
Maybe the biggest news of the weekend was sophomore lefty Haley Pittman (1-0). In the first start of her career, she went four innings, gave up one hit, walked two and struck out two. If she is able to give Walton some innings, it will allow him to get rest for Hightower, Delbrey and Natalie Lugo.
Skylar Wallace went 7-12 on the weekend with two homers, a triple, nine RBI and six stolen bases. Leadoff Kendra Falby kept her average above .500 with a 7-15 weekend with three RBI and four stolen bases. Hannah Adams went 8-15 with four RBI, Reagan Walsh had a pair of homers and four RBI.
OTHER UF SPORTS
The 5th-ranked Florida men’s tennis team (9-2, 2-0 SEC) opened its SEC schedule with a 7-0 win over No. 6 South Carolina and a 4-3 win over No. 9 Kentucky ... The 13th-ranked Florida women’s tennis team (8-3, 1-1 SEC) split its first two conference matches of the season, knocking off LSU 6-1 in Baton Rouge before dropping a 5-2 decision to No. 8 Texas A&M in College Station … The 13th-ranked UF women’s golf team tied with Michigan for the championship in the VyStar Invitational … The 7th-ranked lacrosse Gators (1-3) dropped a 14-13 decision to No. 5 Stony Brook.
PIERCE GETS HIGH COMBINE MARKS
Of all the running backs at the NFL Combine, only two had a higher prospect grade than Dameon Pierce. Imagine that.
Pierce measured 5-10 and weighed 218. He ran 4.59 in the 40, benched 225 pounds 21 times and had a 34.5 vertical. He was given a 6.29 prospect grade, which according to NFL analytics makes him an eventual starter. The only two backs who were given a higher grade were Kenneth Walker III (Michigan State, 6.35) and Breece Hall (Iowa State, 6.34), both of whom are considered elite prospects. Isaiah Spiller of Texas A&M also has a 6.29 prospect rating.
Here are the prospect grades of all the SEC backs who were at the Combine: Zamir White, Georgia (6.25), James Cook, Georgia (6.00), Brian Robinson, Alabama (6.21), Tyler Badie, Missouri (6.14), Snoop Conner, Ole Miss (6.14), Jerrion Ealy, Ole Miss (5.93) and Tyler Davis-Price, LSU (6.19).
Other Gators at the Combine: Kaiir Elam ran a 4.48 in the 40 … Zachary Carter (6-4, 282) ran a 4.99 40, did 19 reps on the bench and had a 27.5 and has a prospect grade of 6.20. He is considered an eventual starter in the NFL … Jeremiah Moon (6-5, 249) is going to need a strong pro day to enhance his draft status after the Combine. He ran a 4.76 in the 40 and had a 40.5 vertical. He has a 5.68 prospect grade, which analytics say he’s a candidate for bottom of a roster or practice squad.
SEC FOOTBALL
Alabama: Heisman Trophy QB Bryce Young has an NIL deal with BMW of Tuscaloosa. Interesting, because Nick Saban owns Mercedes-Benz dealerships.
Georgia: Jordan Davis, all 6-6 and 341 pounds of him, ran a 4.82 in the 40 at the NFL Combine. That’s a better time than quarterbacks Brock Purdy (Iowa State, 4.84), Bailey Zappe (Western Kentucky, 4.88), Jack Coan (Notre Dame, 4.90) and Skylar Thompson (Kansas State, 4.91).
LSU: Former Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels is transferring to LSU. In 29 career games at Arizona State, Daniels threw for 6,025 yards (8.3 per attempt) and 32 touchdowns with 13 picks. He ran for 1,288 yards and 13 touchdowns ... LSU says it is unaware of any Title IX allegations against running backs coach Frank Wilson during the time he was a member of Les Miles’ staff.
Tennessee: Former Georgia Tech DB Wesley Walker has committed to Tennessee.
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: The late Tom Butters doesn’t get enough credit for being an astute judge of talent. A former Major League Baseball pitcher and former Duke baseball coach, he served as the AD from 1977-97. In 1980 he raised eyebrows when he hired Mike Kryzyzewski, who was 73-59 at Army and coming off a 9-17 season to coach the Duke basketball team which had played for the national championship in 1978 and finished ranked 11th in 1979 and 14th in 1980. When Duke went 38-47 from 1981-83, there were calls for the heads of Butters and Coach K on a platter. Well, we know how that worked out.
Butters also hired former Elon football coach Red Wilson in 1979, another controversial hire since he hadn’t coached in three years. After a 2-8-1 first season, Wilson hired Steve Spurrier, recently fired as the quarterbacks coach at Georgia Tech by new coach Bill Curry. Legend has it that Curry suggested Spurrier find a new profession and offered to help him find a job selling insurance in Atlanta. After a 2-9 1980 season, Duke went 6-5 the next two years.
Wilson turned the offense over to Spurrier. After Duke beat Curry and Georgia Tech in Atlanta in 1981, Wilson told the media he asked Spurrier what play he called and Spurrier responded, “Touchdown coach!”
Spurrier left to be the head coach of the Tampa Bay Bandits in the USFL in 1983. That gig lasted three years and then the USFL folded. After a year out of football, Butters came calling, offering Spurrier the head coaching job at Duke, which hadn’t had a winning season since Spurrier left the first time. It was thought to be another controversial hire, but after a 5-6 1987, Spurrier went 7-3-1 and 8-4, winning the ACC championship in 1989.
Three controversial hires, two of which went on to become legends. I wonder what might have happened at Duke if there had been an internet and message boards when he hired Red Wilson, Coach K and Steven Orr Spurrier.
