By Franz Beard
A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning:
GETTING BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM THEIR FRIENDS
Colin Castleton, Florida’s leading scorer (15.4), rebounder (9.1) and second in the SEC in blocked shots (2.75 per game), sat on the end of the bench Wednesday night at the O-Dome, unable to play because an already sore shoulder was injured further in practice Tuesday. Instead of the disaster that Castleton’s absence might have been, the Gators (11-6, 2-3 SEC) got a little help from some friends to pull off a stunning 80-72 win over a tall, talented Mississippi State (12-5, 3-2 SEC).
Calling it improbable would only scratch the surface of what happened.
Without Castleton, Jason Jitoboh got his first career start. He had no points, a missed shot and a block to go with three fouls to show for five minutes of playing time in the first half. When he picked up his fourth foul in the second half with 16:58 left he still hadn’t score. In the final 8:55, he scored all eight of his points, didn’t commit another foul, grabbed two rebounds, blocked another shot and played outstanding defense on the interior.
Anthony Duruji, who had four points, one assist and one blocked shot at the half, scored 18 in the second half to go with three rebounds and five steals. He spent a good bit of time defending MSU leading scorer Iverson Molinar, who had 10 of his 12 points in the first half. When MSU needed Molinar, he couldn’t get a shot off.
Freshman Kowacie Reeves, who scored 14 to help the Gators beat South Carolina last Saturday in just his second career start, scored 14 again including nine in the second half, when he also had two rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot. He hit 3-6 from the three-point line and 4-5 from the foul line.
Tyree Appleby, who had hit 9-31 from the three-point line in his previous six games, kept the Gators in it in the first half when he scored 13 of his 17 points. He hit 4-9 on three-pointers, 5-6 from the foul line and had five assists and a steal.
Toungthatch Gatgek, who hadn’t even played since December 22, contributed two points, a rebound, a blocked shot and two steals.
Phlandrous Fleming Jr. stuffed the box score with 10 points, three rebounds, five assists, a blocked shot and two steals.
The second half defense was stifling, particularly over a 4:46 stretch in which the Gators outscored the Bulldogs 14-0 to go from three down to a 77-63 lead. Florida’s full court pressure had a real effect on the Bulldogs, but so did a halfcourt defense that seemed to change shape like an amoeba every time MSU had the ball. This was a case of Florida coach Mike White adjusting the defense on the fly to keep the Bulldogs dazed and confused. On many possessions the Bulldogs weren’t able to get the ball farther than the foul line before there were only 10 seconds left on the shot clock.
“We did a couple of things that we hadn’t really had a chance to practice,” White admitted.
Whatever it was, it worked, and it helped the Gators take out a team that had won six of its last seven including a win over the same Alabama team that knocked off the Gators by 13 points. It also helped the Gators get back to respectability in the SEC. Although the Gators are just 2-3 in league play, they’re now just one game out of fourth place and they’re among seven SEC teams that half at least three losses.
There are still 13 SEC games and an SEC/Big 12 challenge game with Oklahoma State remaining on the schedule, but the last two games have seen the Gators play more like the team that went 6-0 to start the season. In their stretch of nine games in which they went 3-6, the Gators had difficulty dealing with adversity. Not having Castleton Wednesday was serious adversity. Trailing by 10 in the first half and by eight in the second half would have done the Gators in a couple of weeks ago.
Wednesday night, thanks to a little help from friends, the Gators got a very important SEC win and a confidence boost.
“Our swag is back,” Duruji said. “That’s something that we preached before the game. Sometimes we give teams too much credit because we’re good, too.”
Good enough to win against Mississippi State when they were short-handed.
SEC BASKETBALL
Wednesday’s games: FLORIDA (11-6, 2-3 SEC) 80, Mississippi State (12-5, 3-2 SEC) 72; Alabama (12-6, 3-3 SEC) 70, No. 13 LSU (15-3, 3-3 SEC) 67; No. 2 Auburn (17-1, 6-0 SEC) 83, Georgia (5-13, 0-5 SEC) 60; Kentucky (15-3, 5-1 SEC) 64, Texas A&M (15-3, 4-1 SEC) 58
Saturday’s games: Vanderbilt (10-7, 2-3 SEC) at FLORIDA 11-6, 2-3 SEC); No. 12 Kentucky (15-3, 5-1 SEC) at No. 2 Auburn (17-1, 6-0 SEC); Georgia (5-13, 0-5 SEC) at South Carolina (10-7, 1-4 SEC); Ole Miss (9-5, 1-4 SEC) at Mississippi State (12-5, 3-2 SEC); No. 13 LSU (15-3, 3-3 SEC) at No. 24 Tennessee (12-5, 3-3 SEC); Missouri (8-9, 2-3 SEC) at Alabama (12-6, 3-3 SEC); Texas A&M (15-3, 4-1 SEC) at Arkansas (13-5, 3-3 SEC)
SEC FOOTBALL
Alabama: Nick Saban is going to hire two former Florida assistant coaches, both of whom worked for Will Muschamp both at UF and South Carolina. Coleman Hutzler will coach Bama’s linebackers and work as the special teams coordinator and Travaris Robinson will coach the corners. Hutzler coached special teams at Ole Miss last year, while Robinson coached the secondary at Miami … Former Alabama running back Kyle Edwards is transferring to Southeastern Louisiana.
Arkansas: Running back Trelon Smith, who finished second on the team with 598 rushing yards in 2021, has entered the transfer portal. This is his second transfer. He transferred to Arkansas from Arizona State in 2019 … The Razorbacks will get a visit from former Georgia defensive back Latavious Brini.
Auburn: Outside linebacker Eugene Asante is transferring in from North Carolina. Asante had 23 tackles in 2021.
Georgia: In somewhat of a shocker, wide receiver Jermaine Burton entered the transfer portal. The second leading receiver for the Bulldogs in 2021, Burton had 26 catches for 497 yards and five touchdowns. During his UGa career he had 53 catches for 901 yards and eight touchdowns … Not as much a surprise, but Stetson Bennett IV has decided to return for one more season. He threw for 2,862 yards and 29 touchdowns while leading Georgia to the national championship. Bennett’s impending return already has JT Daniels in the transfer portal and it could send either Carson Beck or Brock Vandagriff into the portal as well, particularly with 4-star QB Gunner Stockton already enrolled.
Kentucky: Former Alabama wide receiver Javon Baker is visiting Kentucky ... In addition to four transfers already enrolled, nine high school signees are early enrolled for the spring semester.
LSU: Former coach Ed Orgeron was dropped as a defendant in a high profile Title IX sex discrimination lawsuit against the athletic department. Also dropped as a defendant was former LSU athletic director Crazy Joe Alleva … LSU will pay former Georgia wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton $900,000 per year on a three-year contract.
Mississippi State: Northern Colorado kicker/punter Ben Reybon, who had a long field goal of 57 yards in 2021, is transferring in. He is the third kicker the Bulldogs have added in the last two weeks.
Missouri: Offensive lineman, Dylan Spencer, who committed to Jackson State after entering the transfer portal, has changed his mind and will remain at Mizzou … Shawn Robinson, who transferred to Mizzou as a QB from TCU only to switch to safety, is on the move again. He’s transferring to Kansas State. At Mizzou in 2021 Robinson had 31 tackles, a sack and an interception.
Ole Miss: Former Auburn OL/TE J.J. Pegues (6-3, 308) is transferring to Ole Miss ... Defensive back Keidron Smith, who had 65 tackles and two interceptions in 2021, is in the transfer portal.
South Carolina: Former South Carolina graduate assistant Tyler Lamb has been hired to coach quarterbacks at Virginia.
Tennessee: The Vols have added a home-and-home series with Washington in 2029-30. Washington will visit Knoxville in 2029 and the Vols will reciprocate in 2030.
Texas A&M: Darvon Hubbard, who was the No. 39 running back in the country out of high school, is in the transfer portal as is former 4-star defensive back Erick Young. Hubbard was once committed to Ohio State … Former Aggie linebacker Antonio Doyle is transferring to Jackson State to play for Deion Sanders.
Vanderbilt: Defensive back Dashaun Jerkins is in the transfer portal. In 2021, Jerkins had 43 tackles and three interceptions.
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: The Big 12 is moving ahead with plans to split into two divisions with 14 teams in 2023, a move that assumes that the divorce that will send Texas and Oklahoma to the Southeastern Conference won’t be finalized until 2025. BYU, one of the four teams the Big 12 added when Texas and Oklahoma were accepted as future members of the SEC, is expected to join the league in 2022 with Cincinnati, UCF and Houston arriving from the American Athletic Conference in 2023.
The Big 12’s media contract with Fox and ESPN runs out in 2025. Even before Texas and Oklahoma decided to bolt, neither Fox nor ESPN had shown any willingness to negotiate a new deal, which is one of the reasons the two schools left for the SEC. The Big 12 will have very little bargaining power when Texas and Oklahoma exit the Big 12 since they are the only teams that move the television ratings needle. Right now that contract pays a little less than $39 million per school per year but a league without Texas and Oklahoma will be fortunate to get a contract that pays even $25 million a year.
So how does the Big 12 survive after Texas and Oklahoma bolt? And how do Cincinnati, Houston and UCF afford the $17 million buyout to leave the AAC? It’s complicated, but if ESPN and the SEC pitch in, it’s do-able.
ESPN’s new contract with the SEC kicks in after the 2023 football season. Getting Texas and Oklahoma in the league for 2024 would certainly help but that would require the SEC and ESPN to work out a deal help with the exit fees, estimated at somewhere between $80 and $100 million. A better deal for ESPN would be to buy out the CBS lame duck TV year of 2023. One reason CBS didn’t get into a bidding war to retain the SEC was needing the money to extend the NFL contract beyond 2022 but that opens the door for ESPN to buy out the last year of the CBS contract for the Saturday SEC football games. Since Texas and Oklahoma in the SEC would certainly impact the ratings in a big way, it would behoove ESPN to work hand-in-hand with the SEC and the Big 12.
First things first. The SEC, which has quite a bit of cash on hand, could work out a deal to pay some of the Texas and Oklahoma buyouts with ESPN picking up the other portion. That would give the Big 12 money to help its three new members leave the AAC, money that would easily be recovered by adding Texas and Oklahoma to the TV lineup. Second, ESPN could offer the Big 12 a television contract. Now, it wouldn’t help the league pay anything close to the nearly $39 million currently being paid, but something that would help the league pay its members somewhere around $20-25 million would get everybody’s attention. Third, the SEC and Notre Dame voting together to keep the Big 12 as a Power Five conference would stifle any attempt by the “alliance” to relegate the Big 12 to Group of Five status.
There is a deal to be made here if someone will just take the first step.
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