By Franz Beard
A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning:
25 YEARS OF FLORIDA BASKETBALL RECRUITING
In reviewing 25 years of Florida basketball recruiting two things are obvious: (1) Florida has only rarely outrecruited Kentucky in the SEC and (2) transfers have been an active part of roster management as 37 players have transferred out and 19 have transferred in.
The Gators have landed eight top ten recruits in the last 25 years and five from the top 20. Brad Beal (No. 4 in 2011), Chris Walker (No. 7 in 2013) and Scottie Lewis (No. 9 in 2019) are the only three top ten recruits since 2011.
Vernon Macklin transferred in from Georgetown in 2009 and ever since, the Gators have relied on transfers to supplement their recruiting. At the same time, since Florida’s second national championship (2007), 26 players have transferred out. Now that there is essentially free agency and players can transfer freely without having to sit out, the transfer portal is going to be a bigger part of the recruiting landscape for the Gators and everyone else in the SEC. Currently, there are 56 transfers playing in the SEC. Kentucky, which routinely lands a top three recruiting class, has six transfers on its roster, five who play and one taking an injury redshirt.
Florida recruiting since 1998
1998: 13. Mike Miller; 20. Teddy Dupay; 53. LaDarius Halton; 80. Udonis Haslem
1999: 1. Donnell Harvey; 7. Brett Nelson; 38. Matt Bonner; Justin Hamilton
2000: 25. Orien Green (transferred); Bonell Colas
2001: 6. Kwame Brown (NBA); 10. David Lee; 22. James White (transferred); Adrian Moss
2002: 16. Anthony Roberson; 40. Matt Walsh; 53. Mario Boggan (transferred); Christian Drejer; Rashid Al-Kaleem (transferred)
2003: 43. Chris Richard; 46. Mohamed Abukar (transferred); 90. Ryan Appleby (transferred); 107. Lee Humphrey
2004: 25. Corey Brewer; 47. Al Horford; 72. Joakim Noah; 105. Taurean Green
2005: 63. Derwin Kitchens (non-qualifer); 125. Jimmie Sutton (transferred); 134. Walter Hodge; 230. David Huertas (transferred)
2006: 60. Marreese Speights; 81. Dan Werner; 84. Doneal Mack (non-qualifier); 87. Jon Mitchell (transferred); 175. Brandon Powell (transferred)
2007: 11. Nick Calathes; 33. Jai Lucas (transferred); 39. Chandler Parsons Parsons; 53. Alex Tyus; 133. Adam Allen
2008: 26. Eloy Vargas (transferred); 35. Kenny Kadji (transferred); 61. Ray Shipman (transferred); 76. Allan Chaney (transferred); 79. Erving Walker; Nimrod Tishman; Vernon Macklin (transferred from Georgetown)
2009: 9. Kenny Boynton
2010: 19. Patric Young; 42. Erik Murphy; 52. Casey Prather; 88. Cody Larson (transferred); 227. Will Yeguette; 605. Scottie Wilbekin; Mike Rosario (transferred from Rutgers)
2011: 4. Bradley Beal; 188. Walter Pitchford (transferred)
2012: 54. Braxton Ogbueze (transferred); 86. Michael Frazier III; 147. DeVon Walker (transferred); 203. Dillon Graham (transferred); Damontre Harris (transferred from South Carolina/transferred out); Dorian Finney-Smith (transferred from Virginia Tech)
2013: 7. Chris Walker; 11. Kasey Hill; Eli Carter (transferred from Rutgers/transferred out)
2014: 18. Devin Robinson; 31. Brandone Francis-Ramirez (transferred); 49. Chris Chiozza; John Egbunu (transferred from South Florida); Jon Horford (transferred from Michigan)
2015: 64. Kevaughn Allen; 82. Kevarrius Hayes; 92. Keith Stone (transferred); Justin Leon (juco); Alex Murphy (transferred from Duke/transferred out)
2016: 140. Eric Hester (transferred); 248. Gorjok Gak (transferred); 290. Dontay Bassett (transferred); Canyon Barry (transferred from College of Charleston)
2017: 85. Chase Johnson (transferred); 92. DeAundrae Ballard (transferred); 97. Isaiah Stokes (transferred); 260. Mike Okauru (transferred); Egor Koulechov (transferred from Rice); Jalen Hudson (transferred from Virginia Tech)
2018: 25. Andrew Nembhard (transferred); 69. Keyontae Johnson; 77. Noah Locke (transferred); Tyree Appleby (transferred from Cleveland State; Kerry Blackshear Jr. (transferred from Virginia Tech); Anthony Duruji (transferred from Louisiana Tech)2019: 9. Scottie Lewis; 22. Tre Mann; 46. Omar Payne (transferred); 303. Jason Jitoboh; 411. Ques Glover (transferred)
2020: 42. Samson Ruzhentsev; 149. Niels Lane; Osayi Osifo (juco; transferred out); Colin Castleton (former No. 100, transferred from Michigan)
2021: 42. Kowacie Reeves; 164. Elijah Mitchell; Tuongthach Gatkek (juco); CJ Felder (transferred from Boston College); Myreon Jones (transferred from Penn State); Phlandrous Fleming Jr. (transferred from Charleston Southern); Brandon McKissic (transferred from Kansas City)
2022: 28. Malik Reneau; 75. Jalen Reed; 186. Denzel Aberdeen
SEC Basketball
Wednesday’s games: South Carolina (17-10, 8-7 SEC) 66, Mississippi State (16-11, 7-8 SEC) 56; No. 3 Auburn (25-3, 13-2 SEC) 77, Ole Miss (13-15, 4-11 SEC) 64; No. 6 Kentucky (23-5, 12-3 SEC) 71, LSU (19-9, 7-8 SEC) 66
Saturday’s games: FLORIDA (17-11, 7-8 SEC) at Georgia (6-22, 1-14 SEC); Vanderbilt (14-13, 6-9 SEC) at Mississippi State (16-11, 7-8 SEC); No. 6 Kentucky (23-5, 12-3 SEC) at No. 18 Arkansas (22-6, 11-4 SEC); Texas A&M (17-11, 6-9 SEC) at Ole Miss (13-15, 4-11 SEC); No. 3 Auburn (25-3, 13-2 SEC) at Tennessee (20-7, 11-4 SEC); South Carolina (17-10, 8-7 SEC) at No. 24 Alabama (18-10, 8-7 SEC); Missouri (10-18, 4-11 SEC) at LSU (19-9, 7-8 SEC)
GATORS GO FOR WIN NO. 21 TONIGHT AT VANDERBILT
Can the Gators avoid a late-season swoon? In 2016, the last year Florida won 20 games in a season, the Gators lost four of their final seven games including a shocking first round NCAA Tournament loss to Albany to finish unranked at 22-9. The 2009 Gators went 2-6 in their final eight games, going from No. 9 nationally to a final ranking of No. 21 with a second round exit in the NCAA Tournament.
It has been a recurring theme for Florida women’s basketball whenever the Gators get to the end of February, something Kelly Rae Finley hopes to avoid. The Gators (20-7, 10-4 SEC) go to Vanderbilt tonight (6:30 p.m., SEC Network) hoping to bounce back from a 66-61 loss to now No. 8 LSU on Sunday. There is plenty at stake as the Gators who can clinch a double bye for the SEC Tournament by closing out the season with wins over Vandy and Missouri (Sunday). Winning the next two would also give the Gators their first 12-win SEC record in school history.
Thursday’s games: NO. 15 FLORIDA (20-7, 10-4 SEC) at Vanderbilt (12-16, 3-11 SEC); Mississippi State (15-11, 6-8 SEC) at No. 16 Tennessee (21-6, 10-4 SEC); Alabama (14-11, 5-9 SEC) at No. 8 LSU (23-4, 11-3 SEC); No. 25 Georgia (18-8, 7-7 SEC) at Arkansas (16-11, 6-8 SEC); Kentucky (13-11, 6-8 SEC) at Missouri (17-10, 6-8 SEC); Ole Miss (21-6, 9-5 SEC) at Auburn (10-15, 2-12 SEC); No. 1 South Carolina (25-1, 13-1 SEC) at Texas A&M (14-12, 4-10 SEC)
UF BASEBALL: SPROAT LEADS GATORS PAST NORTH FLORIDA, 3-1
Brandon Sproat, projected in the offseason to be a weekend starter, threw five strong innings Wednesday evening to lead the 15th-ranked Gators (3-2) to a 3-1 win over North Florida. Sproat gave up one run while allowing four hits and striking out eight. Blake Purnell went 1-2/3 innings (two hits, one strikeout) of relief before giving way to Ryan Slater (two hits, four strikeouts), who went the final 2-1/3 to pick up the save.
It wasn’t a great day at the plate for the Gators, who managed only six hits off five UNF pitchers. Tucker Talbott, who had four hits in his Gator debut Tuesday night, had a single and an RBI, while Colby Halter went 2-4 including a 2-run homer in the second inning that provided the winning margin.
Next up for the Gators is a three-game weekend set with Georgia State at the Florida Ballpark.
UF SOFTBALL: LUGO THROWS A NO-HITTER; GATORS NOW 12-0
Natalie Lugo threw a 5-inning no-hitter, walking three and striking out four as the 3rd-ranked Gators ran their record to 12-0 with an 8-0 run-rule win over North Florida at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. It was the second no-hitter of Lugo’s Florida career. She is 3-0 this season with a 0.00 ERA.
Freshman Reagan Walsh had two doubles and five RBI to lead the Florida’s 7-hit attack. Walsh now leads the team with 14 RBI. Kendra Falby had a hit and her 12th stolen base of the season. Cheyenne Lindsey had 13 stolen bases to lead the Gators last year and that was in 56 games.
The Gators will face DePaul Friday night in the UCF Knights Classic. UCF will face Oakland, James Madison and UCF in the three-day tournament.
SEC FOOTBALL
Auburn: Former Gator All-American Ike Hilliard has been hired as the wide receivers coach. Hilliard spent the last two seasons coaching the wide receivers for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Georgia: Former Rutgers DB coach Fran Brown has been hired at a salary of $750,000 per year. That’s $250,000 a year more than Georgia was paying Jahmile Addae, who left to coach the corners at Miami.
Kentucky: Now that Liam Coen has left to be the offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams, Mark Stoops is expected to hire New York Jets quarterbacks coach Rob Calabrese as the new OC.
LSU: The new defensive coordinator is Matt House, who spent the last three years coaching the linebackers for the Kansas City Chiefs. House was Kentucky’s defensive coordinator in 2017-18.
Mississippi State: The Bulldogs have added Western Michigan to their 2023 schedule.
Missouri: Safety Stacy Brown has been arrested on suspicion of possession and delivery of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a firearm. Brown played in nine games last season with one start.
Ole Miss: Former TCU linebacker Khari Coleman is transferring to Ole Miss. In two years at TCU, Coleman had 52 tackles including 14.5 for loss and 4.5 sacks.
Texas A&M: The Aggies have added Louie Addazio, son of O-line coach Steve Addazio, to its support staff.
YAHOO’S DAN WETZEL ON THE FUTURE OF THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF
Dan Wetzel, the final columnist for Yahoo Sports, writes that the “alliance” (Big Ten, Pac-12 and ACC) has shot itself in the foot by delaying expansion of the College Football Playoff until the current deal expires after the 2025 national championship game.
Writes Wetzel: “By walking away now, the Alliance increased the power of the SEC and its commissioner Greg Sankey.
“The SEC no longer has to work with all of the other leagues, but the other leagues almost certainly have to work with it. The conference is indispensable to a national playoff. It’s the only league to appear in all eight of the playoffs (and twice placed two teams in) and won five titles. Prior to the playoff, it won seven of the final eight BCS championships.
“Sankey may not hold all the cards, but he holds a great deal of them. He also appears to have willing allies in Notre Dame, the Big 12 and five smaller conferences.
“… Sankey repeatedly warned that there was no guarantee that the 12-team plan would still be on the table if expansion was delayed.”
What Wetzel is warning is that Sankey will essentially be able to write and play by his own set of rules in 2026. He does not need the Big Ten, Pac-12 and ACC, but they definitely need him.
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe had what has become a routine game for him Wednesday night when he went off for 17 points and 16 rebounds in the Wildcats 71-66 win over LSU. Because of both NCAA rules and immigration laws that limit what kind of monetary compensation foreign student-athletes (Tshiebwe is from Congo) can receive, he’s watched as his teammates pick up big NIL bucks. That’s all about to change because they’ve found ways to deal with the rules to benefit Tshiebewe. Within hours after finding the way to help Tshiebwe, he had more than 200 inquiries about NIL deals. He will be driving a Porsche within a matter of days and he’s going to be able to bring his mother to the US to watch him play in the NCAA Tournament. There are so many potential deals on the table that Tshiebwe may decide it’s more lucrative to play college basketball next year than play in the NBA.
Welcome to the world of NIL. Say good-bye to the days when Emmitt Smith used to work at Joe’s Deli for spending cash in the summers.
While we’ve always suspected that Kentucky and some of college sports’ blueblood programs have been able to compensate players with under the table deals, it’s all out in the open now and essentially, everything that was once illegal is now perfectly fine.
This should be a shot across the bow of the University of Florida. Either bring in some real pros who can land lucrative NIL deals or forever face the fact that the Gators are going to be middle of the pack in the revenue and other sports. Every day there is a delay is a day that the Gators are going to lose another stud athlete to schools that are light years ahead of UF when it comes to NIL.
A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning:
25 YEARS OF FLORIDA BASKETBALL RECRUITING
In reviewing 25 years of Florida basketball recruiting two things are obvious: (1) Florida has only rarely outrecruited Kentucky in the SEC and (2) transfers have been an active part of roster management as 37 players have transferred out and 19 have transferred in.
The Gators have landed eight top ten recruits in the last 25 years and five from the top 20. Brad Beal (No. 4 in 2011), Chris Walker (No. 7 in 2013) and Scottie Lewis (No. 9 in 2019) are the only three top ten recruits since 2011.
Vernon Macklin transferred in from Georgetown in 2009 and ever since, the Gators have relied on transfers to supplement their recruiting. At the same time, since Florida’s second national championship (2007), 26 players have transferred out. Now that there is essentially free agency and players can transfer freely without having to sit out, the transfer portal is going to be a bigger part of the recruiting landscape for the Gators and everyone else in the SEC. Currently, there are 56 transfers playing in the SEC. Kentucky, which routinely lands a top three recruiting class, has six transfers on its roster, five who play and one taking an injury redshirt.
Florida recruiting since 1998
1998: 13. Mike Miller; 20. Teddy Dupay; 53. LaDarius Halton; 80. Udonis Haslem
1999: 1. Donnell Harvey; 7. Brett Nelson; 38. Matt Bonner; Justin Hamilton
2000: 25. Orien Green (transferred); Bonell Colas
2001: 6. Kwame Brown (NBA); 10. David Lee; 22. James White (transferred); Adrian Moss
2002: 16. Anthony Roberson; 40. Matt Walsh; 53. Mario Boggan (transferred); Christian Drejer; Rashid Al-Kaleem (transferred)
2003: 43. Chris Richard; 46. Mohamed Abukar (transferred); 90. Ryan Appleby (transferred); 107. Lee Humphrey
2004: 25. Corey Brewer; 47. Al Horford; 72. Joakim Noah; 105. Taurean Green
2005: 63. Derwin Kitchens (non-qualifer); 125. Jimmie Sutton (transferred); 134. Walter Hodge; 230. David Huertas (transferred)
2006: 60. Marreese Speights; 81. Dan Werner; 84. Doneal Mack (non-qualifier); 87. Jon Mitchell (transferred); 175. Brandon Powell (transferred)
2007: 11. Nick Calathes; 33. Jai Lucas (transferred); 39. Chandler Parsons Parsons; 53. Alex Tyus; 133. Adam Allen
2008: 26. Eloy Vargas (transferred); 35. Kenny Kadji (transferred); 61. Ray Shipman (transferred); 76. Allan Chaney (transferred); 79. Erving Walker; Nimrod Tishman; Vernon Macklin (transferred from Georgetown)
2009: 9. Kenny Boynton
2010: 19. Patric Young; 42. Erik Murphy; 52. Casey Prather; 88. Cody Larson (transferred); 227. Will Yeguette; 605. Scottie Wilbekin; Mike Rosario (transferred from Rutgers)
2011: 4. Bradley Beal; 188. Walter Pitchford (transferred)
2012: 54. Braxton Ogbueze (transferred); 86. Michael Frazier III; 147. DeVon Walker (transferred); 203. Dillon Graham (transferred); Damontre Harris (transferred from South Carolina/transferred out); Dorian Finney-Smith (transferred from Virginia Tech)
2013: 7. Chris Walker; 11. Kasey Hill; Eli Carter (transferred from Rutgers/transferred out)
2014: 18. Devin Robinson; 31. Brandone Francis-Ramirez (transferred); 49. Chris Chiozza; John Egbunu (transferred from South Florida); Jon Horford (transferred from Michigan)
2015: 64. Kevaughn Allen; 82. Kevarrius Hayes; 92. Keith Stone (transferred); Justin Leon (juco); Alex Murphy (transferred from Duke/transferred out)
2016: 140. Eric Hester (transferred); 248. Gorjok Gak (transferred); 290. Dontay Bassett (transferred); Canyon Barry (transferred from College of Charleston)
2017: 85. Chase Johnson (transferred); 92. DeAundrae Ballard (transferred); 97. Isaiah Stokes (transferred); 260. Mike Okauru (transferred); Egor Koulechov (transferred from Rice); Jalen Hudson (transferred from Virginia Tech)
2018: 25. Andrew Nembhard (transferred); 69. Keyontae Johnson; 77. Noah Locke (transferred); Tyree Appleby (transferred from Cleveland State; Kerry Blackshear Jr. (transferred from Virginia Tech); Anthony Duruji (transferred from Louisiana Tech)2019: 9. Scottie Lewis; 22. Tre Mann; 46. Omar Payne (transferred); 303. Jason Jitoboh; 411. Ques Glover (transferred)
2020: 42. Samson Ruzhentsev; 149. Niels Lane; Osayi Osifo (juco; transferred out); Colin Castleton (former No. 100, transferred from Michigan)
2021: 42. Kowacie Reeves; 164. Elijah Mitchell; Tuongthach Gatkek (juco); CJ Felder (transferred from Boston College); Myreon Jones (transferred from Penn State); Phlandrous Fleming Jr. (transferred from Charleston Southern); Brandon McKissic (transferred from Kansas City)
2022: 28. Malik Reneau; 75. Jalen Reed; 186. Denzel Aberdeen
SEC Basketball
Wednesday’s games: South Carolina (17-10, 8-7 SEC) 66, Mississippi State (16-11, 7-8 SEC) 56; No. 3 Auburn (25-3, 13-2 SEC) 77, Ole Miss (13-15, 4-11 SEC) 64; No. 6 Kentucky (23-5, 12-3 SEC) 71, LSU (19-9, 7-8 SEC) 66
Saturday’s games: FLORIDA (17-11, 7-8 SEC) at Georgia (6-22, 1-14 SEC); Vanderbilt (14-13, 6-9 SEC) at Mississippi State (16-11, 7-8 SEC); No. 6 Kentucky (23-5, 12-3 SEC) at No. 18 Arkansas (22-6, 11-4 SEC); Texas A&M (17-11, 6-9 SEC) at Ole Miss (13-15, 4-11 SEC); No. 3 Auburn (25-3, 13-2 SEC) at Tennessee (20-7, 11-4 SEC); South Carolina (17-10, 8-7 SEC) at No. 24 Alabama (18-10, 8-7 SEC); Missouri (10-18, 4-11 SEC) at LSU (19-9, 7-8 SEC)
GATORS GO FOR WIN NO. 21 TONIGHT AT VANDERBILT
Can the Gators avoid a late-season swoon? In 2016, the last year Florida won 20 games in a season, the Gators lost four of their final seven games including a shocking first round NCAA Tournament loss to Albany to finish unranked at 22-9. The 2009 Gators went 2-6 in their final eight games, going from No. 9 nationally to a final ranking of No. 21 with a second round exit in the NCAA Tournament.
It has been a recurring theme for Florida women’s basketball whenever the Gators get to the end of February, something Kelly Rae Finley hopes to avoid. The Gators (20-7, 10-4 SEC) go to Vanderbilt tonight (6:30 p.m., SEC Network) hoping to bounce back from a 66-61 loss to now No. 8 LSU on Sunday. There is plenty at stake as the Gators who can clinch a double bye for the SEC Tournament by closing out the season with wins over Vandy and Missouri (Sunday). Winning the next two would also give the Gators their first 12-win SEC record in school history.
Thursday’s games: NO. 15 FLORIDA (20-7, 10-4 SEC) at Vanderbilt (12-16, 3-11 SEC); Mississippi State (15-11, 6-8 SEC) at No. 16 Tennessee (21-6, 10-4 SEC); Alabama (14-11, 5-9 SEC) at No. 8 LSU (23-4, 11-3 SEC); No. 25 Georgia (18-8, 7-7 SEC) at Arkansas (16-11, 6-8 SEC); Kentucky (13-11, 6-8 SEC) at Missouri (17-10, 6-8 SEC); Ole Miss (21-6, 9-5 SEC) at Auburn (10-15, 2-12 SEC); No. 1 South Carolina (25-1, 13-1 SEC) at Texas A&M (14-12, 4-10 SEC)
UF BASEBALL: SPROAT LEADS GATORS PAST NORTH FLORIDA, 3-1
Brandon Sproat, projected in the offseason to be a weekend starter, threw five strong innings Wednesday evening to lead the 15th-ranked Gators (3-2) to a 3-1 win over North Florida. Sproat gave up one run while allowing four hits and striking out eight. Blake Purnell went 1-2/3 innings (two hits, one strikeout) of relief before giving way to Ryan Slater (two hits, four strikeouts), who went the final 2-1/3 to pick up the save.
It wasn’t a great day at the plate for the Gators, who managed only six hits off five UNF pitchers. Tucker Talbott, who had four hits in his Gator debut Tuesday night, had a single and an RBI, while Colby Halter went 2-4 including a 2-run homer in the second inning that provided the winning margin.
Next up for the Gators is a three-game weekend set with Georgia State at the Florida Ballpark.
UF SOFTBALL: LUGO THROWS A NO-HITTER; GATORS NOW 12-0
Natalie Lugo threw a 5-inning no-hitter, walking three and striking out four as the 3rd-ranked Gators ran their record to 12-0 with an 8-0 run-rule win over North Florida at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. It was the second no-hitter of Lugo’s Florida career. She is 3-0 this season with a 0.00 ERA.
Freshman Reagan Walsh had two doubles and five RBI to lead the Florida’s 7-hit attack. Walsh now leads the team with 14 RBI. Kendra Falby had a hit and her 12th stolen base of the season. Cheyenne Lindsey had 13 stolen bases to lead the Gators last year and that was in 56 games.
The Gators will face DePaul Friday night in the UCF Knights Classic. UCF will face Oakland, James Madison and UCF in the three-day tournament.
SEC FOOTBALL
Auburn: Former Gator All-American Ike Hilliard has been hired as the wide receivers coach. Hilliard spent the last two seasons coaching the wide receivers for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Georgia: Former Rutgers DB coach Fran Brown has been hired at a salary of $750,000 per year. That’s $250,000 a year more than Georgia was paying Jahmile Addae, who left to coach the corners at Miami.
Kentucky: Now that Liam Coen has left to be the offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams, Mark Stoops is expected to hire New York Jets quarterbacks coach Rob Calabrese as the new OC.
LSU: The new defensive coordinator is Matt House, who spent the last three years coaching the linebackers for the Kansas City Chiefs. House was Kentucky’s defensive coordinator in 2017-18.
Mississippi State: The Bulldogs have added Western Michigan to their 2023 schedule.
Missouri: Safety Stacy Brown has been arrested on suspicion of possession and delivery of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a firearm. Brown played in nine games last season with one start.
Ole Miss: Former TCU linebacker Khari Coleman is transferring to Ole Miss. In two years at TCU, Coleman had 52 tackles including 14.5 for loss and 4.5 sacks.
Texas A&M: The Aggies have added Louie Addazio, son of O-line coach Steve Addazio, to its support staff.
YAHOO’S DAN WETZEL ON THE FUTURE OF THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF
Dan Wetzel, the final columnist for Yahoo Sports, writes that the “alliance” (Big Ten, Pac-12 and ACC) has shot itself in the foot by delaying expansion of the College Football Playoff until the current deal expires after the 2025 national championship game.
Writes Wetzel: “By walking away now, the Alliance increased the power of the SEC and its commissioner Greg Sankey.
“The SEC no longer has to work with all of the other leagues, but the other leagues almost certainly have to work with it. The conference is indispensable to a national playoff. It’s the only league to appear in all eight of the playoffs (and twice placed two teams in) and won five titles. Prior to the playoff, it won seven of the final eight BCS championships.
“Sankey may not hold all the cards, but he holds a great deal of them. He also appears to have willing allies in Notre Dame, the Big 12 and five smaller conferences.
“… Sankey repeatedly warned that there was no guarantee that the 12-team plan would still be on the table if expansion was delayed.”
What Wetzel is warning is that Sankey will essentially be able to write and play by his own set of rules in 2026. He does not need the Big Ten, Pac-12 and ACC, but they definitely need him.
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe had what has become a routine game for him Wednesday night when he went off for 17 points and 16 rebounds in the Wildcats 71-66 win over LSU. Because of both NCAA rules and immigration laws that limit what kind of monetary compensation foreign student-athletes (Tshiebwe is from Congo) can receive, he’s watched as his teammates pick up big NIL bucks. That’s all about to change because they’ve found ways to deal with the rules to benefit Tshiebewe. Within hours after finding the way to help Tshiebwe, he had more than 200 inquiries about NIL deals. He will be driving a Porsche within a matter of days and he’s going to be able to bring his mother to the US to watch him play in the NCAA Tournament. There are so many potential deals on the table that Tshiebwe may decide it’s more lucrative to play college basketball next year than play in the NBA.
Welcome to the world of NIL. Say good-bye to the days when Emmitt Smith used to work at Joe’s Deli for spending cash in the summers.
While we’ve always suspected that Kentucky and some of college sports’ blueblood programs have been able to compensate players with under the table deals, it’s all out in the open now and essentially, everything that was once illegal is now perfectly fine.
This should be a shot across the bow of the University of Florida. Either bring in some real pros who can land lucrative NIL deals or forever face the fact that the Gators are going to be middle of the pack in the revenue and other sports. Every day there is a delay is a day that the Gators are going to lose another stud athlete to schools that are light years ahead of UF when it comes to NIL.
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