By Franz Beard
A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning:
WILL THE GATORS REMAIN ON THE BUBBLE OR WILL THE BUBBLE BURST TODAY?
Amid all the speculation about Florida’s post season chances, one thing is for certain: If the Gators (19-12) beat Texas A&M (20-11) today in the SEC Tournament in Tampa’s Amalie Arena (12 noon, SEC Network), they will still be on bubble watch for the NCAA Tournament. Lose, however, and it’s a no-brainer – the NIT will be calling.
One reason the Gators are on the bubble is because they lost to the Aggies, 56-55, in College Station back on February 15. At that time, the Aggies had lost eight straight SEC games, but they finished strong with five wins in their last six. The Gators scored only 20 first half points in that one, hitting a miserable 2-15 from the 3-point line. Florida trailed by 12 points in the second half, but the Gators rallied to take a 4-point lead on a 3-pointer by Phlandrous Fleming Jr. with 1:44 to go. That was the last time the Gators scored.
The Aggies were 13-4 at home during the regular season, but 5-5 in true road games and 2-2 on a neutral floor. The Gators were 12-5 at home, 4-6 on the road and 3-1 on a neutral court.
Critical for the Gators will be containing Quenton Jackson, a second team All-SEC selection who scored 16 points in the first game. Jackson is the team’s leading scorer (14.5 per game). Jackson is adept at picking up fouls in bunches. He’s been to the line 147 times this season (made 125). The Gators also have to keep Duke transfer Henry Coleman III (10.7 points, 6.2 rebounds) off the offensive glass.
Florida is coming off one of its worst shooting games of the season. In losing to Kentucky in the regular season finale, Florida’s inability to hit from the perimeter (3-20 on 3-pointers) more than offset the damage Colin Castleton did on the inside (23 points, 11 rebounds). For Florida to win this game, Castleton has to be a consistent scorer in the paint and has to stay out of foul trouble plus Tyree Appleby has to rebound from a 6-point, 0-assist and 4-turnover game against Kentucky. Appleby only scored three points and was 1-6 from the 3-point line in the first meeting with the Aggies.
SEC Basketball
Tuesday’s scores: Missouri (12-20) 72, Ole Miss (13-19) 60; Vanderbilt (16-15) 86, Georgia (6-26) 51
Wednesday’s games: FLORIDA (19-12) vs. Texas A&M (20-11); Missouri (12-20) vs. LSU (21-10); Mississippi State (17-14) vs. South Carolina (18-12); Vanderbilt (16-15 vs. Alabama (19-12)
BRACKET WATCHING
Here are some games that could affect the Florida Gators on Selection Sunday:
Boston College 82, Wake Forest 77, OT: Wake Forest was on Joe Lunardi’s last automatic qualifier line and they lost to a bad BC team in overtime in the ACC Tournament. The Deacons are on Jerry Palm’s first four out. Wake Forest is 23-9 but they only played five Quad 1 games (won one).
Butler 89, Xavier 82, OT: Xavier (18-13) was on Lunardi’s last four in line but a No. 9 on Palm’s bracket. Butler is 14-18 and 1-13 against Quad 1 teams. Xavier should get bounced.
Michigan (17-14) vs. Indiana (18-12): Lunardi has Michigan on his last four auto qualifier line and Indiana on his first four out line. Michigan won the head-to-head handily but that was six weeks ago. Neither team is very good but at least one of them will go to the NIT.
Wyoming (24-7) vs. UNLV (18-13): UNLV beat the Cowboys the last time they played. The MWC Tournament is at the Thomas and Mack Tournament on the UNLV campus. Lunardi has Wyoming on his last four in line while Palm has the Cowboys as a nine seed.
Watch what these teams do:
SMU (22-7): Lunardi and Palm both have SMU on their last four in lines. Among the seven losses are a bad Missouri team and an even worse Loyola Marymount.
Rutgers (18-12): Another team on both last four in lines. NCAA Net Ranking of 76.
Bad juju:
Rider 77, Iona 71: Iona (25-7) won the regular season MAAC title but lost to a 14-18 Rider team. This is typically a 1-bid league. Iona owns a win over Alabama when the Tide was ranked No. 10. Will the league get two bids, which will take a bid away from a team from a power conference? Or, will the NCAA see this as a chance to stick it to Pitino? After having the 2013 national championship at Louisville vacated and being implicated in the college basketball corruption scandal, Pitino is viewed as a pariah by the NCAA.
SPRING BREAK IS ALMOST OVER … SPRING FOOTBALL STARTS NEXT WEEK
Spring break is almost over and that means spring football practice is nearly upon us. Here are five things I’m going to be looking for as Billy Napier conducts his first spring practice as Florida’s head coach:
1. Who emerges at quarterback?: Emory Jones has not transferred out yet despite all indications that he will. Anthony Richardson is healthy but for how long? He seems to get injured a lot. We’ve never seen Carlos Del-Rio Wilson or Jalen Kitna throw. They’ve all but been written off by most folks. Can one or both of them make the quarterback battle interesting? Finally, there is Ohio State transfer Jack Miller III. He has the big arm, the great pedigree and he certainly didn’t come to the University of Florida to sit.
2. A 3-headed monster at running back?: Billy Napier spent four seasons at Louisiana rotating three running backs in and out with great success. We don’t know if Nay’Quan Wright will be medically cleared (broke his leg against FSU) for spring practice. Let’s assume he won’t be. That means the three running backs who will get the ball will be former 5-stars Lorenzo Lingard and Demarkcus Bowman and Louisiana transfer Montrell Johnson, who ran for 838 yards and 12 touchdowns as a true freshman last year in that 3-back rotation Napier used. Lingard had an absolutely brilliant spring last year but didn’t see the ball in the fall. Bowman was one of the best high school backs in the country but after transferring from Clemson, he, too, rarely saw the ball. Napier knows what he’s getting in Johnson so expect him to give plenty of work to Lingard and Bowman, both of whom have the breakaway speed we haven’t seen from a UF running back in years.
3. Well, we don’t have John Hevesy to kick around anymore, do we?: For four years, we heard a constant barrage about how Hevesy couldn’t recruit and darn sure couldn’t coach the offensive line. He’s been replaced by not one, but two assistants – Rob Sale and Darnell Stapleton. They inherit five O-linemen who have starting experience (Richard Gouraige, Ethan White, Kingsley Eguakun, Josh Braun and Michael Tarquin). Those five will be joined by Louisiana transfers O’Cyrus Torrence (6-5, 335, twice All-Sun Belt) and monstrous Kamryn Waites (6-8, 358). I keep hearing that the UF O-line will be the single most improved position on the team this year, particularly in the area of toughness. I keep hearing the days of a finesse O-line are in the rearview.
4. Are you as concerned as I am about the defensive line?: The Gators gave up 163.9 yards per game on the ground last year, 4.46 per carry. The Gators were lit up by LSU (321 yards, 7.13 per carry), South Carolina (284, 6.76) and UCF (288, 5.76). Granted the Gators didn’t have great inside linebackers and that would have certainly helped, but the Gators got pushed around way too often and that was with experienced guys like Zachary Carter, Antonio Valentino, Daquan Newkirk and Tyrone Truesdell at the tackles.
5. How much improvement will we see in the secondary?: The dropoff from 2018-19 to 2020-21 was significant. The Gators intercepted 30 passes (14 in 2018, 16 in 2019) the first two years of the Dan Mullen era, just 18 combined in the last two. We just didn’t see the same aggressiveness these last two years. I think much of that has to do with coaching, an area that should be vastly improved with Corey Raymond (Mr. DBU from LSU) handling the corners and co-defensive coordinator Patrick Toney (came here from Louisiana) the safeties. Raymond’s LSU corners pretty much played on an island. Toney’s safeties at Louisiana were well known for knocking people into next week. I’ve been told to keep a close eye on Trey Dean III. He’s exerted himself as a leader and his hard work in the weight room and in mat drills has everyone impressed.
What continues to resonate is how the coaching staff has quickly healed the wounds and any leftover apathy from last season. Napier and all his coaches demand discipline and they won’t tolerate slackers. We’ve come to expect attrition every spring. That’s just the way it is nearly everywhere you go in college football, but especially since the advent of the transfer portal and NCAA rules that allow immediate eligibility for first time transfers. I’ll be very interested to see what kind of attrition we have at the end of spring practice. The NCAA transfer portal is expected to be overflowing but that’s a two-way street. Every player who transfers out opens the door for someone to transfer in.
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: I’ve been biting my tongue all week. I watched the Coach K canonization show after North Carolina poleaxed Duke last Saturday night in Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was supposed to be the going away night to end all going away nights except for one teensy little thing. The Dookies got their collective butts handed to them on a platter and Coach K, the winningest college basketball coach of all time, was outcoached by a novice. Hubert Davis X’d and O’d circles around Coach K that night. Hubert must not have gotten the memo that he was supposed to do his dead skunk in the middle of the road routine so Coach K wouldn’t have to look like he hadn’t pooped in a month as he sat there hearing his name spoken in worshipful tones after the game.
I respect Coach K for all the winning he’s done. You don’t last 42 years in the same place and hoist the big trophy at the end of the year five times if you don’t know how to win. Don’t like him personally, however, nor do I agree that he’s this bastion of integrity. I’ve been to too many AAU events and talked to too many 5-star recruits through the years to believe that Coach K hasn’t mastered the art of bending a few rules along the way (Chris Duhon and Zion Williamson come to mind immediately).
It turns out that I’m not the only one who thought the postgame lovefest after the UNC-inflicted beatdown was all but unbearable. On the Packer and Durham Show on the ACC Network, Tyler Hansbrough offered this goodie:
“The only thing I can really compare it to – and I know I’ll take some heat for this – is Larry David, the Larry David show [“Curb Your Enthusiasm”]. This season they have a guy that goes to his funeral while he’s still alive so people can tell him how good he is. I thought it was one of those situations. I thought it was funny.”
I’m sure Dick Vitale almost went into apoplexy when he heard that.
A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning:
WILL THE GATORS REMAIN ON THE BUBBLE OR WILL THE BUBBLE BURST TODAY?
Amid all the speculation about Florida’s post season chances, one thing is for certain: If the Gators (19-12) beat Texas A&M (20-11) today in the SEC Tournament in Tampa’s Amalie Arena (12 noon, SEC Network), they will still be on bubble watch for the NCAA Tournament. Lose, however, and it’s a no-brainer – the NIT will be calling.
One reason the Gators are on the bubble is because they lost to the Aggies, 56-55, in College Station back on February 15. At that time, the Aggies had lost eight straight SEC games, but they finished strong with five wins in their last six. The Gators scored only 20 first half points in that one, hitting a miserable 2-15 from the 3-point line. Florida trailed by 12 points in the second half, but the Gators rallied to take a 4-point lead on a 3-pointer by Phlandrous Fleming Jr. with 1:44 to go. That was the last time the Gators scored.
The Aggies were 13-4 at home during the regular season, but 5-5 in true road games and 2-2 on a neutral floor. The Gators were 12-5 at home, 4-6 on the road and 3-1 on a neutral court.
Critical for the Gators will be containing Quenton Jackson, a second team All-SEC selection who scored 16 points in the first game. Jackson is the team’s leading scorer (14.5 per game). Jackson is adept at picking up fouls in bunches. He’s been to the line 147 times this season (made 125). The Gators also have to keep Duke transfer Henry Coleman III (10.7 points, 6.2 rebounds) off the offensive glass.
Florida is coming off one of its worst shooting games of the season. In losing to Kentucky in the regular season finale, Florida’s inability to hit from the perimeter (3-20 on 3-pointers) more than offset the damage Colin Castleton did on the inside (23 points, 11 rebounds). For Florida to win this game, Castleton has to be a consistent scorer in the paint and has to stay out of foul trouble plus Tyree Appleby has to rebound from a 6-point, 0-assist and 4-turnover game against Kentucky. Appleby only scored three points and was 1-6 from the 3-point line in the first meeting with the Aggies.
SEC Basketball
Tuesday’s scores: Missouri (12-20) 72, Ole Miss (13-19) 60; Vanderbilt (16-15) 86, Georgia (6-26) 51
Wednesday’s games: FLORIDA (19-12) vs. Texas A&M (20-11); Missouri (12-20) vs. LSU (21-10); Mississippi State (17-14) vs. South Carolina (18-12); Vanderbilt (16-15 vs. Alabama (19-12)
BRACKET WATCHING
Here are some games that could affect the Florida Gators on Selection Sunday:
Boston College 82, Wake Forest 77, OT: Wake Forest was on Joe Lunardi’s last automatic qualifier line and they lost to a bad BC team in overtime in the ACC Tournament. The Deacons are on Jerry Palm’s first four out. Wake Forest is 23-9 but they only played five Quad 1 games (won one).
Butler 89, Xavier 82, OT: Xavier (18-13) was on Lunardi’s last four in line but a No. 9 on Palm’s bracket. Butler is 14-18 and 1-13 against Quad 1 teams. Xavier should get bounced.
Michigan (17-14) vs. Indiana (18-12): Lunardi has Michigan on his last four auto qualifier line and Indiana on his first four out line. Michigan won the head-to-head handily but that was six weeks ago. Neither team is very good but at least one of them will go to the NIT.
Wyoming (24-7) vs. UNLV (18-13): UNLV beat the Cowboys the last time they played. The MWC Tournament is at the Thomas and Mack Tournament on the UNLV campus. Lunardi has Wyoming on his last four in line while Palm has the Cowboys as a nine seed.
Watch what these teams do:
SMU (22-7): Lunardi and Palm both have SMU on their last four in lines. Among the seven losses are a bad Missouri team and an even worse Loyola Marymount.
Rutgers (18-12): Another team on both last four in lines. NCAA Net Ranking of 76.
Bad juju:
Rider 77, Iona 71: Iona (25-7) won the regular season MAAC title but lost to a 14-18 Rider team. This is typically a 1-bid league. Iona owns a win over Alabama when the Tide was ranked No. 10. Will the league get two bids, which will take a bid away from a team from a power conference? Or, will the NCAA see this as a chance to stick it to Pitino? After having the 2013 national championship at Louisville vacated and being implicated in the college basketball corruption scandal, Pitino is viewed as a pariah by the NCAA.
SPRING BREAK IS ALMOST OVER … SPRING FOOTBALL STARTS NEXT WEEK
Spring break is almost over and that means spring football practice is nearly upon us. Here are five things I’m going to be looking for as Billy Napier conducts his first spring practice as Florida’s head coach:
1. Who emerges at quarterback?: Emory Jones has not transferred out yet despite all indications that he will. Anthony Richardson is healthy but for how long? He seems to get injured a lot. We’ve never seen Carlos Del-Rio Wilson or Jalen Kitna throw. They’ve all but been written off by most folks. Can one or both of them make the quarterback battle interesting? Finally, there is Ohio State transfer Jack Miller III. He has the big arm, the great pedigree and he certainly didn’t come to the University of Florida to sit.
2. A 3-headed monster at running back?: Billy Napier spent four seasons at Louisiana rotating three running backs in and out with great success. We don’t know if Nay’Quan Wright will be medically cleared (broke his leg against FSU) for spring practice. Let’s assume he won’t be. That means the three running backs who will get the ball will be former 5-stars Lorenzo Lingard and Demarkcus Bowman and Louisiana transfer Montrell Johnson, who ran for 838 yards and 12 touchdowns as a true freshman last year in that 3-back rotation Napier used. Lingard had an absolutely brilliant spring last year but didn’t see the ball in the fall. Bowman was one of the best high school backs in the country but after transferring from Clemson, he, too, rarely saw the ball. Napier knows what he’s getting in Johnson so expect him to give plenty of work to Lingard and Bowman, both of whom have the breakaway speed we haven’t seen from a UF running back in years.
3. Well, we don’t have John Hevesy to kick around anymore, do we?: For four years, we heard a constant barrage about how Hevesy couldn’t recruit and darn sure couldn’t coach the offensive line. He’s been replaced by not one, but two assistants – Rob Sale and Darnell Stapleton. They inherit five O-linemen who have starting experience (Richard Gouraige, Ethan White, Kingsley Eguakun, Josh Braun and Michael Tarquin). Those five will be joined by Louisiana transfers O’Cyrus Torrence (6-5, 335, twice All-Sun Belt) and monstrous Kamryn Waites (6-8, 358). I keep hearing that the UF O-line will be the single most improved position on the team this year, particularly in the area of toughness. I keep hearing the days of a finesse O-line are in the rearview.
4. Are you as concerned as I am about the defensive line?: The Gators gave up 163.9 yards per game on the ground last year, 4.46 per carry. The Gators were lit up by LSU (321 yards, 7.13 per carry), South Carolina (284, 6.76) and UCF (288, 5.76). Granted the Gators didn’t have great inside linebackers and that would have certainly helped, but the Gators got pushed around way too often and that was with experienced guys like Zachary Carter, Antonio Valentino, Daquan Newkirk and Tyrone Truesdell at the tackles.
5. How much improvement will we see in the secondary?: The dropoff from 2018-19 to 2020-21 was significant. The Gators intercepted 30 passes (14 in 2018, 16 in 2019) the first two years of the Dan Mullen era, just 18 combined in the last two. We just didn’t see the same aggressiveness these last two years. I think much of that has to do with coaching, an area that should be vastly improved with Corey Raymond (Mr. DBU from LSU) handling the corners and co-defensive coordinator Patrick Toney (came here from Louisiana) the safeties. Raymond’s LSU corners pretty much played on an island. Toney’s safeties at Louisiana were well known for knocking people into next week. I’ve been told to keep a close eye on Trey Dean III. He’s exerted himself as a leader and his hard work in the weight room and in mat drills has everyone impressed.
What continues to resonate is how the coaching staff has quickly healed the wounds and any leftover apathy from last season. Napier and all his coaches demand discipline and they won’t tolerate slackers. We’ve come to expect attrition every spring. That’s just the way it is nearly everywhere you go in college football, but especially since the advent of the transfer portal and NCAA rules that allow immediate eligibility for first time transfers. I’ll be very interested to see what kind of attrition we have at the end of spring practice. The NCAA transfer portal is expected to be overflowing but that’s a two-way street. Every player who transfers out opens the door for someone to transfer in.
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: I’ve been biting my tongue all week. I watched the Coach K canonization show after North Carolina poleaxed Duke last Saturday night in Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was supposed to be the going away night to end all going away nights except for one teensy little thing. The Dookies got their collective butts handed to them on a platter and Coach K, the winningest college basketball coach of all time, was outcoached by a novice. Hubert Davis X’d and O’d circles around Coach K that night. Hubert must not have gotten the memo that he was supposed to do his dead skunk in the middle of the road routine so Coach K wouldn’t have to look like he hadn’t pooped in a month as he sat there hearing his name spoken in worshipful tones after the game.
I respect Coach K for all the winning he’s done. You don’t last 42 years in the same place and hoist the big trophy at the end of the year five times if you don’t know how to win. Don’t like him personally, however, nor do I agree that he’s this bastion of integrity. I’ve been to too many AAU events and talked to too many 5-star recruits through the years to believe that Coach K hasn’t mastered the art of bending a few rules along the way (Chris Duhon and Zion Williamson come to mind immediately).
It turns out that I’m not the only one who thought the postgame lovefest after the UNC-inflicted beatdown was all but unbearable. On the Packer and Durham Show on the ACC Network, Tyler Hansbrough offered this goodie:
“The only thing I can really compare it to – and I know I’ll take some heat for this – is Larry David, the Larry David show [“Curb Your Enthusiasm”]. This season they have a guy that goes to his funeral while he’s still alive so people can tell him how good he is. I thought it was one of those situations. I thought it was funny.”
I’m sure Dick Vitale almost went into apoplexy when he heard that.
