As the sun broke over the nearby Swamp, the sounds of cleats, whistles, and full-throttle energy signaled one clear message: The Sumrall Era is on.

Todd Golden can get his 100th win as Florida's coach tonight (Photo by Chris Spears) Fifth-ranked Florida (23-6, 14-2 SEC) earned a slice of the Southeastern Conference pie back on Saturday when the Gators treated the 11,076 jammed into the O-Dome to a barbecue of championship proportions. Tonight they have a chance to put an exclamation point on that Southeastern Conference championship in their final home game of the season against Mississippi State (8 p.m., SEC Network).  

Right now, he’s pitching a perfect game. The Gators just might have found themselves a football coach with the right mix of edge, authenticity and energy. 

Another thunder dunk from Isaiah Brown (Photo by Chris Spears) “The gem cannot be polished without friction nor man without trials.” – Confucius   There is nothing beautiful about an uncut, unpolished diamond, yet in the hands of a master what looks like an ugly rock can be transformed into a thing of beauty worth thousands of dollars. Back on December 10 when the Gators were 5-4, having just lost to UConn 77-73 at Madison Square Garden, Florida was that uncut, unpolished sto

By halftime it was a 19-point blowout, and by then, the only drama left was what topping to add to the pig roast. Eleven thousand fans came to Exactech Arena expecting a competitive basketball game and wound up at a Gator Gala — complete with Ollie Time, as 7-foot-9 Oliver Rioux got his celebratory minutes.

Tommy Haugh cuts down the SEC championship net (Photo by Bobby D'Alessio) The Florida Gators have successfully created a dilemma of major proportions for the people on the selection committee who will determine the top four seeds for the NCAA Tournament in two weeks. Do they go strictly by record? It seems almost inevitable that Duke, Michigan, Arizona and UConn will finish with fewer losses than the Gators, who currently stand 23-6, and head-to-head, Duke, Arizona and UConn

Let’s not forget — this outfit started 5–4. Lost a few heartbreakers, heard the murmurs and now they’re top-four in everything that matters. That’s what we call responding to the critics — or as Billy Donovan used to say, “growing up right on time.”

For Florida, it was not necessarily a question of winning. Arizona State was the highest ranked of the three teams at 32nd in the nation. It was more of a competition against the scoreboard and getting better heading into the postseason.

Boogie Fland (0) has become one of the best perimeter defenders in the nation (Photo by Chris Spears) The last team that came to the O-Dome hoping to turn a game with the Florida Gators into a track meet was Alabama back on February 1. Bama did what Bama does that game, which is to bomb away from 3-point range and try to beat the Gators down the court for layups. Nice strategy except it didn’t work because Florida destroyed the Crimson Tide in the paint, 72-26, and sent them

Alex Condon dunks on Alabama (UAA Photo) Give Chris Beard and Sean Miller credit. Faced with a Florida (22-6, 13-2 SEC) basketball team whose momentum is snowballing, the Ole Miss (Beard) and Texas (Miller) coaches have reverted to the Al McGuire cut the head off the snake defensive philosophy. Determined to prevent Rueben Chinyelu from dominating them on the inside, they have successfully neutralized Florida’s big guy, who came into the Ole Miss game as the nation’s leading

The Gators were going to be playing late into the night starting at 10:30 eastern against the squad from East Texas A&M.

Alex Condon continues to look like a man who’s discovering for himself just how good he can be. The Aussie freshman poured in 23 points on 10-for-12 shooting, swatting four shots and commandeering the paint like he’s been doing this for years.