Florida vs Georgia Basketball: How to Watch

photo credit - Chris Spears

Winners of six of their last seven games, the Gators (17-7, 7-4 SEC) find themselves in the unexpected position of SEC contender with seven regular season games remaining. The Gators, who head to Athens Saturday (1 p.m., SEC Network) to face Georgia (14-10, 4-7 SEC), are just two games in the loss column behind SEC leader Alabama (17-7, 9-2 SEC) and one game in the loss column behind Tennessee (17-6, 8-3 SEC) and Auburn (21-5, 9-3 SEC).

Florida has played itself firmly into the NCAA Tournament conversation. CBS Sports bracketologist Jerry Palm has moved the Gators up to a No. 7 seed facing No. 10 Northwestern in a first round Midwest Region game in Pittsburgh. Joe Lunardi if ESPN, whose brackets haven’t been updated since Tuesday, has the Gators a No. 8 in the Midwest, facing No. 9 Washington State in Detroit in the first round. Both Palm and Lunardi have nine SEC teams making the NCAA Tournament: Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Auburn, Kentucky, Florida, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Ole Miss.

The remaining schedule seems conducive to an 11-win finish in the SEC. The Gators will be favored in four games: Georgia, Vanderbilt (7-17, 2-9 SEC) both home and away, and Missouri (8-16, 0-11 SEC). The remaining three games are against ranked teams, two on the road. Florida plays at 15th-ranked Alabama next Wednesday and at 11th-ranked South Carolina (21-5, 9-3 SEC) March 2. The Gators have a homer with Alabama on March 5. Combine a 4-0 record in the games in which the Gators are favored with stealing one of the three with Alabama and South Carolina and the Gators could find themselves in the running for a No. 5 seed.

Florida leads both the SEC in rebounding (44.38 per game). The Gators are second in both the SEC and nationally in offensive rebounds (16.17 per game). Point guard Zyon Pullin leads the SEC and ranks second nationally in assist-to-turnover margin (3.92-1) on 102 assists and just 26 turnovers.

UF BASEBALL: Gators open season with St. John’s

The 2nd-ranked Gators open their season tonight (6:30 p.m., SEC Network+) with St. John’s at Condron Family Ballpark. Sophomore lefty Cade Fisher will get the start and will be the scheduled Friday night starter this season. The Saturday and Sunday starters will be freshman Liam Peterson and Jac Caglianone.

Caglianone, a unanimous first team preseason All-American first baseman/starting pitcher, is ranked the No. 1 prospect in the country by Major League Baseball. Caglianone, who can hit 100 on the radar gun on the mound, hit an NCAA-leading 33 homers with 90 RBI last year. Closer Brandon Neely (13 saves in 2023) was a second team preseason All-American by most media outlets.

Expected Friday night starters: P Fisher; C Luke Heyman; 1B Caglianone; 2B Cade Kurland; SS Colby Shelton; 3B Dale Thomas; LF Tyler Shelnut; CF Jaylen Guy; RF Michael Robertson

UF SOFTBALL: Gators host Bubly Invitational

Seven games into the season it’s already evident that the kids Tim Walton parades into the pitching circle are special. Freshmen Ava Brown (3-0, 0.00 ERA), Keagan Rothrock (2-1, 0.84 ERA) and Olivia Miller (1-0, 1.11 ERA) have combined for a team ERA of 0.30 which ranks second in the SEC and sixth nationally. A year ago, the Florida pitching staff posted a 3.69 ERA, the worst by a UF pitching staff since Walton became the head coach.

The freshmen will have a chance to strut their stuff five times this weekend at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium as the 16th-ranked Gators (6-1) host Georgia Southern, Loyola and College of Charleston for the annual Bubly Invitational. The Gators take the field twice today, facing Georgia Southern at 3 p.m. and Loyola at 5:30. Saturday, it’s College of Charleston at 12:30 and Georgia Southern at 3 p.m., finishing up Sunday with College of Charleston at 11:30 a.m.

The Gators sport a .343 team batting average, led by All-American shortstop Skylar Wallace, hitting .545 with two homers, two doubles, a triple and nine RBI to go with 5-5 in stolen bases, and left fielder Kendra Falby, who is hitting .464 with two doubles, a triple, seven RBI and 2-3 in stolen bases.

UF WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Gators fall to Ole Miss in overtime

Ole Miss, which trailed for 38 of the 40 minutes Thursday night, forced overtime with a buzzer-beater jumper then outscored the Gators 13-3 in the extra period for a 77-67 win at the O-Dome.

The Gators (13-10, 4-7 SEC) got a 3-point play by Aliyah Matharu with 11 seconds to go for a 64-62 lead but the Rebels (17-7, 7-4 SEC) were able to send the game into overtime when Marquesha Davis scored at the buzzer.

Matharu led the Gators with 24 points while Faith Dut had 11 and Leilani Correa 10. The Gators will be on the road Sunday to face Kentucky in Lexington.

OTHER UF SPORTS THIS WEEKEND

The 6th-ranked Gator gymnastics team will be in a quad meet in St. Charles, Missouri (7 p.m., SEC Network) that features SEC opponent and 14th-ranked Missouri along with 27th-ranked Illinois and Lindenwood … Florida men’s golf hosts the 47th Annual Gator Invitational starting today. The teams will go 36 holes today and 18 on Saturday, weather permitting … The women’s golf team will be in Melbourne starting Sunday for the Moon Golf Invitational … Florida’s 12th-ranked lacrosse team (0-1) will be in Chapel Hill Saturday to face 6th-ranked North Carolina.

PEARSALL, EGUAKUN INVITED TO NFL COMBINE

Strong performances at the Senior Bowl by wide receiver Ricky Pearsall and center Kingsley Eguakun helped seal invitations to the NFL Scouting Combine which will be held in Indianapolis from February 26-March 4. Pearsall’s sharp route running elevated him into conversations that he might go as high as the late second or early third rounds. Eguakun, who spent most of 2023 injured, impressed scouts at the Senior Bowl with his ability to recognize defenses and get the proper line calls announced.

COLLEGE SPORTS NEWS

LSU running back Trey Holly, arrested in connection with a February 9 shooting, has been charged with attempted murder. As a freshman in 2023, Holly gained 110 yards on 11 carries in three games. Holly is a former 3-star prospect.

Iowa megastar Caitlyn Clark scored 49 points Thursday night against Michigan, along the way setting the all-time women’s basketball career scoring record. Clark has scored 3,569 points in her Iowa career.

Georgia State head football coach Shawn Elliott has resigned his position to return to South Carolina where he will coach tight ends and serve as the running game coordinator. Elliott previously served as the offensive line coach at South Carolina for both Steve Spurrier and Will Muschamp. At Georgia State, Elliott compiled a 41-44 record that included four bowl game victories.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Darnell Stapleton is leaving the University of Florida where he has been gainfully employed the last two seasons as the Robin to Rob Sale’s Batman in Billy Napier’s two offensive line coach approach. The fourth coach to depart Napier’s staff since December and the first on the offensive side of the ball, Stapleton leaves for the NFL Washington Commanders where he will be an assistant to the offensive line coach.

With a vacancy to fill on his coaching staff, Napier has at least three directions he can go, the three most prominent: (1) Stick with his two O-line coach approach and stay with a grind it out, run-oriented offense; (2) elevate James Houston from special teams analyst to on-field coordinator; and (3) hire an experienced assistant who has had success coaching quarterbacks and calling plays.

Of the three, the least likely seems to be sticking with two offensive line coaches. It worked well for Urban Meyer’s first four years at Florida but there were declining results in 2009 and again in 2010. Napier used the two O-line coach approach all four years at Louisiana where the Ragin Cajuns went 40-12. Florida’s offense was very good in 2022 when the Gators averaged 5.51 yards per rush and 6.58 per offensive snap while giving up only 17 sacks. In 2023, the Gators dipped to 4.27 per rush, 6.05 per play and the line gave up 39 sacks, which ranked 115th nationally.

Do two O-line coaches make that big a difference? If they do, then Napier will stick with what he’s always done and hire another O-line coach to work with Rob Sale.

Special teams blunders have been a routine occurrence the last two seasons. It’s not a lack of talent. Punter Jeremy Crawshaw and placekicker Trey Smack are among the nation’s best, but special teams units have been plagued by penalties, coverage issues and not having 11 players on the field. James Houston was hired from the New England Patriots as a special teams analyst just a couple of weeks ago. The timing of Houston’s hiring combined with Stapleton leaving for the NFL could mean the analyst role was always going to be temporary.  

Ever since the 2023 season ended there have been a growing number of calls for Napier to give up coaching the quarterbacks and calling the plays in favor of becoming a CEO type of head coach. In the Southeastern Conference, Napier is the only head coach calling the offensive plays. Lane Kiffin, widely regarded as the most innovative offensive mind in the SEC, has Charlie Weis Jr. calling the plays. During his national signing day press conference, Napier seemed to leave the door cracked for stepping down as the quarterbacks coach and play caller.

“I do think that we will … there’ll be different responsibilities to some degree,” Napier said, later adding that changes would be determined in the future. Twice Napier said, “I think we’ve got time to figure those things out.”

So, 15 days later Florida football stands at the crossroads, a vacancy on the coaching staff and an opportunity for Napier to bring in someone with fresh ideas to run the offense. Before the December early signing period, the hot and juicy rumor had Napier grabbing Willy Korn from the Coastal Carolina coaching staff. Korn and Napier have a lengthy relationship dating back to 2007 when Napier coached wide receivers and served as recruiting coordinator for Dabo Swinney at Clemson. As the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at Liberty in 2023, Korn called the plays for the No. 4 offense in the country (499.1 yards per game) and developed quarterback Kaiden Salter into a dual threat who produced 44 touchdowns (32 passing and 12 rushing).

On the surface, Korn would seem to be the home run hire that Napier needs to change perceptions about the Florida offense. It’s not that the offense has been bad in Napier’s two years in Gainesville. It’s vastly superior than the offenses Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain trotted out during their combined seven years, but it has lacked the creativity of Dan Mullen’s four years on the job. Fans would like to see more explosiveness, too. The Gators finished 46th nationally in long plays from scrimmage in 2023, 40th the year before. Korn’s 2023 offense at Liberty was sixth nationally in long plays.

But what if it isn’t Willy Korn? Brian Johnson, who coached the quarterbacks for Dan Mullen and spent last season as the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles is available, but is he interested in a return to college football after getting a taste of the NFL?

Prediction: Napier brings in an offensive coordinator to integrate freshman DJ Lagway into an offense that will be led by Graham Mertz for a 1-2 punch that closely resembles Florida in 2006 when freshman Tim Tebow complemented Chris Leak as the Gators won the national championship. The year will be well spent as it will prepare Lagway for a breakout 2025 in which he ranks with the best quarterbacks in the country.