Thoughts of the Day: April 9, 2021

A few thoughts to jump start your Friday morning:

SOUNDING OFF ON A FRIDAY 1. Tre Mann’s NBA Draft stock is rising: Ever since February when he began proving himself head-to-head against the best players in the Southeastern Conference, Tre Mann has risen from a late first round projection to a solid first rounder with a fringe lottery chance. ESPN ranks Mann as the 15th best NBA prospect. In his latest mock draft, Kyle Boone of CBSSports.com has Mann going with the 13th pick (that’s lottery) to the Golden State Warriors.

The reason Mann’s stock is moving onward and upward is his ability to get his own shot. There is always room in the NBA for a gifted scorer with serious 3-point range (Mann’s pretty darn solid to 30 feet out) who can get to the rim off the bounce. Mann scored 185 points in Florida’s last 10 games and had a four-game stretch when he averaged 23.5. He finished the year as Florida’s leading scorer (16.0 per game) and was second on the team in rebounds (5.6) and assists (3.3).

In two NCAA Tournament games, Mann hit 13-25 shots from the field and 6-14 from the 3-point line.

If Mann were picked 13th in the draft he would get a 4-year contract in the $17-18 million range. There are worse ways to start life on your own as an adult.

2. Bring back the BCS?: That’s what Tom Fornelli of CBSSports.com is calling for. He argues that college football was better with the BCS than it has been with the 4-team playoff. Fornelli writes, “While there might be 130 FBS teams, there usually aren't more than two great teams in any given season. The BCS did a pretty good job of figuring out who they were without requiring us to watch a round of blowouts (the average margin of 14 CFP semis has been 20.93 points per game) first.”

So, here we are with the Group of Five schools all but excluded from getting a foot in the playoff door and we should go back to a system whose only real benefit is to save the bacon of bowl games that have lost their appeal and are so irrelevant that the best players from teams that don’t make the playoffs are opting out? Yeah, right.

I would argue the following: (a) The best way to save the bowls from extinction is to find a way to include them in the playoff system; (b) expand the playoffs to either eight or 16 teams to include every conference champion including those from the Group of Five along with six wild cards; and (c) allow those that don’t make the playoff to participate in minor bowl games, sort of college football’s answer to the NIT.

An expanded playoff could easily rival the NCAA Basketball Tournament for our attention. As one double digit seed after another won and advanced in the NCAA Tournament and Gonzaga from the West Coast Conference made it to the championship game, we saw why March Madness is so appealing. Typically the underdog from conferences who specialize in directional, private and religious-affiliated schools are all gone by the first weekend, but this year saw an unusual number of small schools advance and team from a small conference make the final. It is not going to happen every year, but the idea that Cinderella has a chance makes it that much more exciting. It certainly made this year’s tournament one of the most fun to watch in years.

If the football playoff expanded, there is a real chance the teams from the Group of Five conferences would be stomped by their big brothers from the power leagues, but at least the Group of Five teams would have a chance to wear the glass slipper. That’s far better than what they have now.

3. When in doubt, go on the offensive:. That’s what Kansas did when it gave Bill Self a “lifetime” contract even before KU gets its hearing in what is called the Independent Accountability Resolution Process. That’s a fancy way of saying a trial before people who aren’t connected to any university, which is what you get when your school gets called on the carpet before the NCAA Committee on Infractions. Kansas got caught red-handed by the Feds in the college basketball corruption investigation and elected to fight it out before the independent board rather than a hearing before academics and athletic directors.

Not many are denying that KU is guilty of cheating but Self has done his best version of see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, claiming he never knew anything about players getting paid or other nefarious deeds by staff and Adidas people. KU chancellor Doug Giroud says he believes Self, therefore approving the contract, which seems to tell the NCAA to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine and keep it there for a long, long while. Is it possible Self was unaware of wrongdoing? Maybe, and though it does seem rather preposterous to think he was clueless, I’ll invoke the Bear Bryant Plausible Deniability Theory.

Back in 1979, I flew on Ben Hill Griffin’s private jet with Charley Pell to Richmond, Virginia to sign Maggie Walker All-American running back Gordon Pleasants. On the flight back, Charley talked about working for Bear Bryant. When I asked if Bear cheated when it came to recruiting, Charley swore it never happened. He did, however, say that Bear made it a point to tell his assistant coaches that (a) it was in their best interests to bring in the best possible recruits; (b) if something illegal happened he better not find out about it; and (c) since you can’t control boosters, he better not ever find out about something a booster offered a recruit.

Translation: “I don’t want to know what you do to get a recruit to Alabama and I better not find out. If you don’t tell me what you or some booster did, then I can deny it until the cows come home and nobody can prove I had anything to do with it.”

It is entirely possible Bill Self told his staff something similar.

CAN THE GATORS WIN AWAY FROM HOME?

We’ve seen what the Gators can do in the friendly confines of the Florida Ballpark where they are 19-5 this season, 5-1 against Southeastern Conference opponents. What the Gators have yet to prove is that they can win consistently on the road, particularly in SEC play. On their only SEC road trip to date the 10th-ranked Gators (20-9, 5-4 SEC) were swept by South Carolina.

The Gators, who travel to Knoxville to face 6th-ranked Tennessee (25-5, 7-2 SEC) in a 3-game weekend series beginning tonight (6:30 p.m., SEC Network+), trail the Vols by two games in the SEC East standings and SEC East-leading and national No. 1 Vanderbilt (24-4, 8-2 SEC) by 2-1/2. Vandy got smoked by Georgia (20-10, 4-6 SEC), 14-2, Thursday night in Nashville as ace Kumar Rocker was lit up, giving up six earned runs in five innings. At the very least, the Gators need to win the series in Knoxville to remain within striking distance of the top spot in the East.

The Gators will send righty Tommy Mace (4-0, 2.54 ERA) to the mound to face Tennessee ace Chad Dallas (4-0, 4.28 ERA). The Saturday starter for UF hasn’t been announced although lefty Hunter Barco (4-2, 5.30 ERA) will get the start on Sunday.

Nathan Hickey heads into the series with a .369 batting average, which ranks fifth in the SEC. Hickey, who has hit six home runs, is tied for third in the SEC with 34 RBI. Jud Fabian is second in the SEC in homers with 10.

ROGERS TO SMU: Former Florida cornerback Jahari Rogers is transferring to SMU. Rogers played in three games and made two tackles for the Gators last season.

UF TENNIS TRIES TO CLOSE OUT A PERFECT SEC SEASON

A perfect SEC record is on the line today in Columbia when the Gators (17-1, 11-0 SEC) face 13th-ranked South Carolina (12-7, 7-4 SEC) in their final regular season match of the year. The Gators, who have a 14-match winning streak, are ranked No. 1 in the nation and have already won the SEC championship.

Other UF sports:

Softball: The 5th-ranked Gators (29-4, 10-2 SEC) will be at home this weekend to face the Canadian national team Saturday and non-conference Western Kentucky Saturday.

Women’s tennis: The Gators (11-6, 9-3 SEC) close out their regular season Saturday at 24th-ranked South Carolina (10-9, 7-5 SEC).

OVER, UNDER, AROUND AND THROUGH THE SEC (FOOTBALL/HOOPS) Alabama: Responding to what he considered negative remarks on a podcast by ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay, Alabama running back Najee Harris said, “I think he can kiss my ass.” Get in line Najee. There are probably three or four hundred ahead of you with similar thoughts … SEC basketball player of the year Herb Jones has declared for the NBA Draft.

Arkansas: Former Baylor head football coach Art Briles was a visitor at practice Thursday. Briles’ son Kendal is the Arkansas offensive coordinator.

Auburn: Former Auburn player Brendt Bedsole has been hired as Bryan Harsin’s director of high school relations. Bedsole spent the previous seven years on the staff at South Alabama.

Georgia: Power forward Toumani Camara (6-8, 230) is transferring to Dayton.

Kentucky: A Sea of Blue reports that Kentucky might be the landing spot for Illinois transfer point guard Adam Smith (6-3, 180), who averaged 8.3 points and 2.8 rebounds as a true freshman last season.

LSU: Javonte Smart (6-4, 190) will forego his final year of eligibility and enter the NBA Draft.

Missouri: Point guard Dru Buggs has placed his name in the transfer portal ... Tight end Daniel Parker Jr. was arrested for failing to appear in court for a speeding ticket in which he was clocked going 20-25 miles per hour over the speed limit.

South Carolina: Small forward A.J. Wilson (6-7, 210) is transferring in from George Mason.

Tennessee: Saturday’s football practice in Neyland Stadium will be open to the public.

Vanderbilt: Point guard Maxwell Evans (6-2, 190) is transferring to TCU. Point guard Isaac McBride (6-1, 190) has put his name in the NCAA transfer portal.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: I had all but written off Jordan Spieth when he triple-bogeyed the 9th at Augusta National Thursday afternoon but what he did on the back nine makes me think he will be there fighting for a green jacket on Sunday. Spieth was 3-under on the back with a chip in eagle on 15 to climb back in contention, 1-under for the day and three shots back of first round leader Justin Rose. Twelve golfers finished under par, and another seven finished even. The rest of the field was in red numbers. I can relate. I don’t know what it is about the majors, but I like them better when the course gets the best out of a majority of the golfers. I hope Augusta National wins the next three days of The Masters.