Thoughts of the Day: May 23, 2026

(UAA Photo)

A few thoughts to jump start your Saturday morning:

The door has been left open for the Gators to earn a top eight seed for the NCAA Tournament. Projected the No. 9 national seed by both D1Baseball and Baseball America, the Gators got help Friday night from Auburn (38-18), which shut out Texas A&M on two hits, 7-0, in a quarterfinal game of the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama. The Aggies (39-14) are projected as the No. 8 seed, but the Gators (39-18) can take that spot today if they can beat Georgia (44-12) in the first semifinal at 1 p.m. (SEC Network). Auburn will face Arkansas (38-19) in the other semifinal.

Florida comes into the game having won 10 of the last 11. Back in April, the Gators took two out of three from Georgia in Athens. Florida is the only team that won a weekend series against the Bulldogs, who won the SEC regular season championship outright with a 23-7 record in league play. When the Gators beat the Bulldogs 13-7 to clinch the series, homers by Ethan Surowiec, Hayden Yost and Kyle Jones helped bolt the Gators to a 13-5 lead in the first four innings.

At the SEC Tournament, Surowiec is 5-8 with two doubles, a home run and four RBI. In Florida’s last six games, Surowiec is 14-27 with three homers, three doubles and 14 RBI. Yost is 4-7 in Hoover with a homer, two doubles and four RBI. In his last seven games, Yost is 14-27 with five homers, two doubles and 12 RBI.

The Gators are No. 10 nationally in RPI, just ahead of No. 11 Georgia and No. 14 Texas A&M.

D1Baseball projected top 16 seeds as of May 22: 1. UCLA; 2. Georgia Tech; 3. Georgia; 4. North Carolina; 5. Texas; 6. Alabama; 7. Auburn; 8. Texas A&M; 9. FLORIDA; 10. Southern Miss; 11. Florida State; 12. West Virginia; 13. Nebraska; 14. Mississippi State; 15. Kansas; 16. Oregon

Baseball America projected top 16 seeds as of May 22: 1. UCLA; 2. Georgia Tech; 3. Georgia; 4. Texas; 5. North Carolina; 6. Auburn; 7. Alabama; 8. Texas A&M; 9. FLORIDA; 10. Florida State; 11. Southern Miss; 12. Nebraska; 13. Kansas; 14. Mississippi State; 15. Oregon; 16. West Virginia

UF SOFTBALL: A PROBLEM IN THE CIRCLE

For the fifth time in the last eight games, Florida’s pitching – or lack of – was the problem as the Gators dropped a 10-8 decision to Texas Tech Friday in the first game of the Gainesville NCAA Super Regionals. Texas Tech pounded out 12 hits off four Florida pitchers, the killing blow a towering 2-run homer in the top of the seventh off Katelynn Oxley by former Gator Mia Williams.

Texas Tech chased Florida starter Keagan Rothrock with a 3-run fourth. In the fifth, Olivia Miller gave up a 3-run homer to Laur Allred and a solo homer to Lag Quiroga for a 7-1 Tech lead before Oxley came on to put out the fire. Florida cut the lead to 7-4 in the bottom half of the inning on a 2-run homer by Ava Brown followed by an opposite field home run to left by Townsen Thomas.

Oxley allowed another run in the top of the sixth, but the Gators rallied to tie the game at 8-8. After a leadoff home run by Madison Walker, Texas Tech brought on Nijaree Canady to relieve starter Kaitlyn Terry. The ace of the Tech staff promptly hit pinch-hitter Ella Wesolowski then gave up a single to left by Gabi Comia. Canady struck out Taylor Shumaker and Jocelyn Erickson, but Brown cleared the bases with her second home run of the game and her 10^th of the season, tying the game at 8-8.

Oxley remained in the game to start the seventh, but Quiroga coaxed a 6-pitch walk and Williams blasted a 1-0 pitch onto the Florida bullpen roof. Leah Stevens relieved Oxley and got the final three outs.

It is a do-or-die game for the Gators today at 12:30 (ABC). Win and the season extends for a Sunday game that will determine who goes to the Women’s College World Series. Lose and the season is over.

UF WOMEN’S GOLF: GATORS NO. 23 AFTER DAY ONE

It was a rough day on the links for Florida’s women, seeded No. 3 nationally at the NCAA Championships in Carlsbad, California. The Gators are tied for 23^rd after the first round, 9-over par and a full 16 shots behind Southern California. Elaine Widjaja was the only Gator to shoot under par, carding a 69 for an 10-way tie for second.

The Gators need to finish in the top 15 through 54 holes to qualify for the final round of stroke play on Monday. After Monday, the top eight teams qualify for match play which determines the national champion.  

Top 25 after day one: 1. Southern Cal -7; 2. Stanford -6; 3. Oklahoma State -5; 4. Iowa State -4; 5. (Tie) Eastern Michigan and Arkansas -2; 7. Missouri -1; 8. (Tie) SMU, LSU and Texas E; 11. (Tie) Baylor, Texas A&M, Arizona State and Virginia +1; 15. Northwestern +2; 16. (Tie) Tennessee and Duke +3; 18. Florida State +4; 19. North Carolina +5; 20. Houston +6; 21. (Tie) Texas Tech and Pepperdine +8; 23. (Tie) FLORIDA and Ohio State +9; 25. (Tie) Kentucky and Michigan State +10

CBS RANKS GATORS NO. 9 IN FOOTBALL POWER RANKINGS

CBS Sports posted its power rankings for the Southeastern Conference, placing Florida middle of the pack at No. 9. CBS projects seven SEC teams as legitimate College Football Playoff contenders – Texas, Georgia, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Alabama and Oklahoma.  

Writes Brad Crawford of CBS: “The Gators want year-to-year stability under Jon Sumrall, and he believes that process begins immediately. Florida should be defense-driven with most of its starters returning alongside impact transfers Cam Dooley and DJ Coleman in the secondary. The Gators' wide receiver room gives whoever wins the quarterback job – either Georgia Tech transfer Aaron Philo or Tramell Jones -- plenty of options. Vernell Brown and Dallas Wilson enter their second seasons in Gainesville, while Eric Singleton reunites with offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner after previously playing for him at Georgia Tech.

“Outside of Kiffin at LSU, Sumrall inherits the SEC's best win-now opportunity among first-year coaches. More than two dozen transfers were necessary additions this cycle, but unlike many new staffs, Florida didn't rely heavily on talent from Sumrall's previous stop. Expect the Gators to be a rugged, physical team at the line of scrimmage, and for running back Jadan Baugh to surpass 1,000 rushing yards if he can stay healthy.”

CBS Power ranking of SEC teams for 2026: 1. Texas; 2. Georgia; 3. LSU; 4. Ole Miss; 5. Texas A&M; 6. Alabama; 7. Oklahoma; 8. Tennessee; 9. FLORIDA; 10. Missouri; 11. South Carolina; 12. Auburn; 13. Vanderbilt; 14. Kentucky; 15. Mississippi State; 16. Arkansas

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: The big question heading into this week’s SEC Spring Meetings in Destin is will the coaches unite behind commissioner Greg Sankey in diggings in their heels to resist the push for expanding the College Football Playoff to 24 teams? Sankey and SEC benefactor ESPN would prefer to remain at 12 teams, but they have a willingness to expand to either 14 or 16 teams. However, The Athletic writes that some SEC coaches and athletic directors are waffling on the 24-team concept, the thinking being that more playoff slots mean more SEC teams in the field and fewer coaches whose heads are on the chopping block.

There is more at stake than just expansion of the playoff. The 24-team proposal generated by Big Ten commissioner Tony Petiti calls for the elimination of conference championship games. The SEC Championship Game is the oldest and most prosperous, generating upwards of $150 million in revenue not to mention national exposure. When it comes to television viewership, the other conferences pale in comparison to the SEC game.

Behind Petiti’s proposal, which has the endorsement of the ACC, Big Ten and Notre Dame, is Fox Sports. Last year with its Big Ten package, Fox Sports had three games that attracted 10 million or more viewers and two more that had five million or more. Contrast that to the SEC and ESPN, which broadcast 10 games that attracted 10 million or more viewers and another 24 that reached five million or more.

ESPN, which holds the exclusive contract for the College Football Playoff through 2031-32, would have to agree to a new CFP deal to expand to 24 teams and that would open the door for Fox to scoop up quite a few of the games. The way Fox and the Big Ten see it, more games means more revenue, but that doesn’t ensure quality. There is an underlying motivation for Fox that goes beyond college football. The NFL may elect to opt out of its deal with the networks as early as 2029 in favor of streaming giants like Google, Apple and Amazon. That would leave Fox without NFL football.

Realistically, there are only six to eight teams every year that have a true shot at winning the national championship so adding more teams means more blowout games and diluting the quality of the playoff.

It should also be noted that three years ago when the playoff media rights were up for sale, Fox didn’t even put in a bid. ESPN was the only bidder. ESPN is also the media rights partner of the Southeastern Conference and all 16 SEC schools benefit from that arrangement. SEC schools distributed more than $72 million for the 2024-25 athletic year. Within two or three more years that figure is expected to approach $100 million per team.

Money talks and when Sankey starts talking revenue to the league presidents and athletic directors this week will everybody listen? Or will they follow the Big Ten model? If they are smart, they will fall in line with Sankey and ESPN.

If they do something dumb – a real possibility seeing that most of the university presidents are relatively clueless when it comes to sports – then college sports and particularly football will never be the same again.