Thoughts of the Day: May 26, 2026

A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning:

In an interview with the SEC Network prior to Florida’s semifinal game in Hoover back on Saturday, left fielder Blake Cyr had one of those unexpected tell it all moments in which he confessed that Kevin O’Sullivan had been the lifeline he needed to cope with the after effects of his father’s death. It was a side of Sully that few in the viewing public have ever seen.

St. Sully the Compassionate. Whodathunkit? Okay, people who have known him closely through the years know that side of him, but too many fans see the fiery side who looks like he picks his teeth with rusty nails when he marches out to the pitcher’s mound to make a change. There is a caring side of him, too, probably obscured by rumors, innuendo and not enough real info about the personal, private sector of his life.

Cyr offered up that rare glimpse and it helped bring into perspective what Kevin O’Sullivan has accomplished this season. He took an indefinite leave of absence during the fall to get his life in order, surprising a lot of people that he would dare to come back to coach in the spring, but come back he did. We’ve seen the team evolve from the one that lost a weekend series to High Point, got swept by Alabama and took one on the chin to JU to one that is scorching hot when it counts most.

How hot are they you ask? The Florida Gators are hot enough that they are the No. 8 national seed for the NCAA Tournament which begins Friday in Gainesville with a noon game against the Rider Broncos of something called the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Since you probably don’t know what the MAAC is, here is a refresher: Iona is a member of that league and Iona, if you recall, was the incubator that propelled Walter Clayton Jr. back to Florida where he led the Gators to the 2025 NCAA basketball championship.

Oh, that Rider.

The Gators head into the Gainesville Regional winners of 10 of their last 12 games. They were 29-17 back on May 2, a lock for a No. 2 seed at a regional somewhere other than Gainesville, but now they’re a No. 1 and if they overwhelm the Gainesville field of Miami, Troy and Rider, they will host the winner of the Hattiesburg Regional in a super regional.

All things considered, this might be Sully’s most memorable coaching job. Sure, it’s difficult to overlook 2017 when he led the Gators to their only NCAA baseball championship in school history, but that was a team whose weekend rotation of Alex Faedo, Brady Singer and Jackson Kowar made it to the big leagues. This year Sully has future big leaguers Aidan King and Liam Peterson on Friday and Saturday nights, but beyond that pitching is a crapshoot. Cyr, Brendan Lawson, Ethan Surowiec and Hayden Yost have been pounding baseballs into submission lately, but for two thirds of the season there were too many holes in the lineup. Defensively, the Gators make too many errors but lately they make all the plays when they count.

Despite the early inconsistencies and still a few question marks, the Gators find themselves five wins (three regional, two super regional) from a tenth trip to Omaha for the College World Series in Sully’s 19 years on the job at UF. St. Sully the Compassionate it seems hasn’t forgotten how to win baseball games.

The NCAA field of 64 teams and 16 regionals

(National seeds in parenthesis and SEC teams bold face)

Los Angeles: (1) UCLA 51-6; Saint Mary’s 34-25; Cal Poly 36-22; Virginia Tech 30-24

Friday 3 p.m.: Saint Mary’s vs. UCLA; 8 p.m.: Cal Poly vs. Virginia Tech

Atlanta: (2) Georgia Tech 48-9; Oklahoma 32-21; Citadel 35-24; UIC 27-27-1

Friday noon: UIC vs. Georgia Tech; 5 p.m.: Citadel vs. Oklahoma

Athens: (3) Georgia 46-12; Boston College 36-21; Liberty 41-19; Long Island 30-20

Friday 2 p.m.: Liberty vs. Boston College; 7 p.m.: Long Island vs. Georgia

Auburn: (4) Auburn; UCF; North Carolina State; Milwaukee

Friday 1 p.m.: Milwaukee vs. Auburn; 6 p.m.: UCF vs. North Carolina State

Chapel Hill: (5) North Carolina 45-11-1; Tennessee 38-20; East Carolina 36-22-1; VCU 37-23

Friday noon: East Carolina vs. Tennessee; 5 p.m.: VCU vs. North Carolina

Austin: (6) Texas 40-13; UC-Santa Barbara 38-18; Tarleton State 37-19; Holy Cross 25-28

Friday 1 p.m.: Holy Cross vs. Texas; 6 p.m.: Tarleton State vs. UC-Santa Barbara

Tuscaloosa: (7) Alabama 37-19; Oklahoma State 37-20; USC-Upstate 33-28; Alabama State 34-21

Friday 2 p.m.: USC-Upstate vs. Oklahoma State; 7 p.m.: Alabama State vs. Alabama

GAINESVILLE: (8) FLORIDA 39-19; Miami 38-18; Troy 32-29; Rider 33-18

Friday: 1 p.m. Rider vs. FLORIDA; 6 p.m.: Troy vs. Miami

Hattiesburg: (9) Southern Miss 44-15; Virginia 36-21; Jacksonville State 46-13; Little Rock 36-26

Friday 2 p.m.: Little Rock vs. Southern Miss; 7 p.m.: Jacksonville State vs. Virginia

Tallahassee: (10) Florida State 38-17; Coastal Carolina 37-21; Northern Illinois 35-17; St. John’s 33-24

Friday 3 p.m.: St. John’s vs. Florida State; 8 p.m.: Northern Illinois vs. Coastal Carolina

Eugene: (11) Oregon 40-16; Oregon State 43-12; Washington State 30-26; Yale 30-13-1

Friday 3 p.m.: Washington State vs. Oregon State; 8 p.m.: Yale vs. Oregon

College Station: (12) Texas A&M 39-14; Southern Cal 43-15; Texas State 36-24; Lamar 34-25

Friday 4 p.m.: Lamar vs. Texas A&M; 9 p.m.: Texas State vs. Southern Cal

Lincoln: (13) Nebraska 42-15; Ole Miss 36-21; Arizona State 37-19; South Dakota State 24-31

Friday 4 p.m.: South Dakota State vs. Nebraska; 9 p.m.: Arizona State vs. Ole Miss

Starkville: (14) Mississippi State 40-17; Cincinnati 37-20; Louisiana 39-23; Lipscomb 29-24

Friday 2 p.m.: Lipscomb vs. Mississippi State; 7 p.m.: Louisiana vs. Cincinnati

Lawrence: (15) Kansas 42-16; Arkansas 39-20; Missouri State 34-19; Northeastern 38-20

Friday 1 p.m.: Northeastern vs. Kansas; 6 p.m.: Missouri State vs. Arkansas

Morgantown: (16) West Virginia 39-14; Wake Forest 38-119; Kentucky 31-21; Binghamton 31-20

Friday noon: Kentucky vs. Wake Forest; 5 p.m.: Binghamton vs. West Virginia

Bracket 1

Los Angeles winner vs. Morgantown winner

Hattiesburg winner vs. Gainesville winner

Chapel Hill winner vs. College Station winner

Lincoln winner vs. Auburn winner

Bracket 2

Atlanta winner vs. Lawrence winner

Tallahassee winner vs. Tuscaloosa winner

Austin winner vs. Eugene winner

Starkville winner vs. Athens winner

National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association top 25: 1. UCLA 51-6; 2. Georgia 46-12; 3. Georgia. Tech 48-9; 4. North Carolina 45-11-1; 5. Auburn 38-19; 6. Texas 40-13; 7. Southern Miss 44-15; 8. Oregon State 43-12; 9. Kansas 42-16; 10. Oregon 40-16; 11. West Virginia 39-14; 12. FLORIDA 39-19; 13. Texas A&M 39-14; 14. Florida State 38-17; 15. Arkansas 39-20; 16. Mississippi State 40-17; 17. Alabama 37-19; 18. Nebraska 42-15; 19. Southern Cal 43-15; 20. Oklahoma State 37-20; 21. Ole Miss 36-21; 22. Arizona State 37-19; 23. Jacksonville State 46-13; 24. Tennessee 38-20; 25. Coastal Carolina 37-21

UF WOMEN’S GOLF: GATORS COLLAPSE, FALL TO 11^TH

Tied for seventh after Sunday, the Gators shot 14-over par Monday, falling four places to 11^th and out of contention for the NCAA championship. Only the top eight teams in stroke play advanced to the match play segment that will determine the national championship.

Florida’s Siiu Wu’s day was a foreshadowing of what happened to the entire Florida team, which struggled in the windy conditions. Wu took a bogey on the third hole, then a quadruple bogey on the par 5 fifth, finishing the front nine with a 5-over 41. She was 1-under for the back nine, but the damage had been done as she finished with a 76 in 14^th place with -2, 10 shots behind winner Farah O’Keefe of Texas.

GATORS UP TO NO. 4 IN ESPN RECRUITING RANKINGS

With 16 recruits already committed to the class of 2027, Jon Sumrall has the Gators on the hottest pace since Will Muschamp pulled in back-to-back No. 3 classes in 2012-13. The Gators are ranked No. 6 by 247Sports, No. 8 by On3. When ESPN came out with its latest rankings Monday, Florida had climbed from unranked to No. 4.

No matter which of the recruiting services you follow, expect Florida to continue rising. Per Jason Higdon, whose info at 1standtenflorida.com is the final word when for those who take Florida recruiting seriously, the Gators will host 10 official visitors this weekend including a couple of Oklahoma verbals that stand a good chance of flipping – 4-star running back Keldrid Ben (5-10, 208, Montgomery, TX) and 3-star wide receiver TraVon Hall (6-1, 183, Tuscaloosa, AL Central). The Gators could get an answer on June 10 from 4-star offensive tackle Kenedee Jackson (6-6, 300, Lithonia Georgia) and they’re down to the nubs with 4-star offensive tackle Antonio Berry (6-5, 286, Tupelo, MS).

ESPN top 15 2027 football recruiting classes: 1. Texas A&M; 2. Oklahoma; 3. Notre Dame; 4. FLORIDA; 5. Ohio State; 6. Texas Tech; 7. Southern Cal; 8. Miami; 9. UCLA; 10 Michigan; 11. Oregon; 12. Penn State; 13. Texas; 14. Washington; 15. Kentucky

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: The SEC Spring Meetings are about to begin in Destin. They’re billed as the most consequential in ages since the future of the College Football Playoff rests in the hands of commissioner Greg Sankey and ESPN, both of whom will state their case for rejecting the Big Ten proposal of expanding the playoff to 24 teams. Sankey and ESPN are both happy with 12 teams but would compromise for models that include 14 or 16 teams.

This is a dig the heels moment for Sankey, who has been upstaged by Petiti and the Big Ten. We are in an era when perceptions are largely founded in trophies and dollars and no longer is the SEC perceived as the tall hog at the trough. The Big Ten has won the last three national championships in football and currently holds titles in both men’s and women’s basketball. Making matters worse, thanks to UCLA, the Big Ten holds the No. 1 seed in both baseball and softball as those sports shift into championship gear.

There are some SEC coaches who are in favor of the Big Ten expansion model, largely because it’s next to impossible for a school president to fire a head coach who just got his team in the playoff. More teams in means fewer coaches getting pink slipped.

While Sankey has to respect the leanings of his coaches, he also has to stand his ground. Despite the recent Big Ten surge and the fat media contracts that pony up record amounts of dollars, the SEC still holds plenty of cards, both financially and championship-level teams. Because the SEC easily draws more viewers to ESPN and its array of networks, more money will be forthcoming. The ninth conference game alone will substantially increase revenues. You don’t really think a game between Alabama and a D1AA team from Walla Walla, Washington is going to rake in money, now do you? But another SEC game will.

Sankey has the backing of ESPN which will have to renegotiate its contracts with the SEC sooner rather than later. He has money and power in his corner this week so it’s time to assert his position as the most powerful leader in all of college sports. Whether politely or with an iron fist and heels dug in deep, Sankey needs to let it be known to wannabes like Petiti, ACC commish Little Jimmy Phillips and Brett Yormark at the Big 12, that the SEC dictates change but doesn’t follow the pack.