Thoughts of the Day: May 9, 2026

A few thoughts to jump start your Saturday morning:

Jon Sumrall struck again Friday when 4-star running back Andrew Beard (5-9, 195, Bogart, GA, Prince Avenue Christian) committed to Florida, choosing the Gators over Clemson, Georgia and Tennessee. The No. 8 running back in the country, Beard is Florida’s 14^th commitment overall.

Florida is the hottest team in the country on the recruiting trail these days. Jason Higdon, whose 1standtenFlorida site is the best and final word when it comes to Florida recruiting, has 4-star defensive lineman Cain Van Norden (6-7, 270, District Heights, MD Bishop McNamara) and defensive lineman Devarrick Woods (6-3, 294), a Texas State transfer, on his watch list.

The Gators’ 2027 recruiting class is currently ranked No. 6 at both 247Sports and On3.

SEC SOFTBAL: GATORS FALL TO ALABAMA IN SEMIFINALS

Florida was run-ruled by Alabama, 9-1, Friday evening in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference Softball Tournament in Lexington. Florida coach Tim Walton rested ace Keagon Rothrock, going with Leah Stevens, Olivia Miller and Katelynn Oxley in the circle.

The Gators (48-10) are a top ten ranked team but more importantly, they are No. 4 in RPI. It is likely Florida will get a top eight seed when the NCAA announces its tournament pairings, which means Florida will host a regional and super regional.

Four Gators were named first team All-SEC: Rothrock, center fielder Taylor Shumaker, catcher/first baseman Jocelyn Erickson and left fielder Townsen Thomas. Selected to the second team were shortstop Kenleigh Cahalan and right fielder Cassidy McClellan. Second baseman Gabi Comia was named to the All-Defensive team.

FLORIDA BASEBALL: GATORS RALLY PAST KENTUCKY, 7-6

The situation looked grim heading into the bottom of the eighth inning Friday night at Condron Family Ballpark. Trailing Kentucky 6-1, the Gators (33-17, 14-11 SEC) rallied for five runs to tie the game at 6-6, then walked off with the win in the ninth when Kyle Jones hit a bases-loaded single.

In the eighth, Caden led off with a double, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout by Karson Bowen. One out later the Gators were down to their last strike when Cade Kurland reached on a third strike wild pitch. That was followed by a Hayden Yost single to right and a walk to Jones. Brendan Lawson then cleared the bases with a double to cut the deficit to 6-5 and advanced to third on an error by the left fielder. A wild pitch sent Lawson home with the tying run.

In the bottom of the ninth, Bowen delivered a 1-out double in the right center gap. One out later, Kurland was walked intentionally. Pinch-hitter Jacob Kendall walked to load the bases, bringing Jones to the plate. On an 0-1 pitch, Jones singled to left completing Florida’s near-miracle comeback win.

The 21^st-ranked Gators face Kentucky today at 4 p.m. with Liam Peterson scheduled to start. Florida is currently in a 3-way tie for sixth in the SEC standings with Alabama and Arkansas. The Gators are a half-game behind Mississippi State and a full game ahead of Ole Miss.

PRESIDENTIAL COMMITTEE MAKES RECOMMENDATIONS

Per Ross Dellenger, probably the best in the country at unearthing scoops that pertain to college football, the presidential committees on college sports have come up with a series of ideas to reform not just football, but all collegiate sports. Among the ideas: (1) A new governing body; (2) a salary cap on both coaches and administrators; (3) reigning in NIL by preventing salary cap (for athletes) circumvention; (4) strict transfer guidelines; (5) a Group of Six playoff; (6) pooling TV rights; and (7) regionalizing Olympic sports.

There are some good ideas here, the best of which is to come up with a new governing body. The NCAA, in its infinite wisdom, is well past its sell-by date and should be put out to pasture. Let the NCAA do what it does well, which is organize and run tournaments, but put commissioners in charge of each sport with common sense rules that apply to their sports. Start with football which needs to be completely out of the governance of the NCAA. Put business people and people who actually know football in charge rather than NCAA bureaucrats and college presidents.

To get salary caps, it’s going to take an anti-trust act from Congress. It’s a great idea, but is it possible to get Congress to agree on anything these days and times?

Giving the Group of Six their own playoff is a rather good idea. Cinderella stories are nice, but donkeys will probably fly before a team from a non-power conference wins the national championship in football. Let Group of Six teams play a couple of games per year against power conference opponents for the payouts, negotiate with the networks so Group of Six games are readily accessible to the viewing public, and give them a playoff deal that will bring in far more money than going to bowls in places like Shreveport and Mobile.

Can it be done? Yes. Will it be done? If you’re skeptical, take a number and stand in line.  

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Let’s get straight to the point here and not waste anyone’s time. Behind the obvious argument that expanding the College Football Playoff from 12 to 24 teams can potentially bring in more money, there is another driving force. Expansion takes the pressure off college administrators. For the same reason that it is difficult to fire a coach who had a winning season and got his team to a bowl game – even if it means if you lose you have to spend another week in Shreveport – it will be more difficult to fire a coach who got his team into the playoff.

Take Alabama, for instance. Alabama got smoked by Georgia in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game in Atlanta, the third loss of the season for the Crimson Tide. After the first year of Nick Saban’s glorious tenure, Alabama had only one three-loss season (2010). From 2011-2023, Saban lost only 18 games and won five national championships.

Saban’s successor, Kalen DeBoer went 9-4 in 2024 so when Bama was sitting at 10-3 following the Georgia embarrassment, Tide fans were stacking firewood so they could burn DeBoer at the stake, but a funny thing happened on Selection Sunday. Despite three losses, Bama made the College Football Playoff. The Tide beat Oklahoma in a first round game, then got obliterated by eventual national champ Indiana in the second round, making this the second straight year DeBoer had lost four games. Eight losses in two years. Nick only lost eight in his last five seasons combined.

But DeBoer made the playoff. Bama fans would have been borderline apoplectic if not for the bailout by the CFP Committee.

There is also the case of LSU, which fired Brian Kelly eight games into the 2025 season. After taking a third loss in his last four games, Kelly was forced out by LSU boosters willing to pay buyout money through the nose (in excess of $50 million). LSU was 5-3 at the time and with three SEC losses, completely out of the running for a trip to Atlanta that could have salvaged another non-playoff season for Kelly.

Brian Kelly won 29 games the previous three seasons, but he lost 11 despite two years with the best college football quarterback (Jayden Daniels) since the Heisman campaigns of Cam Newton (Auburn, 2010) and Johnny Manziel (Texas A&M, 2012). Kelly didn’t make the playoff, therefore, from LSU administration and fan base perspective, he had to go.

Kalen DeBoer was saved by the playoff. Brian Kelly was axed because he didn’t make it.

The current 12-team playoff format makes it very difficult for a team with three losses to get in. That Alabama got in while Notre Dame (10-2) and BYU (11-2) remains a contentious issue, one that would have been solved with playoff expansion.

Now, expanding from 12 to 16 teams makes more sense than going to 24. Do you really think there are 12 more teams capable of winning the national championship? Are there four?

That doesn’t matter a hoot in hell to the AFCA. The way they see it, 12 more teams in the playoff means 12 more coaches off the hot seat. Make the playoff and you stay in the good graces of the administration and boosters who put up the money.

That is the bottom line and it is the reality in which we live.