A few things that have me thinking out loud on a Friday: Imagine what Graham Mertz can do if he has time to throw: This time a year ago, Billy Napier was being ridiculed in the SEC and national media for signing Graham Mertz, perceived as a 5-star bust when he was at Wisconsin. After throwing for nearly 3,000 yards, completing better than 72 percent of his passes for 20 touchdowns and completing only three to the bad guys, so many in the media are grudgingly admitting they got it all wrong. Some have even admitted that maybe Billy Napier knows a thing or two about quarterbacks. Imagine that. What makes Mertz’s 2023 more impressive is the fact he spent a lot of his time either on his back after getting sacked or taking one vicious hit after another while he stood in the pocket. Florida’s offensive line allowed 39 sacks a year ago, 33 when Mertz was on the receiving end of the hit. It’s a little late to be playing the what if game, but it isn’t unreasonable to think the Gators might have had a fairly good season in 2023 if the line could have gotten the job done. So here we are a little more than 3-1/2 months from the start of the 2024 season with a schedule that is consensus the most difficult in the nation. There is room for optimism. Lots of it. While having a quarterback in his second year as the starter in an offense he doesn’t have to learn is a nice cornerstone, so is a vastly improved offensive line. A year ago the line was a disaster from the get go. Kingsley Eguakun, who had started 26 straight games, spent most of the year hurt. Replacement Jake Slaughter started slowly but grew into Florida’s most dependable and efficient O-lineman. The guards were a disaster. There was no depth at tackle. Austin Barber played hurt until his shoulder got the best of him with a few games to go. Damieon George wanted to play tackle, which is why he left Alabama for Florida. There is a reason the people at Bama told him he should play guard. There was no depth on the outside. Fast forward to 2024. The starting tackles coming out of spring ball were Arkansas transfer Devon Manuel and San Diego State transfer Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson. Barber and Kamryn Waites will be healthy come August so there is depth at tackle. Knijeah Harris was one guard, Slaughter the starter at center. George moved inside to right guard but he struggled. He’s got the body and feet to be good, but if he doesn’t get it done Roderick Kearney is ready to step in. On paper the O-line is vastly improved. If they can get the job done and keep Mertz upright, Florida is going to be a very good offensive football team in 2024. The last two scholarships will be critical for Todd Golden: With Micah Handlogten expecting to redshirt next season rather than risk coming back too early on his fractured leg, Todd Golden basically has 10 scholarship players to work with next year. There are reports trickling out of IMG Academy in Bradenton that 7-7 Olivier Rioux is intent on re-classifying to 2024 but if he’s able to jump through all the academic hoops he will be a preferred walk-on. It is thought – but unconfirmed – that if Rioux elects to stay at IMG that he will come to Florida in the 2025 class as a scholarship player. Either way, one thing certain is you can’t teach tall. Golden needs 12 scholarship players at his disposal. Even though he prefers to work with an 8-9 man rotation, it’s important to have a full complement of scholarship bodies. After all you never know when you’re going to suffer through a rash of injuries as Texas and others found out last season. With Handlogten sidelined, Golden has four big guys and six perimeter players. He needs two more, preferably a pure point and perhaps a hybrid big guy in the 6-7 to 6-9 range who is as comfortable on the wing as he is in the post. The Gators made the final cut for Michigan State point guard AJ Hoggard (6-3, 185, SR), who averaged 10.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game last season. He has career averages of 10.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. Hoggard has five schools on his list. Florida makes the most sense but Georgia and Southern Cal are spending NIL money as if they have a press that prints money. Florida was in the mix for Duke transfer Christian Reeves (7-1, 250, FR) but he elected to stay in the ACC, committing Thursday to Clemson. A name that has been linked to Florida for the last two or three weeks is Illinois State transfer Myles Foster (6-7, 235, SR), who averaged 12.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. Foster has also been linked to Tennessee, Notre Dame, Iowa and Florida State among others. One other name that could be in play for the Gators is Zach Anderson (6-7, 205, SR), who averaged 12.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and shot 45.9 percent from three for Florida Gulf Coast. Anderson was a high school teammate at Apopka of transfer signee Sam Alexis. Anderson, who has been heavily recruited by Indiana, played AAU ball for Each1 Teach1 on the Nike circuit. Malaki Starks on Kirby Smart’s approach to the portal: Wade Peery of On3Sports reports that on “The Players Lounge” podcast Georgia DB Malaki Starks outlined Kirby Smart’s approach to players leaving the program via the transfer portal. Starks said, “Kirby says all the time if we lose you that is okay. We will replace you.” Oh, if only more coaches took that approach. Back when Steve Spurrier was Florida’s head ball coach, he used to say, “I want players who want to be Gators.” He wouldn’t lower himself to begging players who didn’t want to be here to stay. That’s an invitation for way too many problems down the road. It’s true that Spurrier never had to deal with the transfer portal and NIL, but it’s hard to imagine that he would have ever hit the panic button when a player wanted to leave the program. Kirby Smart seems to be taking a very similar approach. Typically, players transfer for one of two reasons: (1) NIL money; (2) Lack of playing time. If it’s about money, the request is reasonable and the kid has earned it with hard work and right attitude, then give him the money and make him happy. If the first thing out of his mouth is that other schools are clamoring for him and offering big bucks, then the coach should have the guts to say, “I wish you well at your next stop. It’s been a pleasure to coach you.” Then show him the door. If it’s about playing time and the kid isn’t willing to wait for a shot, then a similar reply is all that’s necessary. At no point, should either coach or player be reduced to begging. Nobody is indispensable. The high cost of doing basketball business: Writes Kyle Tucker, the veteran basketball writer at The Athletic, “If you have major needs to fill and plan on doing so through the transfer portal, you’d better have a couple million bucks, at least, in available NIL funds to assemble a competitive roster in the current climate.” The couple million Kyle Tucker is talking about doesn’t include the NIL money it will take to keep good players from transferring or leaving for the pros. A player who averages double figures who has one or two years of eligibility remaining can probably command a rather hefty raise. The same is true for young guys who show plenty of promise in their freshman and sophomore seasons. We may be seeing a trend moving forward where fewer and fewer high school recruits are signed by the power conference schools in favor of filling their roster with transfers from low-to-mid-majors. Why wait for a freshman to develop when you can dip into the portal for a kid who has found success or even stardom at a low-to-mid-major? Over the long haul, it’s probably more cost efficient. We have the minor leagues in baseball that develop talent and pay it forward to the big league teams. The low-to-mid-majors are about to become the basketball equivalent of the minor leagues. Meanwhile, the cost of doing business is already escalating. When Eric Musselman left Arkansas nearly the entire roster went into the portal. The same thing happened when John Calipari left Kentucky to replace Musselman at Arkansas. Both Calipari and Kentucky replacement Mark Pope are starting from scratch and both are doing it with a war chest that makes most NIL collectives pale by comparison. There were reports that Calipari was handed a $5 million NIL budget just for starters with the promise of as much as he needs to turn Arkansas into a legitimate, consistent national power. Don’t think for a second that all those gozillionaires who own horse farms in Kentucky are going to do nothing. It will be up to everyone else in the SEC to either pony up or get left in the tall grass on the side of the road. Say what Brian Kelly?: LSU football coach Brian Kelly told WAFB in Baton Rouge, “We’re not in the market of buying players.” After extolling the virtues of playing at LSU, Kelly added, “But if you just want to get paid this is not the place for you.” Sounds rather virtuous, doesn’t it? Well, if you dig a little deeper, you discover that Kelly and his staff have been striking out left and right in the transfer portal. Currently, the Tigers rank 15th out of 16 Southeastern Conference schools in landing transfers since the first portal for 2024 opened back on December 5, 2023. Based on the info at On3, since the spring portal opened, LSU has had 14 outgoing transfers and only one incoming. LSU lost a ton of talent to the NFL and graduation. Kelly did sign 29 in a 2024 recruiting class that ranked seventh nationally, but how many of these freshmen will be able to contribute immediately at a high level? And, how many of those freshmen came to LSU because they had a better NIL deal than some other SEC school? Brian Kelly said he left Notre Dame for LSU because you can win national championships at LSU. He’s oh-fer two in bringing home national championships at LSU. He hasn’t even won an SEC championship. That makes words like “not in the market of buying players” and “want to get paid this is not the place for you” sound like a cryptic warning to LSU fans that when the dust clears on 2024, Brian Kelly will be oh-fer three. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Jac Caglianone will be playing his final three games in a Florida baseball uniform at Condron Family Ballpark starting at 1 p.m. today when the Gators (25-23, 10-14 SEC) take on 4th-ranked Kentucky (35-10, 18-6 SEC). Caglianone could be the No. 1 overall pick when Major League Baseball drafts. The Cleveland Guardians have the top pick and per ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, the choice will either be Cag or second baseman Travis Bazzanna of Oregon State. In 147 games at Florida, Caglianone is hitting .346 with 67 home runs and 171 RBI. He has struck out only 96 times (17 this year) in 659 official plate appearances. Major League Baseball plays a 162-game schedule, but in the days of Babe Ruth, it was 154 games. There are light years difference in college baseball and the big leagues, but just for the fun of it, I compared Cag’s career vs. the top seasons of Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Barry Bonds. Ruth 1927: 151 games, .356 batting average. 60 home runs, 165 RBI, struck out 89 times. Mantle 1956: 150 games. .353 batting average, 52 home runs, 130 RBI, struck out 99 times. Maris 1961: 161 games, .269 batting average, 61 home runs, 141 RBI, struck out 67 times. Bonds 2001: 153 games, .328 batting average, 73 home runs, 177 RBI, struck out 93 times.

Jac Caglianone awaits a pickoff throw at first base vs. USF (UAA Photo) A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning: There was good news on several fronts Tuesday night at Condron Family Ballpark. First and foremost, the Florida Gators (25-23) got a much needed win in their final non-conference game of the regular season, 4-1, over South Florida. Second, six Florida pitchers scattered five hits, walked only three batters and struck out seven in one of the best outings of the season. Third, Jac Caglianone extended his hitting streak to 27 games in the first inning when he went opposite field for his 27th home run of the season, also extending his on-base streak to 33 straight games. Nothing was more critical than getting the win. With only six games remaining in the regular season and Florida very much a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament field, the Gators need four SEC wins in their final two series to have any level of comfort. At 10-14 in SEC play, it’s possible for the Gators to break even, but a 5-1 finish that would get the Gators to 15-15 against the likes of 4th-ranked Kentucky and 15th-ranked Georgia is a rather tall task. With Kentucky coming to Gainesville in what amounts to an all hands on deck weekend starting on Friday, Kevin O’Sullivan needed to get a good pitching performance without over-extending anyone. Freshman Liam Peterson gave up two hits and a walk in the first inning, but he induced a pair of ground outs to end the inning, leaving the bases full. Cade Fisher went the next 2-2/3 shutout innings, allowing one hit and hitting one batter while striking out one. Fisher Jameson gave up a solo home run in the sixth during his two innings of work. He allowed two hits, walked a batter and struck out two. Luke McNeillie went 1-1/3 innings, giving up one hit and a walk while striking out three. He was followed by Jake Clemente who set down all three hitters he faced. Brandon Neely came on to close things out in the ninth, setting down all three hitters he faced to earn a save. "It makes it a heck of a lot easier to manage your bullpen when you've got your main arms, right?” O’Sullivan said. “I think this is kind of what we envisioned it to look like. It didn't work out with Cade as our Friday night starter, then we made some drastic changes and then tried to use Brandon [Neely] there as a starter and there were some really good moments and there were some moments that weren't so good. So, now we're back to the drawing board again. That's not from a lack of trying to push each button; all we're trying to do right now is put everybody in a position to be successful. But when we go into a game and you can go to Fisher Jameson and you can go to McNeillie and you have Neely on the back end and Cade Fisher comes in with those 2-2/3. He’s been working hard on his delivery and he's standing taller on his back side and I thought he had more angle to his stuff instead of east and west. I thought he had more tilt to his slider tonight. It's certainly a step in the right direction and hopefully he can continue doing this into the weekend." Caglianone took a 2-1 pitch 351 feet to left field to give the Gators a 1-0 first inning lead. A double by Brody Donay, a bunt single by Tyler Shelnut and a double play grounder scored one in the second as UF extended the lead to 2-0. Singles by Caglianone and Ty Evans and a throwing error gave the Gators a 3-0 lead in the third. South Florida cut the margin to 3-1 in the fifth, but the Gators added insurance in the bottom of the eighth on a double down the right field line by Shelton and two outs later a double into the gap in right center by Tyler Shelnut. UF TRACK AND FIELD: Gators will be a force at SEC Championships If there is such a thing as home track advantage, then this could be a weekend to remember for both the Florida men’s and women’s track and field teams. When the SEC Championships begin at the Percy Beard Track on Thursday, the Florida men hold down the No. 1 national ranking while the women are No. 7. During the indoor season, both the UF men and women finished second. At the NCAA indoor championships, the Gators finished a strong second in the women’s competition while the men finished third. Florida coach Mike Holloway has led the Gators to seven SEC men’s championships and six women’s. Overall, in 20 years as the head coach of the Gators, Holloway has won 13 national championships, 11 with the men and two with the women. USTFCCA men’s top 25: 1. FLORIDA; 2. Texas A&M; 3. LSU; 4. Alabama; 5. Arkansas; 6. Southern California; 7. Texas Tech; 8. Texas; 9. Virginia Tech; 10. Auburn; 11. Northern Arizona; 12. Kentucky; 13. South Florida; 14. Tennessee; 15. Mississippi State; 16. North Carolina; 17. Oklahoma State; 18. Iowa State; 19. Virginia; 20. South Carolina; 21. Nebraska; 22. Georgia; 23. Miami; 24. Washington; 25. BYU USTFCCA women’s top 25: 1. LSU; 2. Arkansas; 3. Oregon; 4. Texas A&M; 5. Illinois; 6. South Carolina; 7. FLORIDA; 8. Georgia; 9. Texas; 10. Tennessee; 11. Texas Tech; 12. Ole Miss; 13. Nebraska; 14. Notre Dame; 15. Alabama; 16. Southern California; 17. Florida State; 18. Oklahoma State; 19. Harvard; 20. Oklahoma; 21. Minnesota; 22. Virginia Tech; 23. Pennsylvania; 24. Houston; 25. Washington UF SOFTBALL: Can Florida’s offense dominate at the tournament? When it comes to doing damage with the bats, there isn’t a team in the Southeastern Conference that can touch Tim Walton and Florida (43-12), ranked ninth nationally and with the No. 10 RPI. The Gators lead the SEC in every positive statistical category offensively except for hit by pitch (Missouri leads but Florida is second) and sacrifice bunts (Ole Miss leads, Florida rarely gives up an out). As a team, the Gators are hitting .344 with a .601 slugging percentage and .454 on-base percentage. The Gators lead the league in runs (442), hits (491), RBI (415), doubles (99), triples (17), home runs (78), walks (248), sacrifice flies (28) and stolen bases (99, caught stealing only 7 times). Five of the top six hitters in the SEC are Gators: 1. Korbe Otis (.455); 2. Kendra Falby (.407), 3. Jocelyn Erickson (.399); 4. Reagan Walsh (.395) and 6. Skylar Wallace (.377). The Gators are so good at the plate that it has made up for the sometimes inconsistencies of freshman pitchers Keagan Rothrock (23-6, 2.51 ERA) and Ava Brown (15-5, 3.49 ERA). When the freshmen are hitting their spots, they can dominate in the circle, but when they struggle Walton has a team capable of scoring at least one more run than the opponent. The Gators are mortal locks to host an NCAA regional and they’re in good shape to finish with a top eight national seed which would allow them to host a super regional as well. A couple of wins at the SEC Tournament in Auburn could assure the Gators of that top eight seed. What can make the difference is if Florida’s bats dominate in Auburn. The Gators don’t play at the SEC Tournament until Thursday when they face the winner of the Wednesday game between Auburn and Georgia. SEC Tournament Tuesday’s game: No. 13 Ole Miss (31-24) 7, No. 12 Kentucky (30-22) 2 Wednesday’s games: No. 9 Alabama (33-16) vs. No. 8 LSU (38-14); No. 13 Ole Miss (31-24) vs. No. 5 Missouri (40-14); No. 10 Auburn (27-18-1) vs. No. 7 Georgia (38-15); No. 11 South Carolina (33-21) vs. No. 6 Mississippi State (33-17) UF WOMEN’S GOLF: Gators fifth after two rounds at regional The Gators find themselves in fifth place after two rounds of the NCAA East Lansing Regional at even par. The critical numbers for the Gators are six and three. Florida is a mere six shots behind first place Southern California and three ahead of sixth place Denver. The Gators are playing well enough to make up six shots and they need to maintain a cushion that will keep them in fifth since the top five teams from the regional will advance to the NCAA championship tournament. Leading the Gators Tuesday was Ines Archer, who shot a 2-under par 70 to move up seven spots into a fifth place tie. Maisie Filler shot a 1-over 73. She is even par and tied for 15th place. Top ten team leaderboard: 1. Southern California -6; 2. Northwestern -4; 3. Pepperdine -3; 4. Michigan State -1; 5. FLORIDA E; 6. Denver +3; 7. (TIE) Kentucky and Oklahoma State +4; 9. Augusta +15; 10. Indiana +19 ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Did you ever think you would see a day when college football players would have their own unions, their own players association and a collective bargaining agreement? Well, you haven’t seen it yet but that doesn’t mean that we aren’t moving in that direction, maybe faster than anyone expects. The National Labor Relations Board okayed a union at Dartmouth. Northwestern had that idea first and it was shot down. Figure Northwestern is either unionized or in the process of a players union since the NLRB Dartmouth decision. At UAB, there is now a players association. Don’t think for a second it will be the only one out there by summer’s end. There are anti-trust lawsuits out the wazzoo against the NCAA, which, by conservative estimates, will be forced to pay out nearly $3 billion once it loses in court. You know the NCAA will lose the court cases. They always lose. A Shetland pony has a better chance of winning the Belmont Stakes than the NCAA has of heading these anti-trust lawsuits off at the pass. There will be offers of revenue sharing that will be triumphed as a solution, but who are we fooling? Do you think for one second the lawyers who are bringing these lawsuits are going to stop at simply getting a share of the billions of television dollars generated by college athletics? There is a certain dismay among the college sports fan base that has grown accustomed to the NCAA version of the amateur model. It worked for more than 100 years and would have worked a while longer if only the NCAA had listened when athletes begged for medical care that extended beyond their playing days and the ability to complete their education once their eligibility expired. Rather than listen and see the players’ points of view, the NCAA fought at every step and lost. Every single time. The requests were not unreasonable. The only one unreasonable was the NCAA with its bulging, blundering bureaucracy and inept leadership headed by the likes of Mark Emmert. So now we’re on a path that can only lead to athletes as employees and collective bargaining agreements. We are also on a path that could lead to athletes going on strike. Imagine an entire season cancelled because the athletes went on strike and couldn’t reach a negotiated settlement with their school, their league, their conference or whoever succeeds the NCAA. The NCAA has been on life support for years. Hospice should be called in and the machines keeping the organization breathing need to be pulled. The revenue sharing agreements that are forthcoming are nothing more than stalling tactics designed to appease the players while a new organization can be cobbled together to replace the NCAA once and for all. In the end, some schools will throw up their hands and put an end to their athletic programs rather than deal with players and their unions. Others will choose to continue sponsoring high profile sports while going with a non-scholarship model for the non-revenue programs. There will be fewer athletes, fewer sports and fewer schools sponsoring teams. That is inevitable. One day bright people who investigate such things will conclude it didn’t have to be this way and they’ll be right, but the investigations won’t happen until sports as we know them have radically changed forever.

A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning: What kind of effect did that 11-run disaster of a sixth inning against Tennessee Saturday night have on the Florida Gators? We get our first hint tonight (6:30 p.m., SEC Network+) when the Gators (24-23) take on South Florida (23-24) at Condron Family Ballpark. There can’t be any hangover or lingering doubt for the Gators, who have absolutely zero margin for error if they wish to make the 64-team field for the NCAA Tournament. Hosting a regional is totally out of the question, but the Gators still have a shot at being selected for an at-large bid. Despite 23 losses and just one game over .500, the Gators have the No. 23 RPI in the country with a No. 1 strength of schedule. The Gators need wins. Counting tonight’s game with South Florida, the Gators have seven regular season games remaining, six against SEC rivals 4th-ranked Kentucky (35-10, 18-6 SEC) and Georgia (35-12, 13-11 SEC). Florida is 10-14 in SEC, needing to get as close to .500 in league play as possible to influence the NCAA Tournament selection committee. The Gators have made the NCAA field twice with losing records in SEC play during Kevin O’Sullivan’s 17 seasons on the job. Coming off four straight trips to the College World Series, the 2013 Gators went 29-27 in the regular season, 14-16 in SEC play. After losing to Texas A&M In the SEC Tournament, the Gators were sent to Indiana for the NCAA Tournament where they went 0-2, finishing with a 29-30 record, the only losing season of O’Sullivan’s career. Realistically, the Gators shouldn’t have been in the tournament, but they were selected due to the strength of the SEC and Florida’s previous four seasons. Florida also made the NCAA in 2019 with a 13-17 record in SEC play. That team finished the regular season 10 games over .500, then went 0-3 in postseason play to finish with a final record of 34-26. The 2024 Gators don’t have the luxury of four straight NCAA trips, but the fact they played for the national championship could get them into the tournament if they can get to 14 SEC regular season wins. Gator notes: The Gators knocked off South Florida 6-1 earlier in the season in Tampa … Jac Caglianone (.410, 26 HR, 53 RBI) carries a 26-game hitting streak into tonight’s game. Caglianone, who has been on base in 33 straight games, needs a hit in four straight games to tie Jacob Young for the school record … Caglianone has struck out only 17 times this season in 183 official at bats. UF SOFTBALL: Gators up to No. 8 in one of the polls D1Softball ranked the Gators No. 8 after they clinched second place in the SEC with their weekend sweep of Texas A&M. The Gators are ranked ninth in the ESPN and Softball America polls, but curiously No. 11 in the USA Today/NFCA coaches poll, which ranks Texas A&M (No. 8) and LSU (No. 10) ahead. Florida is 5-1 against those two. Korbe Otis earns SEC honors: Otis was named SEC Player of the Week after going 7-11 with two doubles, two homers (one a grand slam) and 10 RBI as the Gators went 4-0 against Florida State and Texas A&M. Otis leads the SEC in hitting (.455) and on-base percentage (.586). D1Softball top 25: 1. Texas 45-6; 2. Tennessee 40-9; 3. Oklahoma State 44-9; 4. Oklahoma 46-6; 5. UCLA 34-10; 6. Stanford 42-12; 7. Duke 44-6; 8. FLORIDA 43-12; 9. Arkansas 36-15; 10. Missouri 40-14; 11. Texas A&M 39-12; 12. LSU 38-14; 13. Georgia 38-15; 14. Washington 31-12; 15. Mississippi State 33-17; 16. Arizona 33-15-1; 17. Louisiana 40-16; 18. Florida State 41-13; 19. Virginia Tech 39-11-1; 20. Alabama 33-16; 21. Boston University 49-4-1; 22. Oregon 28-18; 23. Northwestern 33-10; 24. California 36-16; 25. Texas State 42-13 ESPN/USA Softball top 25: 1. Texas 45-6; 2. Oklahoma 46-6; 3. Tennessee 40-9; 4. Oklahoma State 44-9; 5. Duke 44-6; 6. UCLA 34-10; 7. Stanford 42-12; 8. Texas A&M 39-12; 9. FLORIDA 43-12; 10. Washington 31-12; 11. Arkansas 36-15; 12. Georgia 38-15; 13. LSU 38-14; 14. Florida State 41-13; 15. Missouri 40-14; 16. Alabama 33-16; 17. Louisiana 40-16; 18. Virginia Tech 39-11-1; 19. Mississippi State 33-17; 20. Arizona 33-15-1; 21. Oregon 28-18; 22. Clemson 33-16; 23. Northwestern 33-10; 24. Kentucky 30-21; 25. Miami (OH) 45-7 Softball America top 25: 1. Texas 45-6; 2. Tennessee 40-9; 3. Oklahoma State 44-9; 4. Oklahoma 46-6; 5. Duke 44-6; 6. UCLA 34-10; 7. Stanford 42-12; 8. Missouri 40-14; 9. FLORIDA 43-12; 10. Texas A&M 39-12; 11. Arkansas 36-15; 12. Louisiana 40-16; 13. LSU 38-14; 14. Georgia 38-15; 15. Washington 31-12; 16. Florida State 41-13; 17. Texas State 42-13; 18. Virginia Tech 39-11-1; 19. Mississippi State 33-17; 20. Northwestern 33-10; 21. Miami (OH) 45-7; 22. Arizona 33-15-1; 23. Boston University 49-4-1; 24. Alabama 33-16; 25. Charlotte 36-16 USA Today/NFCA top 25: 1. Texas 45-6; 2. Oklahoma 46-6; 3. Tennessee 40-9; 4. Oklahoma State 44-9; 5. Duke 44-6; 6. Stanford 42-12; 7. UCLA 34-10; 8. Texas A&M 39-12; 9. Washington 31-12; 10. LSU 38-14; 11. FLORIDA 43-12; 12. Florida State 41-13; 13. Missouri 40-14; 14. Georgia 38-15; 15. Arkansas 36-15; 16. Virginia Tech 39-11-1; 17. Alabama 33-16; 18. Arizona 33-17; 19. California 36-16; 20. Mississippi State 33-17; 21. Louisiana 40-16; 22. Boston University 4 9-4-1; 23. Clemson (33-16); 24. Kentucky 30-21; 25. 28-18 UF WOMEN’S GOLF: Gators in fourth, day one NCAA Playing in the East Lansing Regional, the Gators shot a 1-under 287 Monday as first round play of the NCAA championships began. Florida is six shots behind first place Southern California (281). Ines Archer and Maisie Filler came in at -1 to lead the Gators. SEC FOOTBALL: New faces in new places The transfer portal has closed its doors for now, but decisions are still being made by those who beat the deadline. Here are the newbies at each SEC school. Alabama: OT Kadyn Proctor (6-7, 360, FR) from Iowa; PK Graham Nicholson (6-0, 185, JR) from Miami (OH); S Kameron Howard (5-11, 189, FR) from Charlotte; S King Mack (5-10, 188, FR) from Penn State Arkansas: RB Rodney Hill (5-10, 186, SO) from Florida A&M; LB Larry Worth III (6-4, 220, SO) from Jacksonville State; EDGE Keyron Crawford (6-4, 243, SO) from Arkansas State; QB Blake Boda (6-4, 200, FR) from Coastal Carolina; LB Stephen Dix Jr. (6-1, 237, SO) from Marshall; DL Danny Saili (6-2, 389, JR) from BYU; WR Khafre Brown (6-0, 195, JR) from South Florida Auburn: DL Philip Blidi (6-3, 295, SR) from Indiana; DL Isaiah Rakes (6-2, 320, JR) from Southern California; LB Jaylin Alderman (6-1, 230, JR) from Louisville; WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith (6-1, 185, JR) from Penn State; OL Ronan Chambers (6-6, 290, JR) from Akron FLORIDA: OG Jason Zandamela (6-3, 305, FR) from Southern California Georgia: QB Jaden Rashada (6-4, 185, FR) from Arizona State Kentucky: DB DJ Waller Jr. (6-3, 205, FR) from Michigan LSU: DL Gio Paez (6-3, 310, SR) from Wisconsin Mississippi State: RB Davon Booth (5-10, 205, JR) from Utah State; WR Trent Hudson (6-3, 180, JR) from New Mexico State Missouri: QB Drew Pyne (6-0, 190, SO) from Arizona State; OT Marcus Bryant (6-8, 318, SR) from SMU; DL Eddie Kelly (6-4, 278, SO) from Georgia Tech; LB Jeremiah Beasley (6-2, 235, FR) from Michigan Oklahoma: C Branson Hickman (6-4, 297, JR) from SMU; DL Jermaine Lole (6-3, 310, SR) from Louisville; Damonic Williams (6-2, 320, SO) from TCU Ole Miss: RB Jacory Merritt (5-11, 204 SR) from New Mexico; RB Henry Parrish (5-10, 190, JR) from Miami; DB Isaiah Hamilton (6-1, 175, JR) from Houston South Carolina: WR Dalevon Campbell (6-4, 215, SR) from Nevada; WR Vandrevius Jacobs (6-0, 175, FR)from Florida State Tennessee: Texas: DL Bill Norton (6-6, 325, SR) from Arizona; CB Jay’vion Cole (5-10, 175, SO) from San Jose State Texas A&M: EDGE Josh Celiscar (6-4, 265, SR) from UCF; C Koli Faaiu (6-3, 326, SO) from Utah; LB Solomon DeShields (6-3, 225, JR) from Pittsburgh Vanderbilt: OL Cade McConnell (6-5, 310, FR) from Minnesota; OL Steven Hubbard (6-3, 314, SR) from UTEP; TE Emmanuel Adebi (6-5, 265, FR) from Cornell; S Maurice Hampton (6-0, 207, JR) from Memphis; WR Dariyan Wiley (6-1, 193, JR) from Louisiana-Monroe SEC BASKETBALL: New faces in new places Alabama: PG Houston Mallette (6-5, 180, JR) from Pepperdine; SG Chris Youngblood (6-4, 212, SR) from South Florida; PG Aden Holloway (6-1, 178, FR) from Auburn; C Cliff Omoruyi (6-11, 240, SR) from Rutgers Arkansas: C Zvonimir Ivisic (7-2, 234, FR) from Kentucky; C Jonas Aidoo (6-11, 230, JR) from Tennessee; Johnell Davis (6-4, 185, SR) from Florida Atlantic; SG Adou Thiero (6-6, 200, SO) from Kentucky Auburn: PG JP Pegues (6-1, 165, JR) from Furman FLORIDA: PF Sam Alexis (6-9, 240, SO) from Chattanooga; C Rueben Chinyelu (6-11, 245, SO) from Washington State; SG Alijah Martin (6-2, 185, SR) from Florida Atlantic Georgia: DeShayne Montgomery (6-4, 190, SO) from Mount St. Mary’s; C Justin Abson (6-9, 235, SO) from Appalachian State; SG Dakota Laffew (6-5, 185, SR) from Mount St. Mary’s; SF RJ Godfrey (6-7, 225, SO) from Clemson; SG Tyrin Lawrence (6-4, 200, SR) from Vanderbilt Kentucky: PF Amari Williams (6-11, 227, SR) from Drexel; PG Lamont Butler Jr. (6-2, 200, SR) from San Diego State; CG Otega Oweh (6-5, 210, SO) from Oklahoma; PF Andrew Carr (6-9, 210, SR) from Wake Forest; C Brandon Garrison (6-10, 245) from Oklahoma State; PG Kerr Kriisa (6-3, 180, JR) from West Virginia; SG Koby Brea (6-6, 174, JR) from Dayton LSU: PG Cam Carter (6-3, 195, JR) from Kansas State; PG Jordan Sears (5-11, 175, JR) from UT-Martin; SG Dji Bailey (6-5, 175, SR) from Richmond Mississippi State: PG Kanye Clary (5-11, 192, SO) from Penn State; SG Claudell Harris Jr. (6-3, 190, JR) from Boston College; C Michael Nwoko (6-10, 245, FR) from Miami; SF RJ Melendez (6-7, 205, JR) from Georgia Missouri: PF Jacob Crews (6-8, 210, JR) from UT-Martin; SG Tony Perkins (6-4, 210, SR) from Iowa; PF Mark Mitchell (6-8, 220, SO) from Duke; PG Marques Warrick (6-2, 170, SR) from Northern Kentucky Oklahoma: PG Kobe Elvis (6-2, 170, JR) from Dayton; SG Brycen Goodine (6-4, 185, SR) from Fairfield; SG Duke Miles (6-2, 175, JR) from High Point Ole Miss: PF Mikeal Brown-Jones (6-8, 210, SR) from UNC-Greensboro; C Malik Dia (6-9, 240, SO) from Belmont; Davon Barnes (6-5, 212, JR) from Sam Houston State; SG Drew Davis (6-5, 220, SR) from Seton Hall; PG Sean Pedulla (6-1, 190, JR) from Virginia Tech South Carolina: C Jordan Butler (7-0, 230, FR) from Missouri; C Nick Pringle (6-9, 220, SR) from Alabama; PG Jamarii Thomas (6-0, 185, JR) from Norfolk State Tennessee: SG Darlinstone Dubar (6-6, 207, SR) from Hofstra; C Felix Okpara (6-11, 220, SO) from Ohio State; SF Igor Milicek Jr. (6-10, 224, SO) from Charlotte Texas: SG Tramon Mark (6-5, 180, JR) from Arkansas; PF Jayson Kent (6-8, 205, SR) from Indiana State; PG Julian Larry (6-3, 185, SR) from Indiana State; PG Jordan Pope (6-2, 165, SO); SF Malik Pressley (6-6, 200, FR) from Vanderbilt Texas A&M: SG CJ Wilcher (6-5, 195, SR) from Nebraska; PF Pharrel Payne (6-9, 255, SO) from Minnesota; SG Zhuric Phelps (6-3, 175, SR) from SMU Vanderbilt: PF Jaylen Carey (6-8, 245, FR) from James Madison; SF Tyler Nickel (6-7, 200, SO) from Virginia Tech; SG Grant Huffman (6-3, 185, SR) from Davidson; SG Jason Edwards (6-1, 170, FR) from North Texas; Devin McGlockton (6-7, 220, SO) from Boston College; SG Chris Manon (6-5, 195, JR) from Cornell ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: If you are such a college football junkie that you don’t care if you’re watching two mediocre teams play in a bowl game in half-empty stadiums, then brace yourself. More games are on the way. There will be 42 bowl games for the upcoming season, six of which will be connected to the expanded College Football Playoff. In each of the last three seasons, not enough teams finished with winning records, so teams that finished below .500 got to play in a bowl game. More bowl games mean more teams that had losing records will be rewarded for mediocrity. I like an expanded playoff. I would like to see four more teams added to cap the playoff at 16. I do not like more bowl games. I believe there should be a bare minimum of seven Division I wins to make it to a bowl game. Bowl games should be a reward for playing well. This isn’t kids soccer. Bowl games shouldn’t be a participation trophy.

Jac Caglianone has been one of the few bright spots for the Gators this season (UAA Photo) The text from a rather casual acquaintance who is a Tennessee fan came in at 2:13 Sunday morning. “We beat you by two touchdowns! What do you think about that?” After drinking some water, clearing my head and remembering it’s baseball season, I replied with this courtesy of the late, great Yogi Berra: “If my father was alive to hear that, he’d turn over in his grave.” The Vol fan answered, “Huh!” I replied, “Exactly.” A lot of folks are shaking their heads and going huh after Tennessee scored 11 runs in the top of the sixth inning Saturday night at Condron Family Ballpark on the way to a 16-3 run-rule win over the Gators. It was that kind of night. It has been that kind of a season. At 24-23 overall, 10-14 in the SEC, the Gators are in imminent danger of failing to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in Kevin O’Sullivan’s 17 years on the Florida job. It seems almost surreal for that to be a possibility considering the Gators played for the national championship a year ago. A year ago, the Gators found ways to win games they weren’t supposed to – remember the 3-run rally in the bottom of the 9th to beat Virginia in the College World Series? – but this year it seems they invent ways to lose. The Gators didn’t invent a way to lose Saturday night although giving up 11 runs in an inning was rather novel. Given what’s been happening all season long, it was probably just a matter of time before there was a China syndrome meltdown that left Florida fans in a state of shock. Driving home from the game, a text from a friend showed up on the screen of my car comparing what happened to the sinking of the Titanic. Almost without thinking I asked Siri to play the Harry Chapin classic, “Dance Band On the Titanic.” It seemed appropriate to hear Chapin singing “the iceberg’s on the starboard bow, won’t you dance with me?” It took awhile for the Titanic to sink after striking the iceberg. The SS Gator is listing badly and will need a miracle of water from the rock at Rephidim proportions to keep it from going down. The problem Saturday evening was Kevin O’Sullivan had all but run out of pitchers. He needed six to get through the first game Friday, three more for game two. So, when O’Sullivan had to pull Jac Caglianone in the sixth inning of game three on Saturday, he needed brilliance that he didn't get to keep the Gators in striking distance. Instead of brilliant, the succession of pitchers afterward was the equivalent of tossing one 55-gallon drum of gasoline after another on an already raging bonfire made from 100 railroad ties. At the gas pump on the way to Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium today to watch the Gators finish off the Aggies to sweep their weekend softball series, a big tanker truck was replenishing the below ground storage tanks. On the side of the long, stainlesssteel vessel were red letters that read INFLAMMABLE. On the way home a similar truck at the Circle K read FLAMMABLE. What’s the difference? One way or the other it’s going to flam, which is pretty much what happened to the Gators Saturday against Tennessee as well as the way it has been for Florida pitching this year, particularly out of the bullpen. Caglianone has consistently given the Gators quality starts but he's the only starter who has. Until the lights went on for Fisher Jameson recently, there has been little in the way of quality on a consistent basis out of the bullpen. You can survive average or below average starting pitching if there are enough good arms in the bullpen to pick up the slack, but calls to the Florida bullpen have been like playing Russian roulette with only one empty chamber. We could nickname the Florida bullpen Gasoline Alley, but that name has been taken for about 50 years. That’s what we used to call the Atlanta Braves’ bullpen back in the 1970s. In those days you prayed Phil Niekro could go the distance because a call to the pen should have been accompanied by Jim Morrison of The Doors belting out “come on baby light my fire.” The way the pitching has been this season for UF it’s as if the FedEx truck carrying the pitching lessons was detoured to Chiefland and then got lost on its way back to Gainesville. Of course, we could say the same thing about the defense. Or should we say lack of. Unequivocally, this is the least effective defensive team Kevin O’Sullivan has put on the field in his 17 years at the University of Florida. Least effective is a kind way of saying the Gators aren’t very good. This is a case when the stats do lie because the Gators rank third in the SEC and 19th nationally in fielding percentage. Here’s how that goes. If a ball is hit and a Gator can actually get to it, there is a very good chance the ball will be caught. Emphasis on the concept of getting to the ball once it’s hit. Too often the Gator defender arrives a split second or longer after the ball has found its way into the wide open spaces. We tend to forget how good the Gators were defensively a year ago. Colby Halter at third base and Josh Rivera at shortstop were so good that we took for granted how rare it was when a ball got through on the left side of the infield. Or just how rare it was for a ball to go through BT Riopelle’s wickets behind the plate or how much ground Wyatt Langford covered in the outfield. Here we are a year later and Caglianone plays gold glove first base while the other seven positions in the field tend to fall under one of the following three categories: (1) Average; (2) below average; or (3) not very good at all. The left side of the infield is leaky and that’s being kind. The outfielders play deep, don’t get to a lot of balls in the gaps and outfield arms aren’t going to remind anyone of Roberto Clemente. When Tanner Garrison went down with a shoulder injury, catching became an adventure. There is also that teensy matter of timely hitting and speed, or lack of. Now Caglianone is not only a gold glove first baseman and Florida’s only effective starting pitcher, but he’s as dangerous at the plate as anyone in college baseball. Here’s a suggestion for you. Come out to Condron Family Ballpark Tuesday night (for South Florida) and next weekend (for Kentucky) because unless we have yet another miracle, this one of walking on the water proportions, the Gators won’t be hosting a regional and the only way to see Caglianone in a Gator uniform will be on television. Caglianone is hitting .410 with 26 home runs and 53 RBI. He’s hit in 26 straight games while showing a willingness to go the opposite way to beat the shift. He has struck out a mere 17 times in 183 official at bats. The numbers would be much better except the people who hit in front and behind him strike out a lot. Why give Caglianone anything good to hit when it's so easy to strike out the hitters in front and behind him? There isn’t anyone with speed who makes consistent contact at the top of the lineup. Nobody, it seems, understands how to lay down a bunt. Hit-and-run is out of the question due to not enough speed throughout the lineup and inconsistent contact to protect the runner. Basically, it’s station to station baseball. How many times this season have the Gators had runners on second and third yet failed to score at least one run because no one put the ball in play or hit a fly ball deep enough to bring home the runner? Baserunning blunders cost the Gators a chance to get a sweep at Arkansas. More of those minor little difficulties that have stood in the way of Florida being a good baseball team this year. Knowing what we know now, it’s obvious the Gators were way overrated when the season began, but how could anyone know that Brandon Neely, Cade Fisher and Ryan Slater were going to have a combined ERA of 6.95? Who could have known that the Gators could take out the Aggies at home and LSU on the road then go oh-fer a roadie to Mizzou? Who could have known the Gators would be 4-7 in games decided by one run? Who could have known that Ty Evans would be the only Gator other than Caglianone to hit better than .300 or that the five hitters O’Sullivan has tried to protect Caglianone with would strike out a combined 276 times in 47 games? These aren’t the only problems but they are indicative of a season gone south. Now, is it possible that the Gators could heat up in these last two weekends and salvage the season? Certainly, that isn’t beyond the realm of possibility. At a bare minimum Florida has to get to 14 SEC wins prior to Hoover, difficult when taking the schedule into consideration. When Ole Miss won the 2021 NCAA title, the Rebels were 14-16 in SEC play. They got hot in Hoover and stayed hot the rest of the way. A year later the Rebels went 6-24 (25-29 overall) and didn’t make the NCAA Tournament. In 2022, Mississippi State won the NCAA title, but a season later went 9-21 in SEC play, 26-30 overall and sat home for the NCAA Tournament. LSU, which beat the Gators to win the national championship last year, is 9-15 in SEC play this year, 31-18 overall. Whereas the Gators will close out the season with Kentucky (34-10, 17-6 SEC) and Georgia (35-12, 13-11 SEC), LSU will finish up with Alabama (29-18, 10-14 SEC) on the road and Ole Miss (25-21, 9-14 SEC) at home. Based on the schedules and the fact they are currently 13 games over .500, you would have to say LSU will make the tournament and the Gators are a longshot. If the Gators do heat up and somehow get into the tournament, they certainly won’t host and will likely be sent to Tallahassee where Florida State is 35-10 overall, 24-3 at Dick Howser Field. Not exactly a possibility that lends itself to success. On the way out of the stadium Saturday night, fans were grousing that O’Sullivan has done the worst coaching job of his Florida career. The proverbial buck does stop with the head coach, but there is only so much he can do. He can’t swing a bat. He can’t turn a flat slider into one that breaks. He can’t run down a ball in the outfield and make a strong throw that hits the cutoff man or keep a ground ball from finding a hole and turning into a 2-run single. But, as the head coach, he’s responsible when any or all of these things go wrong. Realistically, there isn’t much he can do about this season, but O’Sullivan can retool his roster and if necessary his coaching staff to ensure that another disastrous season like 2024 happens anytime soon. There are players on the current roster capable of rebounding from disappointing seasons. There are injured pitchers who could come back healthy and able to contribute in a very positive way a year from now. There is a good recruiting class coming in and there is the transfer portal, which figures to be more active nationwide in 2024 than it was a year ago. There will be plenty of good players available who could use an opportunity to play on the big stage of the Southeastern Conference, easily college baseball’s best league. Meanwhile, there are seven games remaining. As Yogi would say, “It ain’t over until it’s over.” If and when it is over, plans have to be made regarding 2025 and beyond. To that, another Yogi Berra-ism could be applied: “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might wind up someplace else.” Because the NCAA rules for transfers and NIL have changed so radically since a year ago, it’s entirely possible a bunch of programs will be bushwhacked in the days and weeks ahead. The transfer portal opens the day the NCAA announces its 64-team field and regional pairings, which means the countdown to chaos has already begun. To his credit, Kevin O’Sullivan has always had a clear, strong vision of where to take the Florida program and a rather good roadmap for how to get there. Never will that vision be more important than 2025 and never, due to the portal and NIL changes, will navigating the road back to success be more difficult.

Gators celebrate as Katie Kistler steps on home after her 6th-inning home run (UAA Photo) Tim Walton may not be able to quote you chapter and verse what goes into the RPI rankings, much less this new KPI ranking, which is supposed to carry nearly equal weight with the NCAA Tournament selection committee. What happens on the playing field, well that’s an altogether different matter. Walton knows that for the second straight weekend his Florida Gators (43-12, 17-7 SEC) won a series against a team with a higher RPI. Last weekend the Gators beat Georgia (37-15, 12-12 SEC) two out of three. With their 11-3 run-rule win over Texas A&M (39-12, 15-9 SEC) Sunday, the Gators came away with a sweep, which turned a Senior Weekend extra special. Sandwiched between the Georgia and A&M series wins was a win over Florida State. “In our last six out of our last eight games against teams that were higher RPI than us  we won six out of eight,” Walton said. “So, there’s always something to be said to the NCAA committee about who’s hot, who’s not, who’s played a schedule and what does it look like. Ultimately our challenge as teams that we’ve played on our schedule, we’ve done a really good job. We’ve had a couple of hiccups, but overall I think you’re going to have that with young people but I think we’ve started to answer the call, but we’re playing a heckuva lot better on all aspects of the game.” Based on the calculations at warrennolan.com, the Gators bounced six spots up to No. 10 in RPI, while the Aggies dropped four places to No. 16. Strangely, Georgia still has a higher RPI. The Bulldogs are No. 9 despite the fact the Gators beat them head-to-head, have a better overall record both overall and in SEC play, and have a better record against Quad 1 opponents: Florida 21-11, Georgia 20-15. When the NCAA committee meets to choose the 64-team tournament field after the conference tournaments conclude next weekend, 16 teams will be seeded and designated regional hosts. The top eight seeds will guaranteed to host both the regional and super regional as long as they continue to win. The sweep of the Aggies earned the Gators a second place finish in the Southeastern Conference, easily the toughest conference top to bottom in the country. That alone should weigh heavily on the tournament selection committee, as should Florida’s 17-8 record against teams ranked in the nation’s top 25, 9-3 against teams ranked in the top 10. However, when it comes to the NCAA, strange things can and often do happen. It is never a good idea to assume anything when the NCAA is involved, but whatever the committee decides, Walton feels confident that his team will be ready. This is the youngest Florida team Walton has gone to battle with in years as four freshmen figure prominently in the lineup. He has standout seniors such as All-American shortstop Skylar Wallace and right fielder Katie Kistler, who celebrated their final regular season game at KSP with 2-run homers Sunday. Wallace hit her 10th homer of the season and her first in a month over the left field fence in the second inning while Kistler torched a pitch high into the trees down the right field line in the sixth when the Gators put together a 5-run inning to walk it off with their 26th win by run-rule of the season. It was a slump-breaker weekend for Wallace, who went 5-10 with the home run, three doubles, five RBI and six runs scored. “Everybody talks about her year,” Walton said, alluding to an April when the hits just wouldn’t fall. “She’s got the most runs scored in the SEC (76).” Wallace also leads the NCAA in runs scored. She ranks eighth in the SEC in batting average (.377), fifth in slugging percentage (.721), third in on-base percentage (.536), ninth in hits (58), sixth in RBI (50), fourth in doubles (15), second in triples (4), fourth in total bases (111), fifth in walks (38), second in hit by pitch (15) and first in stolen bases (32, caught stealing only once). Skylar Wallace slugs her 10th home run (UAA Photo) Wallace said the home run and double to conclude Senior Weekend were secondary to how the Gators performed. “The home run was just a bonus,” Wallace said. “To go out and play the way we did all three games, I’ll take that any day. Homer or not, that was a lot of fun. I can’t ask for anything better than that on Senior Weekend.” The Gators eked out a 2-1 win Friday night when Wallace doubled in the tying run in the sixth and freshman Ava Brown drove in the game-winner with a sacrifice fly. Saturday was a wild, 9-8, win in extra innings, the game-winner coming on a Jocelyn Erickson single to left field with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth. Sunday, Erickson was met by a mob of teammates after she cleared the bases with a double to the base of the right field fence to drive in three for the run-rule. “We’re each other’s biggest fans,” Kistler said. “We all love each other and love being around each other. It makes coming every day and working hard so much more fun, especially for our last year.” Kistler’s last year doesn’t quite seem possible for Walton, who has known her for more than 10 years. While Kistler downplayed the home run, Walton was all too happy to talk about the blast that was a no-doubter from the moment it left the bat. “It’s a pretty good feeling watching Katie Kistler hit a home run over the [foul] pole like that,” Walton said. He beamed when he said it. The Gators don’t play again until Thursday when they face the winner of a game between Georgia and Auburn in the SEC Tournament in Auburn. Perhaps the Gators will get another shot at Georgia and moving past the Bulldogs in the RPI. Whoever the Gators play, Kistler says they will be ready. “We practice how we play,” Kistler said. “We prepare ourselves very well for moments like this.” For Walton, it has been one of his more rewarding seasons as Florida’s head coach. He’s blended in freshmen Keagan Rothrock, Ava Brown, Ariel Kowalewski and Mia Williams and transfers Korbe Otis (from Louisville) and Erickson (from Oklahoma) with Wallace, Kistler and juniors Reagan Walsh and Kendra Falby into a team that has a habit of turning games into adventures. They can play flawlessly in the field and scratch out 2-1 wins like they did against the Aggies Friday night. They can blow big leads as they did earlier in the week against Florida State and again against the Aggies on Saturday yet have the composure to come back and win. And, they can put it all together to run-rule a quality team like A&M, which is talented enough to win both a regional and super regional. Walton isn’t willing to compare this team to some of the others he’s coached in a career that includes two national championships, 11 super regional championships and eight SEC championships, but he will concede this team is unique. “I don’t really try to compare teams and years because I try to live in the moment,” Walton said. “The one thing I can tell you that this team has what we haven’t had in a long period of time which is a really sound process with the ability to be flexible. It’s not a routine. It’s not habits. It’s not superstitious habits. It’s a sound routine with the ability to be flexible.” Gator notes: Otis leads both the SEC and nation in on base percentage (.586). She is hitting .455, which leads the SEC. Otis hit a grand slam in the win over the Aggies Saturday … Erickson is hitting .399 while leading the SEC in RBI (70) … Falby (.410 batting average) leads the SEC in hits (79) … Getting the win in the circle Sunday was Rothrock, who leads the SEC with 23 wins … As a team, the Gators lead the SEC in every significant offensive category except sacrifice bunts and hit by pitch. As a team, the Gators are hitting .344 with more walks (248) than strikeouts (210) … Led by Reagan Walsh, who leads the SEC with 16 home runs, the Gators lead the SEC in homers with 78. SEC Tournament Tuesday Game 1: No. 13 Ole Miss (30-24, 7-17 SEC) vs. No. 12 Kentucky (30-21, 8-16 SEC) Wednesday Game 2: No. 9 Alabama (33-16, 10-14 SEC) vs. No. 8 LSU (38-14, 12-12 SEC) Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. No. 5 Missouri (40-15, 13-11 SEC) Game 4: No. 10 Auburn (27-18-1, 9-15 SEC) vs. No. 7 Georgia (38-15, 12-12 SEC) Game 5: No. 11 South Carolina (33-21, 8-16 SEC) vs. No. 6 Mississippi State (33-17, 12-12 SEC) Thursday Quarterfinals Game 6: Game 2 winner vs. No. 1 Tennessee (40-9, 19-5 SEC) Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. No. 4 Arkansas (36-15, 15-9 SEC) Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. No. 2 FLORIDA (42-13, 17-7 SEC) Game 9: Game 9 winner vs. No. 3 Texas A&M (39-12, 15-9 SEC)

By Buddy Martin If laptops could only talk, what a tale my last three could tell. This weekend, my wife bought me another Apple Mac Airbook for my birthday, a midnight blue beauty with a panoramic 15-inch screen and speedy M3 chip — wiping out our emergency savings. After all, it WAS an emergency because my Mac Airbook 3 was gasping for air and words, having endured the Dan Mullen years — hundreds of stories and the launching of the Gator Nation Kingdom which has produced over 1,000 podcasts. This is my fourth Apple laptop Mac since 2006, Volume 6 story #1 Mac Airbook 3 was battle-scarred but boldly unbowed through the glory years of two national championships under Urban Meyer in football, The Promise by Tebow and two basketball nattys produced by the incomparable Billy Donovan. Those previous three computers birthed four books and tons of magazine and newspaper stories, some of them mysteriously pilfered by the fine print of Public Storage, who would not let me pay the bill despite numerous attempts because it was in the name of my deceased wife. So they commandeered it and sold it before I got back to town. Though it was worthless to anyone else. Mac AirBook #4 arrives under a cloud of uncertainty. Though sleek and shiny and poised and ready to keep hunting and pecking for truly refreshing angles from new people with new ideas and new dreams, the keyboard must be commanded by a fresh spirit, for it only knows the songs of the player. There are some promising new tunes. Billy Napier's 13 new transfers make for nice new sheet music additions, several of which have already enrolled in school and participated in spring practice. There is an emerging new cautious optimism in recent weeks, spirited in part by the landing of the coveted USC transfer Jason Zandamela, with the 6-3, 306-pound interior lineman filling an immediate need. The search for an additional quality wide receiver still continues but the ‘24 recruiting class ranking has jumped back up to No. 7. Napier has signed 20 high school prospects and will be joined by at least four more this summer. All this was enhanced earlier by the spring debut of wunderkind quarterback DJ Lagway, edge rusher LJ McCray and mates like tailback Jadan Baugh and defensive stalwarts Pup Howard (LB), Joey Slackman (DL) and Asa Turner (S). You can feel a little pride swelling around The Swamp these days. But the Gators don’t get to corner the market on that. We here at GatorBait are swole up with pride over two of our very own. Not only did writer/podcasters Kyle Curtis and Matt Quartararo pick up their degrees in communications but served for a long stretch in top notch capacity of bringing news, features and insights on the Gators to our readers and listeners. It feels like Kyle and Matt have been a part of our family forever and we’re hoping they will continue to contribute. Truth is, my Mac Airbook 3 has been here longer — but it can be replaced. Kyle and Matt cannot. Mac 3 is gone, but these two young stars are just getting underway.

Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan awaits Luke McNeillie from the bullpen in the 9th inning (UAA Photo) They wouldn’t be the Florida Gators if they didn’t at least flirt with the idea of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. It happened Friday night in the second game of their doubleheader with 3rd-ranked Tennessee (38-9, 16-7 SEC). Having lost game one, 6-2, the Gators (24-22, 10-13 SEC) took a 4-2 lead into the top of the ninth. Because he had already thrown four full innings in relief of starter Liam Peterson, Fisher Jameson was on a very short leash when he faced Tennessee leadoff hitter Dean Curley. When Curley singled up the middle, O’Sullivan gave him the hook in favor of freshman Luke McNeillie and things got very, very interesting. Pinch-runner Ariel Antigua came on for Curley and in short order he found himself on third base due to a wild pitch and a passed ball that sandwiched a called third strike on pinch-hitter Kavares Tears. Next came a walk to Cannon Peebles followed by a ground out to third by Christian Moore that scored Antigua. McNeillie walked Blake Burke on six pitches, bringing Billy Amick to the plate. In the eighth, Amick hit his 18th homer of the season to left field to make it a 4-2 game but this time he went down a three pitches, a foul ball, a called strike two and a foul out to Luke Heyman at first base that ended the game. Getting the win required the best start of the season by freshman Liam Peterson, who went the first four innings, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out seven. Staked to a 3-0 lead in the third when Brody Donay hit his second home run of the day and Colby Shelton hit a 2-run homer, Peterson began laboring in the fourth when he walked two batters and hit one to load the bases. Facing Reese Chapman with the bases juiced, Peterson regained his composure and struck out Chapman swinging to end the threat. At 76 pitches through four innings, O’Sullivan brought on Fisher Jameson in the fifth. Jameson gave up a run-scoring double to Blake Burke in the fifth but worked his way out of the jam with consecutive fly ball outs. The Vols got another run back in the eighth on Amick’s home run but the Gators countered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Jac Caglianone reached on a single, his third hit of the game. One out later, Caglianone moved to second on a throwing error by Amick after a grounder by Luke Heyman. A fielder’s choice grounder by Tyler Shelnut moved Caglianone to third and a single up the middle by Cade Kurland sent Caglianone home with what proved to be the game-winner. In game one, the Vols jumped out to a 4-2 lead off UF starter Brandon Neely and added two insurance runs late to score a comfortable 6-2 lead. The Vols pounded out 12 hits off six Florida pitchers. The Gators got 2-1/3 innings of quality relief by freshman Jake Clemente, who allowed a hit and two walks while striking out five. Ryan Slater gave the Gators a shutout inning although he did walk one hitter. By getting the split, the Gators can help their resume with the NCAA Tournament selection committee if they can win the series tonight (6:30 p.m., SEC Network+). Florida already owns a weekend series win over No. 1 Texas A&M, plus the Gators took their weekend series with 16th-ranked Mississippi State. A series win over the nation’s 3rd-ranked team won’t ensure UF makes the 64-team field, but at 11-13 in SEC play, UF would likely get in by winning three of their final six SEC games with Kentucky and Georgia. Friday notes: With four hits in the two games Friday, Caglianone raised his batting average to .409. Caglianone has hit in 25 consecutive games while reaching base at least once in 32 straight. Caglianone is within five games of Jacob Young’s school record 30-game hit streak set in 2021. He needs 127 more games to tie Brad Wilkerson’s record of reaching base in 159 straight … Shelton’s homer was his 16th. Donay homered in both games. He has nine for the season … Peterson got his first start since April 6 … In the two games, Florida pitchers struck out 29 Tennessee hitters (13 game one, 16 game two) … Caglianone (5-0) will get the start today. Friday scores FLORIDA (24-22, 10-13 SEC) 2-4; No. 3 Tennessee (38-9, 16-7 SEC) 6-3 LSU (30-17, 8-14 SEC) 6, No. 1 Texas A&M (39-7, 15-7 SEC) 4 No. 2 Arkansas (40-7, 17-5 SEC) 10, No. 8 Kentucky (33-10, 16-6 SEC) 3 No. 15 South Carolina (31-14, 12-10 SEC) 10, Missouri (20-27, 6-16 SEC) 2 No. 16 Mississippi State (31-15, 13-9 SEC) 13, No. 23 Alabama (28-17, 9-13 SEC) 3 No. 19 Georgia (33-11, 11-11 SEC) 10, No. 17 Vanderbilt (32-14, 11-11 SEC) 0 Ole Miss (24-21, 8-14 SEC) 11, Auburn (21-23, 3-19 SEC) 7 UF SOFTBALL: Gators take game one over 8th-ranked Aggies The 9th-ranked Gators (41-12, 15-7 SEC) moved within a game of clinching the No. 2 seed in next week’s Southeastern Conference Tournament when they rallied to take a 2-1 win over 8th-ranked Texas A&M (39-10, 15-7 SEC) at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. If the Gators can score a Senior Day win today (2 p.m., SEC Network), they clinch the second seed no matter what happens in Sunday’s regular season finale since they will own the head-to-head series. It was white knuckles all the way Friday. The Gators fell behind 1-0 in the second inning and didn’t get a hit off Aggie lefthander Emiley Kennedy (20-8) until the fifth inning when they bunched four hits together to take the lead. With one out in the bottom half of the fifth, Korbe Otis beat out an infield hit and made it to second when the throw to first was air mailed. Skylar Wallace followed with a line shot double into the right center gap on a 2-1 pitch to drive home Otis. Wallace had to hold at second when Jocelyn Erickson beat out an infield grounder. Reagan Walsh loaded up the bases with a sharp single to left that was followed by a deep sacrifice fly to right field by Ava Brown, driving home Wallace with the game winner. Keagan Rothrock (22-5) gave up only five hits all night but three of them came in the second when she induced a fly out to center to end the inning, stranding runners on first and second. After a leadoff bunt single by Koko Wooley in the top of the sixth, Jazmine Hill hit a deep drive that backed Katie Kistler all the way to the fence in right field. Wooley tried to tag and take second on the play, but Kistler unloaded a perfect throw to Wallace who applied the tag to complete the double play. Former Gator Julia Cottrill followed with a single up the middle, but Rothrock got a pop out to Wallace to end the inning. The Aggies got a one-out double to left center by Allie Enright, but Rothrock ended the game with a called strike three and a foul out to first base. Friday scores No. 9 FLORIDA (41-12, 15-7 SEC) 2, No. 8 Texas A&M (39-10, 15-7 SEC) 1 No. 3 Tennessee (39-9, 18-5 SEC) 8, No. 24 Kentucky (30-20, 8-15 SEC) 3 No. 11 Arkansas (36-14, 14-9 SEC) 0-12, Ole Miss (29-24, 6-17 SEC) 6-2 No. 13 LSU (37-13, 12-12 SEC) 4, Liberty (31-21) 0 No. 15 Missouri (38-14, 11-11 SEC) 2, South Carolina (33-19, 8-14 SEC) 0 No. 19 Mississippi State (32-16, 11-11 SEC) 2; No. 12 Georgia (37-14, 11-11 SEC) 0

Jason Zandamela has yet to play a college football game but the fact that he will be a Florida Gator has a ripple effect throughout college football. The big kid (6-3, 305) from Clearwater chose the Gators Thursday after spending one semester as an early enrollee at Southern California. When he signed with Southern Cal back in December, Zandamela was a consensus 4-star prospect that 247Sports ranked the No. 46 player in the nation, the No. 1 interior lineman. In the transfer portal, 247Sports ranked him the No. 7 player in the entire country. Coming out of high school at Clearwater International Academy, Zandamela had more than 30 offers, but he chose Southern Cal over Florida State and Oklahoma. When he chose to transfer to be closer to home, family and his personal support group, the choice narrowed to Florida and UCF. Florida was already winning the battle for Zandamela when a recruiting dinner at Spurrier’s sealed the deal for Billy Napier and the Gators per a couple of people who were in the building at the time. Zandamela will set up personal shop in Gainesville in a couple of weeks, arriving with high expectations. Florida’s offensive line, which did a dandy impersonation of a sieve a season ago, looked much improved in the spring in large part due to the impact of transfers Devon Manuel (Arkansas) and Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson (San Diego State) at the tackles. The weak link in a line that had Knijeah Harris at left guard and incumbent Jake Slaughter at center was at right guard and that’s where Zandamela will have a chance to make his presence known. Because he missed spring practice, Zandamela has plenty of catching up to do, perhaps too much to get into the August rotation but landing him isn’t so much about playing time as much as it is about perception. The perception about Georgia and Alabama is that they don’t miss when they target a key recruit, particularly those that inhabit the lines of scrimmage. With the 2024 recruiting class, now bolstered by the addition of Zandamela, Florida is beginning to shed the perception that it settles for leftovers and is capable of competing and winning recruiting battles for top tier prospects. Perceptions are important. Since 2010 the image of Florida football has gone from consistent championship contender to that of a program on the brink of falling light years behind in an SEC whose already bulging biceps popped a few veins with the additions of Texas and Oklahoma. Three straight losing seasons, two on Napier’s watch will do that for you. So will a brutal fall schedule that closes with a murderer’s row of Georgia, Texas, LSU, Ole Miss and Florida State. But perceptions change. The schedule is still the same and won’t get any easier, but the same Billy Napier who has been a walking bullseye for every dart and arrow shot in his direction is now being perceived as a coach who might actually have a clue about what he’s doing. For that we can thank the following five events: (1) The return of quarterback Graham Mertz for one more season; (2) landing an outstanding recruiting class headed by 5-star quarterback DJ Lagway and 5-star EDGE LJ McCray; (3) selectively adding experience at all three levels of the defense and the offensive tackles through the portal; (4) an excellent spring practice in which there were no injuries of any significance; and (5) last week’s NFL Draft. Focus on the draft, a draft that saw only one Gator (Ricky Pearsall, first round) selected, the worst UF draft since 1980. Alabama had 10 drafted while Georgia had eight, further proof of just how far behind the SEC’s two most consistent programs that Florida has fallen. This didn’t happen overnight, but since Urban Meyer’s resignation in 2010, it has been like death by a thousand cuts. The roster Napier inherited when he took the Florida job in December of 2021 looked nothing like one capable of competing for championships. It has taken two years to apply the bandages and tourniquets when necessary just to stop the bleeding. Only now are all the critics starting to understand why Napier felt the need to bring in his “army” of analysts and recruiting specialists. That’s what it takes to compete for talent with the likes of Georgia, Alabama and Texas. It’s like that old southern adage, you don’t bring a knife to a gunfight because recruiting in the SEC is like the shootout at the OK Corral. When spring football ended, Napier talked about how much he likes this football team. He should. He’s rebuilt it from the ground up and only now does he have what can be called an SEC roster. In other words, when the Gators take the field this fall they won’t look like kids trying to compete against grown men. Back in January, Napier’s tush was supposedly hotter than the proverbial pepper sprout Johnny and June Cash sang about in the song “Jackson” back in 1963. Until he wins on the field, there will be no shortage of critics claiming a hoard of buyout cash is at the end of his rainbow, but don’t buy into whatever it is they’re selling. Napier is being given the time it will take to put a firm foundation under the program. Of course, he is going to have to win, but it’s like building a house. The roof doesn’t go on until the foundation is dug and strong walls are in place to hold it up. He's made enough progress that even some of his harsher critics such as Paul Finebaum have taken a more moderate tone when speaking of where the Florida program is trending. Some, such as ESPN’s Cole Cubelic, believe Napier has turned the corner and wins will follow. He thinks the Gators will be one of the surprise teams in the nation this year. “Some people are saying three and four wins for this Florida team, you’re out of your mind,” Cubelic said. “It’s the Florida Gators, man. That’s not going to happen. I think the Florida Gators are going to be just fine this year.” See how perceptions have changed? And that brings us back to Jason Zandamela. He, also is proof of how perceptions have changed. The Gators recruited him out of high school in Clearwater, but back then he wasn’t interested. When, after four months in LA he decided he needed to return home, he could have just as easily signed with UCF, Florida State or Miami but instead he’s going to be a Gator. Jason Zandamela isn’t the savior of the Florida football program. He hasn’t strapped it on for even one practice yet but that isn’t important at this stage of the game. What is important is the ripple effect of Florida winning another recruiting battle for a high profile player. Also important is that Billy Napier is doing a rather good job of restoring the Florida brand. It has been way too long since Florida and success on the football field have been synonymous. Success on the field is still a necessity, but winning on Saturday doesn’t happen unless you win the talent acquisition battles.

A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning: With 11 regular season games remaining, it is a numbers game for the Florida Gators. At 23-21 overall, seven wins will get the Gators to 30, which will make it easier for the NCAA Tournament selection committee to ease them into the 64-team field. More important is Florida’s 9-12 record in the Southeastern Conference. There are nine conference games remaining starting with tonight’s (7 p.m., ESPN) weekend series with 3rd-ranked Tennessee (37-7, 15-6 SEC). Five SEC wins would get the Gators to 14 in league play, and while that would be two games under .500, it’s the same number Ole Miss had two years ago when the Rebels got on a roll to win the national championship in Omaha. Any way you look at it, the odds are stacked against the Gators making it 17 straight years in the NCAA Tournament since Kevin O’Sullivan became Florida’s head coach. This week it’s Tennessee. Next week there is a non-conference game with South Florida (22-22) at Condron Family Ballpark, then it’s a home weekend series with 8th-ranked Kentucky (33-9, 16-5 SEC). The Gators travel to Georgia (32-12, 11-10 SEC) in the final series of the regular season. A 7-4 overall record and 5-4 SEC is a tall order for a Florida team that has had difficulty stringing wins together in the last aamonth. Florida’s chances to get it done begins with Tennessee. The Vols are ranked third in the country. They rank fifth nationally in batting average (.324). They’re second in home runs (122), third in scoring (10 per game) and 8th in the country in ERA (3.92). It is Tennessee’s offensive numbers that are scary for a Florida pitching staff with a team ERA of 6.23, which ranked 169th in the nation. Now, the Gators can hit the ball out of the yard – they’re eighth in the country with 94 homers – but they also strike out way too much. The Gators have struck out 410 times this season. Jac Caglianone, who is tied for second nationally with 26 home runs, is bracketed by hitters who have whiffed more than 50 times. Can the Gators win this series? The answer is yes, but it’s not going to be easy and the pitching staff has to turn in a weekend at least as good as they were against Arkansas. The Gators lost a 2-1 game on Friday and 6-5 on Saturday. Florida won the game 9-5 on Sunday thanks to brilliant relief pitching. Florida will send lefty Pierce Coppola (0-2, 10.50 ERA) tonight. The numbers on Coppola are a bit deceiving since he was on a pitch count of 40 in his first start in two years against Vanderbilt and 60 last weekend against Arkansas. The likely starter Friday night will be Brandon Neely (1-2, 6.15 ERA). Against Arkansas, Neely had his best start of the year, allowing only one run and three hits in 5-1/3 innings. Caglianone (5-0, 4.10 ERA) will start Saturday. Tennessee will counter with Chris Stamos (3-0, 2.89 ERA) tonight, Drew Beam (6-1, 3.29 ERA Saturday) and Zander Sechrist (1-0, 3.89 Saturday). At the plate, the Vols have five hitters already with double figures in home runs – Christian Moore (20), Billy Amick (17), Dylan Dreiling (15), Kavares Tears (14) and Blake Burke (14). UF SOFTBALL: One for the ages! Falby saves UF from disaster! You will have to pardon the Florida State Seminoles (40-11) if they’ve had enough Kendra Falby for one season. Florida’s junior center fielder was a constant thorn in the Seminoles’ side, but especially in the ninth when she came through in the clutch not once, but twice. Leading off the second extra inning, Falby broke a 13-13 tie with the first home run of her already spectacular softball career. In the bottom half of the inning with one out and a runner on first, Falby charged in on a line drive up the middle, made the catch and fired a perfect throw to first to double up the runner for a game-ending double play. Those weren’t the only big plays for Falby on a night when the 9th-ranked Gators blew a 13-7 lead in the bottom of the seventh only to come back for a 15-13 win for the ages over 14th-ranked FSU. The final damage assessment was a 5-6 night at the plate that included a double and the game-winning home run, four RBI, four runs scored and a stolen base. In the Florida second, Falby’s infield hit scored Ariel Kowalewski as the Gators took a 4-2 lead. In the Florida fourth, Falby doubled and came home to score on a Korbe Otis double, which was followed one out later by a home run to right center by Jocelyn Erickson. Falby’s 2-run single in the fifth sparked a 4-run rally that saw the Gators take an 11-4 lead. Falby stole second, moved to third and scored on back-to-back sacrifice flies by Otis and Skylar Wallace. In the seventh, Falby hit a one-out double and came home on a 2-run homer to left center by Otis. That made the score 13-7, which should have been comfortable enough to win, except the Gators collapsed in the bottom half of the inning. In what seemed like a repeat of last week when the Seminoles scored 12 runs in the top of the fifth for a 12-3 run-rule win over the Gators in Gainesville, Florida State scored six runs in the bottom of the seventh to send the game into extra innings. That it went into extra innings had everything to do pitchers Keagan Rothrock and Ava Brown struggling late in the game as they did a week earlier. With the Gators leading 11-4 after five, Brown was brought in to pitch after Rothrock gave up a walk and a 2-run homer. Brown walked the bases full then walked in another run on four pitches to make it 11-7. The Otis home run in the top of the seventh stretched the Florida lead to 13-7, but after a three singles and a walk cut the margin to 13-8 with the bases full, Rothrock was brought back in. An error scored two to cut the lead to 13-10, but a 3-run homer tied the game, still with one out. Rothrock regained her poise and got out of the inning with a ground out and a pop out, although it was hold your breath time when she hit a batter after the ground ball second out. Rothrock set the Seminoles down 1-2-3 in the eighth, and after a one-out single in the bottom of the ninth, Falby came up with her game-ending double play. Falby and Otis (2-3) each had four RBI, while Wallace, Erickson and Reagan Walsh had two each. The win was the 21st of the season for Rothrock. The Gators (40-12, 14-7 SEC) will be home this weekend against 8th-ranked Texas A&M (39-9, 15-6 SEC) with the winner clinching the second seed in the SEC Tournament. With a sweep of the Aggies, the Gators might very well earn a top eight seed for the NCAA Tournament which would mean they could host a regional and super regional. UF LACROSSE: Gators face Vandy in AAC semifinals Winners of 15 consecutive games, 9th-ranked Florida (15-2, 6-0 AAC) will face Vanderbilt (9-7, 3-3 AAC) in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference (5:30 p.m.) today. In the other semifinal, James Madison will face off with Temple. Florida went undefeated in AAC play to win the regular season conference championship. Five Gators were named first team all-conference: Danielle Pavinelli, Emily Heller, Maggi Hall, Elyse Finnelle and Madison Waters. Named second team were Liz Harrison, Paisley Egan, Theresa Bragg and Kaitlyn Davies. Hall was named attacker of the year and Finelle was goalkeeper of the year. UF GOLF: Gator men No. 3 seed in West Lafayette Regional The Florida men’s team will be the No. 3 seed in the West Lafayette (IN) Regional when NCAA championship play begins May 13. Vanderbilt, which won the SEC championship, is the No. 1 seed in the regional with Arizona No. 2. The Florida women, who will begin play in the East Lansing (MI) Regional on Monday, saw Maisie Filler named first team All-SEC on Monday. UF BASKETBALL: Two names to keep an eye on in the portal A couple of names that have surfaced that could impact Todd Golden’s decisions to fill the final two scholarships on his roster. Two days ago, Tulane combo guard Sion James  (6-5, 190, SR) entered the portal. He’s a Georgia kid (Buford) who averaged 14 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game last season for the 14-17 Green Wave. He shot an impressive 38.1 percent from the 3-point line. Yesterday, Ven-Allen Lubin (6-8, 220, SO) announced he’s in the portal out of Vanderbilt. He played high school ball at Orlando Christian Prep, averaged 12.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game for the Commodores, and had games of 15 and 25 points against the Gators. Florida assistant coach Carlin Hartman played collegiately at Tulane and still has strong ties to the New Orleans area. Lubin was a high school teammate of 2024 Florida signee Isaiah Brown (6-5, 190). In the SEC: John Calipari has landed two of the most highly coveted transfers in the last couple of days – Jonas Aidoo (6-11, 230, JR) from Tennessee and Johnell Davis (6-4, 185, SR) from Florida Atlantic … Kentucky has landed three important transfers, center Brandon Garrison (6-11, 245, FR) from Oklahoma State and shooters Koby Brea (6-6, 174, JR) from Dayton and Kerr Kreiis (6-3, 180, JR) from West Virginia … Texas A&M got a shooter from SMU in Zhuric Phelps (6-3, 175, SR) … Nine have transferred out of Vanderbilt, which has landed six in the portal. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: The folks at the Heisman Trust have returned the trophy Reggie Bush earned in 2005. It should have been done a long time ago. Bush’s family was hooked up with agents, but that didn’t have any affect on what Reggie did on the field. In his Heisman campaign, Bush ran for 1,740 yards (8.7 per carry) and 16 touchdowns, plus caught 37 passes for 478 yards (12.8 per catch) and two more TDs. He earned it on the field. He should not have had the Heisman stripped from him. But, at least something is being done to rectify the situation. Now, if only the people in charge at the University of Florida would do the right thing about the 1984 and 1990 football teams. The 1984 team won the Southeastern Conference championship on the field and was easily the best team in the country when the season ended. BYU beat a 6-6 Michigan team in the Holiday Bowl BEFORE Christmas and was awarded the national title because the Cougars were the only unbeaten team. They were not the best team in the country. Led by Georgia and Tennessee, the SEC held a vote at the spring meetings to strip the Gators of their title because UF was on NCAA probation. The 1990 team, Steve Spurrier’s first, went 9-2 overall, 6-1 in SEC play. Tennessee finished second at 5-1-1 but the Vols were awarded the SEC title because Florida was on NCAA probation for something that happened before any member of the 1990 team was even on scholarship. The vote to prevent the Gators from claiming the SEC title was led by Georgia and Tennessee. Again. Now barring a miracle of Jonah in the belly of the whale proportions, the SEC isn’t going to say oops and declare the Gators football champs for 1984 and 1990. The University of Florida, however, could at least bring these two teams back for a recognition weekend. That UF has never recognized the 1984 team is an absolute travesty. The fans packed the stadium every game and when UF beat Kentucky to win the SEC title on the field, there were so many fans in the streets of Gainesville and at the airport that the UF charter did a fly over so the team could watch. Spurrier’s team did nothing wrong but was punished and has not had a recognition weekend. It is time. It is past time, that the Florida athletic department at least gave these two teams a weekend to remember. If it’s not done it’s truly shameful.

A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning: Call Florida’s 10-8 win over Florida Atlantic Tuesday evening exactly what it was – a win by any means necessary. The Gators didn’t look remotely close to the team that should have but didn’t sweep Arkansas last weekend, but Florida is in such dire straits for wins that you take a win any way you can get it. The pitching, which was so good against Arkansas, looked like it has in midweek games all season. With the exception of redshirt freshman Jake Clemente, who threw very well for 1-2/3 innings and was the only UF pitcher who was unscathed, the pitching was erratic at best. Starter Cade Fisher gave up two runs and three hits while walking two and hitting a batter in 1-1/3 innings. Ryan Slater, who got the win (4-2), was rocked for four hits and two runs in 2-2/3 innings. Frank Menendez was better than Fisher or Slater but the defense was weak behind him and he gave up two runs, only one of which was earned, and three hits. Fisher Jameson, brilliant in two relief efforts against Arkansas, gave up three hits and a run. It got dicey in the top of the ninth when FAU closed to within two (10-8) of the Gators, but Jameson got a double play grounder to clear out the threat and win the game. The Gators struck out eight FAU hitters, but they walked six and hit a batter. Do that against Tennessee in the weekend series that begins Thursday night and the Gators will get run out of the ball yard. Now, Florida did hit the ball well enough to score 10 runs but the Owls didn’t exactly look like gold glovers out there. No glove could have caught the home runs by Cade Kurland (his ninth, solo shot in the third) or the one Ty Evans hit (11th, one on) in the fifth. Evans had a run-scoring single and a sacrifice fly. Luke Heyman had a single, a double and two RBI as did Brody Donay. Freshman Hayden Yost continued to make a pitch that he should be the regular left fielder. He had a single, a double, a walk, was hit by a pitch, stole a base and scored three times. He is 9-16 in Florida’s last five games and has scored seven times. Jac Caglianone nearly gave everyone a thrill in the fifth when he hit a towering fly ball to right center that John Schroeder snagged as it was about to go over the fence. Caglianone did single in the first to extend his hitting streak to 23 games. He also walked and was hit by a pitch. Exciting it wasn’t. Boring? A little bit, but the important thing was it was a win at a time when the Gators really can’t afford to lose. Florida is 23-21 heading into the series with Tennessee Thursday. To make the NCAA Tournament the Gators need to get to 14 wins in SEC play (Gators are currently 9-12)  and as close as possible to 30 wins in the regular season. UF TRACK AND FIELD: UF men take over top spot in the nation USTFCCCA men’s top 25: 1. FLORIDA; 2. Texas A&M; 3. LSU; 4. Alabama; 5. Arkansas; 6. Texas Tech; 7. Southern California; 8. Texas; 9. Virginia Tech; 10. Auburn; 11. Kentucky; 12. South Florida; 13. Tennessee; 14. North Carolina; 15. Mississippi State; 16. Oklahoma State; 17. Virginia; 18. Iowa State; 19. South Carolina; 20. Nebraska; 21. Georgia; 22. Northern Arizona; 23. Washington; 24. Miami; 25. BYU USTFCCCA women’s top 25: 1. LSU; 2. Arkansas; 3. Oregon; 4. Texas A&M; 5. South Carolina; 6. Illinois; 7. FLORIDA; 8. Texas; 9. Georgia; 10. Tennessee; 11. Texas Tech; 12. Ole Miss; 13. Nebraska; 14. Notre Dame; 15. Alabama; 16. Florida State; 17. Oklahoma; 18. Southern California; 19. Harvard; 20. Minnesota; 21. Washington; 22. Houston; 23. Clemson; 24. California; 25. BYU UF SOFTBALL: The next four games, starting tonight with 14th-ranked Florida State (40-10) in Tallahassee (7 p.m., ACC Network) are critical for Tim Walton and the Gators. Now 9th in both the ESPN and USA Today polls and 16thin RPI, the Gators have a chance to earn a top eight national seed if they can finish strong. The Gators (39-12, 14-7 SEC) close out the regular season this weekend with 8th-ranked Texas A&M (39-9, 15-6 SEC). If Florida can win two out of three, it will give the Gators the tiebreaker for the No. 2 seed at the SEC Tournament in Auburn next week. A 4-0 finish this week might be all it takes for Florida to be a top eight seed and hosting rights for both the Regional and Super Regional. Walsh honored by SEC: Reagan Walsh went 6-12 last week including two home runs at Georgia to earn SEC Player of the Week honors. It is the first time in her Florida career that Walsh has won Player of the Week. Walsh is second in the SEC in hitting (.404), slugging percentage (.851) and home runs (16) and third in RBI (55). ESPN/USA Softball top 25: 1. Texas 42-6; 2. Oklahoma 45-4; 3. Tennessee 37-9; 4. Oklahoma State 42-8; 5. Duke 44-6; 6. UCLA 30-10; 7. Stanford 39-11; 8. Texas A&M 39-9; 9. FLORIDA 39-12; 10. Washington 31-10; 11. Arkansas 34-13; 12. Georgia 37-13; 13. LSU 36-13; 14. Florida State 40-10; 15. Missouri 37-13; 16. Alabama 32-14; 17. Louisiana 38-15; 18. Virginia Tech 38-11-1; 19. Mississippi State 30-16; 20. Arizona 32-15; 21. Oregon 27-16; 22. Clemson 33-16; 23. Northwestern 31-9; 24. Kentucky 30-18; 25. Miami (OH) 40-7 USA Today/NFCA top 25: 1. Texas 42-6; 2. Oklahoma 45-4; 3. Tennessee 37-9; 4. Oklahoma State 42-8; 5. Duke 44-6; 6. UCLA 30-10; 7. Stanford 39-11; 8. Texas A&M 39-9; 9. FLORIDA 39-13; 10. Washington 31-10; 11. Arkansas 34-13; 12. Georgia 37-13; 13. LSU 36-13; 14. Florida State 40-10; 15. Missouri 37-13; 16. Alabama 32-14; 17. Louisiana 38-15; 18. Virginia Tech 38-11-1; 19. Mississippi State 30-16;  20. Arizona 32-15-1; 21. Oregon 27-16; 22. Clemson 33-16; 23. Northwestern 31-9; 24. Kentucky 30-18; 25. Miami (OH) 40-7 D1Softball top 25: 1. Texas 42-6; 2. Oklahoma 45-4; 3. Tennessee 37-9; 4. Oklahoma State 42-8; 5. Stanford 39-11; 6. UCLA 30-10; 7. Duke 44-6; 8. Arkansas 34-13; 9. Washington 31-10; 10. Texas A&M 39-9; 11. Florida State 40-10; 12. FLORIDA 39-12; 13. LSU 36-13; 14. Georgia 37-13; 15. Missouri 37-13; 16. Arizona 32-15-1; 17. Louisiana 38-15; 18. Virginia Tech 38-11-1; 19. Mississippi State 30-16; 20. Boston University 45-4-1; 21. Northwestern 31-9; 22. Alabama 32-14; 23. Oregon 27-16; 24. South Carolina 32-18; 25. California 33-15 Softball America top 25: 1. Texas 42-6; 2. Oklahoma 45-4; 3. Tennessee 37-9; 4. Texas A&M 39-9; 5. Oklahoma State 42-8; 6. Duke 44-6; 7. UCLA 30-10; 8. Arkansas 34-13; 9. Stanford 39-11; 10. Missouri 37-13; 11. Florida State 37-13; 12. FLORIDA 39-12; 13. Georgia 37-13; 14. Washington 31-10; 15. Louisiana 38-15; 16. LSU 36-13; 17. Texas State 39-13; 18. Virginia Tech 38-11-1; 19. Alabama 32-14; 21. Miami (OH) 40-7; 22. Arizona 32-15-1; 23. Mississippi State 30-17; 24. Boston University 45-4-1; 25. Michigan 37-14 UF LACROSSE: Gators face Vanderbilt in AAC semifinals Having already won the American Athletic Conference regular season championship, the 9th-ranked Gators (15-2) will play 4th-seeded Vanderbilt in the AAC Tournament Thursday in Nashville. IWLCA top 25 poll: 1. Northwestern 13-2; 2. Boston College 16-3; 2. Syracuse 14-5; 4. Notre Dame 15-3; 5. Michigan 14-3; 6. Virginia 14-4; 7. Loyola 15-2; 8. Yale 13-2; 9. FLORIDA 15-2; 10. Penn 12-3; 11. Maryland 12-5; 12. Johns Hopkins 11-6; 13. Denver 13-3; 14. Stony Brook 15-2; 15. Penn State 10-6; 16. Princeton 10-5; 17. North Carolina 10-6; 18. James Madison 12-4; 19. Stanford 11-4; 20. Navy 14-3; 21. Southern California 11-4; 22. Fairfield 15-1; 23. Harvard 10-4; 24. Colorado 11-5; 25. Rutgers 8-9 UF TENNIS: Gators start NCAA play this weekend Florida’s path to the NCAA women’s tennis championship begins Saturday at the Ring Tennis Complex against Stetson (3 p.m.). Win and the Gators advance to the second round against the winner of Florida International and Miami on Sunday. The Florida men (13-11) will open play in the NCAA Tournament Friday in Tallahassee against UCF. If the Gators win their opening match, they’ll face the winner of ACC champion Florida State and Atlantic Sun Conference champ North Florida in the second round. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Demarckus Bowman is in the transfer portal. Again. Nothing new there. The former 5-star running back from Lakeland began his career at Clemson, transferred to Florida and then on to UCF. He carried the football 10 times for 62 yards and a TD last season at UCF. His 3-year total is 175 rushing yards, an average of 5.3 yards per carry. Bowman is a former 5-star running back, sort of a can’t miss type thought to be an answer to prayers at three different schools. That it hasn’t panned out, some say, is because he either can’t or won’t block, therefore he’s a liability in the passing game. Since he’s only caught two passes in his career – for seven yards – there is no question he’s going to run the football whenever he’s in the game. So here he is, transferring. Again. Trying to jump start a career that has yet to get off the ground and while he’s trying to get his mojo back he is a poster child for everything that’s wrong with the portal. Players should be able to transfer but this current system isn’t working and everyone knows it. But what should be done? How can an untenable situation be reversed? We constantly hear critics of the system we have saying it’s impossible to put the toothpaste back in the tube now that it’s out and it’s hard to argue that they’re wrong. Something has to be done, though. Someone with common sense definitely needs to go full MacGyver and show what can be done with a stick, a ball of string and two bars of soap. There is a solution and really, it isn’t all that complicated. A few simple rules could get the job done, but of course, it would require no fudging. To hell with all these amendments and waivers. Make a set of rules with one or two exceptions and make no exceptions to the exceptions. Here are three suggestions: 1. No transferring until you’ve been on campus the fall of your freshman year and the following spring. The only exception is if the head coach – not the position coach – is fired or leaves on his own volition. We have kids who early enrolled leaving after one spring practice. There is something seriously wrong when that happens. 2. To transfer without having to sit a year, you have to leave the previous school with a 2.5 or higher grade point average in NON-REMEDIAL courses. If you’re taking remedial courses, then you have to sit a year. If your GPA falls even a fraction below a 2.5, then you have to sit a full year. 3. After transferring twice, every time you transfer you lose one year of eligibility. So if you’ve transferred twice and decide you need a new change of scenery or you’ve got this nifty NIL deal lined up, you lose one year when you transfer to your third team in three years. Those three changes to the rules would not solve all the problems, but they would certainly solve a few of them. And, they’re not that outrageous. They’re common sense.

A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning: If you thought all hell broke loose when the spring transfer portal opened up, then today could prove to be even worse as football and basketball players scramble to get their names in the portal before it closes tonight. Players whose names are in the portal when the clock strikes midnight can transfer anywhere in the days and weeks ahead with no hassles. There is a possibility one of two will call it a Florida football career today, far less of a chance that there will be anymore basketball transfers. Billy Napier has yet to add anyone to his football roster from the spring portal although it’s likely Southern Cal offensive line transfer Jason Zandamela ( will commit to the Gators sometime in the next few days. Napier is likely to add no more than three to the roster – Zandamela if he signs, a wide receiver and perhaps one more defensive lineman. The departures of linebacker Mannie Nunnery, corner Ethan Pouncey and Riley Simonds, who will be a student-coach next season, leaves the Gators at 84 on scholarship so anyone beyond Zamelda will require a couple of departures. Todd Golden has added three players from the portal and has two more scholarships open. Golden is expected to add two more, probably a hybrid guard/small forward type and a combo wing/point guard. Florida is thought to be taking a long look at Florida Gulf Coast shooter Zach Anderson (6-7, 205, SR), who hit 45.9 percent of his 3-pointers last season and is 38.7 percent for his career. Anderson was a high school teammate of Sam Alexis, who Golden signed out of the portal from Chattanooga. Golden indicated back on Friday that he can afford to be patient to find the players who are the right fit from both a talent and basketball program culture standpoint. SEC BASKETBALL: Busy day in the portal Alabama: Nate Oats got good news Monday when center Grant Nelson announced he is returning for one more year. That will help offset the losses of big guys Nick Pringle (to South Carolina), Mohamad Wague and Sam Walters (to Michigan). Oats is still waiting on a decision from All-American Mark Sears whether he stays in the NBA Draft or returns. If Sears stays in the draft, Oats has one more scholarship to play with. Outgoing: SF Kris Parker (6-8, 195, RFR); SG Rylan Griffen (6-5, 185, SO) to Kansas; SG Davin Cosby (6-5, 205, FR) to Wake Forest; Sam Walters (6-10, 198, FR) to Michigan; C Mohamad Wague (6-11, 225, JR); C Nick Pringle (6-9, 220, SR) to South Carolina Incoming: PG Houston Mallette (6-5, 180, JR) from Pepperdine; SG Chris Youngblood (6-4, 212, SR) from South Florida; PG Aden Holloway (6-1, 178, FR) from Auburn Arkansas: John Calipari came up with the transfer of the day when Tennessee’s All-SEC center Jonas Aidoo announced he will be calling the Hogs next season. Calipari also landed Zvonimir Ivisic from Kentucky and has convinced stud freshmen Karter Knox, Boogie Fland and Billy Richmond to come with him from Kentucky. Cal will be actively seeking at least 4-6 more transfers. Outgoing: PG Keon Menifield (6-1, 150, SO); F Denijay Harris (6-7, 200, SR); WG Joseph Pinion (6-6, 195, SO) to Arkansas State; C Baye Fall (6-10, 200, FR) to Kansas State; SG Tramon Mark (6-5, 180, JR) to Texas Incoming: C Zvonimir Ivisic (7-2, 234, FR) from Kentucky; PF Jordan Burks (6-9, 220, FR) from Kentucky; C Jonas Aidoo (6-11, 230, JR) from Tennessee Auburn: With All-SEC Johni Broome returning, Bruce Pearl is set in the front court. The losses of point guards Tre Donaldson (to Michigan) and Aden Holloway (to Alabama) are more than offset by Furman transfer JP Pegues. Auburn has one open scholarship. Outgoing: CG KD Johnson (6-0, 190, SR) to George Mason; PG Tre Donaldson (6-2, 190, SO) to Michigan; PG Aden Holloway (6-1, 178, FR) to Alabama INCOMING: PG JP Pegues (6-1, 165, JR) from Furman FLORIDA: Todd Golden has brought in one of the best portal recruiting groups in the country in Sam Alexis, Rueben Chinyelu and Alijah Martin. Outgoing: SG Riley Kugel (6-5, 206, SO) to Kansas; PF Aleks Szymczyk (6-10, 250, RFR) Incoming: PF Sam Alexis (6-9, 240, SO) from Chattanooga; C Rueben Chinyelu (6-11, 245, SO) from Washington State; SG Alijah Martin (6-2, 185, SR) from Florida Atlantic Georgia Mike White has lost six to the portal. He got the backcourt from Mount St. Mary’s in DeShayne Montgomery and Dakota Laffew who combined to average 31 points and a stud center from the Sun Belt in Justin Abson from Appalachian State. White still has three scholarships open. Outgoing: SF Matthew-Alexander Moncrief (6-7, 220, SR); PG Justin Hill (6-0, 185, SR) to Wichita State; C Jalen Deloach (6-9, 215, JR); SG Mari Jordan (6-8, 185, RFR); WF Jabri Abdur-Rahim (6-7, 214, SR) to Providence; SF RJ Melendez (6-7, 205, JR) Incoming: DeShayne Montgomery (6-4, 190, SO) from Mount St. Mary’s; C Justin Abson (6-9, 235, SO) from Appalachian State; SG Dakota Laffew (6-5, 185, SR) from Mount St. Mary’s Kentucky: Mark Pope has landed four exceptional transfers including big guys Amari Williams (from Drexel) and Andrew Carr (from Wake Forest). Even with the transfers Pope has six open scholarships. Outgoing: SG Adou Thiero (6-6, 200, SO); SG Joey Hart (6-5, 203, FR) to Ball State; C Aaron Bradshaw (7-0, 220, FR) to Ohio State; C Zvonimir Ivisic (7-2, 234, FR) to Arkansas; PG DJ Wagner (6-3, 175, FR); PF Jordan Burks (6-9, 220, FR) to Arkansas; C Ugonna Onyenso (6-11, 225, SO) Incoming: PF Amari Williams (6-11, 227, SR) from Drexel; PG Lamont Butler Jr. (6-2, 200, SR) from San Diego State; CG Otega Oweh (6-5, 210, SO) from Oklahoma; PF Andrew Carr (6-9, 210, SR) from Wake Forest LSU: Matt McMahon has added a pair of point guards including Jordan Sears who averaged 21.6 points at Middle Tennessee State. McMahon has only one scholarship remaining. Outgoing: SF Mwani Wilkerson (6-5, 205, SO); SG Carlos Stewart (6-1, 185, JR) to Santa Clara Incoming: PG Cam Carter (6-3, 195, JR) from Kansas State; PG Jordan Sears (5-11, 175, JR) from UT-Martin Mississippi State: Five have departed but the Bulldogs picked up a couple of scoring point guards in Kanye Clary (from Penn State) and Claudell Harris (from Boston College). Outgoing: PG Andrew Taylor (6-3, 190, SR); SG Trey Fort III (6-4, 195, JR); PF Jaquan Scott (6-8, 230, JR); SG Shakeel Moore (6-1, 180, SR); C Jimmy Bell (6-10, 270, SR) Incoming: PG Kanye Clary (5-11, 192, SO) from Penn State; SG Claudell Harris Jr. (6-3, 190, JR) from Boston College; C Michael Nwoko (6-10, 245, FR) from Miami Missouri: Beware Mizzou. Not only does Dennis Gates have a top seven recruiting class, he’s brought in four potential starters from the portal including Duke power forward Mark Mitchell and scorers Jacob Crews (from UT-Martin) and Marques Warrick (from Northern Kentucky). All 13 scholarships are filled. Outgoing: SG Curt Lewis (6-5, 215, JR); PF Jesus Carralero (6-8, 210, SR); SG John Tonje (6-5, 222, SR) to New Mexico; C Jordan Butler (7-0, 230, FR) to South Carolina; SF Kaleb Brown (6-7, 245, SO) Incoming: SF Jacob Crews (6-8, 210, JR) from UT-Martin; SG Tony Perkins (6-4, 210, SR) from Iowa; PF Mark Mitchell (6-8, 220, SO) from Duke; PG Marques Warrick (6-2, 170, SR) from Northern Kentucky Oklahoma: The Sooners lost four starters in the portal but has brought in three guards including Jadon Jones (from Long Beach State). Porter Moser has two scholarships to play with. Outgoing: CG Otega Oweh (6-5, 210, SO) to Kentucky; PF John Hugley (6-9, 240, JR) to Xavier; PG Javian McCollum (6-1, 170, JR) to Georgia Tech; PG Milos Uzan (6-4, 183, SO) to Houston Incoming: PG Kobe Elvis (6-2, 170, JR) from Dayton; SG Brycen Goodine (6-4, 185, SR) from Fairfield; SG Jadon Jones (6-5, 185, JR) from Long Beach State Ole Miss: Chris Beard has brought in an entire starting lineup from the portal headlined by center Malik Dia (from Belmont), power forward Mikeal Brown-Jones (from UNC-Greensboro) and point guard Sean Pedulla (from Virginia Tech). Beard has three scholarships at his disposal. Outgoing: PF Rashaud Marshall (6-9, 220, FR) to Arkansas State; C Malique Ewin (6-10, 240); Jacob Gazzo (6-8, 215, FR); PF Cameron Barnes (6-9, 195, FR); C Moussa Cisse (6-10, 220, SR); SG Brandon Murray (6-5, 214, JR) to McNeese State; PG Austin Nunez (6-2, 170, So) Incoming: PF Mikeal Brown-Jones (6-8, 210, SR) from UNC-Greensboro; C Malik Dia (6-9, 240, SO) from Belmont; Davon Barnes (6-5, 212, JR) from Sam Houston State; SG Drew Davis (6-5, 220, SR) from Seton Hall; PG Sean Pedulla (6-1, 190, JR) from Virginia Tech South Carolina: Losing Meechie Johnson (to Ohio State) hurt but Lamont Paris addressed size issues with Jordan Butler (from Missouri) and Nick Pringle (from Alabama). Paris has one scholarship open. Outgoing: PG Meechie Johnson (6-2, 184, JR) to Ohio State; CG Ebrima Dibba (6-5, 214, SR); C Josh Gray (6-11, 255, SR) Incoming: C Jordan Butler (7-0, 230, FR) from Missouri; C Nick Pringle (6-9, 220, SR) from Alabama Tennessee: Rick Barnes lost two key bigs in Tobe Awaka (to Arizona) and Jonas Aidoo (to Arkansas), but he compensated by landing Felix Okpara (from Ohio State) and Igor Milicek Jr. (from Charlotte). Darlinstone Dubar (from Hoftstra) can light it up. Outgoing: SG Freddie Dilione (6-5, 185, FR) to Penn State; SG D.J. Jefferson (6-5, 2-7, FR); PF Tobe Awaka (6-8, 250, SO) to Arizona; C Jonas Aidoo (6-11, 230, JR) to Arkansas Incoming: SG Darlinstone Dubar (6-6, 207, SR) from Hofstra; C Felix Okpara (6-11, 220, SO) from Ohio State; SF Igor Milicek Jr. (6-10, 224, SO) from Charlotte Texas: The Longhorns signed three scorers in Tramon Mark (from Arkansas), Jayson Kent (from Indiana State) and Jordan Pope (from Oregon State) and got a passer in Julian Larry (from Indiana State). Outgoing: SF Alex Anamekwe (6-6, 200, SO); PG Chris Johnson (6-5, 180, FR) to Stephen F. Austin; PF Dillon Mitchell (6-8, 205, SO); PG Tyrese Hunter (6-0, 170, JR) to Memphis Incoming: SG Tramon Mark (6-5, 180, JR) from Arkansas; PF Jayson Kent (6-8, 205, SR) from Indiana State; PG Julian Larry (6-3, 185, SR) from Indiana State; PG Jordan Pope (6-2, 165, SO) from Oregon State; SF Malik Pressley (6-6, 200, FR) from Vanderbilt Texas A&M: None of the losses was significant, but Buzz Williams got two outstanding defenders in CJ Wilcher (from Nebraska) and Pharrell Payne (from Minnesota). The. Aggies have one open scholarship. Outgoing: PF Tyler Ringgold (6-8, 220, FR); PG Bryce Lindsay (6-3, 190, FR); C Brandon White (6-10, 245, FR); PF Julius Marble (6-8, 225, SR) Incoming: CJ Wilcher (6-5, 195, SR) from Nebraska; PF Pharrel Payne (6-9, 255, SO) from Minnesota Vanderbilt: Eight transferred out replaced by six including scoring guard Jason Edwards and five complementary pieces including Boston College small forward Devin McGlockton. Vandy has three open scholarships. Outgoing: PG Paul Lewis (6-2, 170, SO); C Lee Dort (6-10, 245, SO) to California; SG Tyrin Lawrence (6-4, 200, SR); PF Colin Smith (6-8, 220); SG Jason Rivera-Torres (6-6, 180, FR); PF Carter Lang (6-9, 235, FR); WG Isaiah West (6-2, 190, FR); SF Malik Pressley (6-6, 200, FR) to Texas Incoming: PF Jaylen Carey (6-8, 245, FR) from James Madison; SF Tyler Nickel (6-7, 200, SO) from Virginia Tech; SG Grant Huffman (6-3, 185, SR) from Davidson; SG Jason Edwards (6-1, 170, FR) from North Texas; SF Devin McGlockton (6-7, 220, SO) from Boston College; SG Chris Manon (6-5, 195, JR) from Cornell ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports is reporting that the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten are in talks to create a revenue sharing plan with players. Dodd suggests the hope of the plan is to head off an anti-trust lawsuit that alleges the NCAA and the power conferences have colluded to suppress athletes receiving compensation. ESPN reported Monday that all four power conferences are involved in discussions to come up with a revenue sharing plan. The anti-trust lawsuit in question claims athletes should have been getting a share of television revenue for years, plus a portion of the returns on NIL from video games. Estimates are that if this lawsuit goes to a jury and the NCAA loses, damages could be tripled with a conservative estimate of $4.2 billion. There are at least three other anti-trust class action suits out there against the NCAA, any one of which could permanently kneecap the organization. If ever there was a warning shot across the bow of college athletics, then this is it. The NCAA needs to be abandoned and a new organization set up with rules and some sort of revenue sharing plan or else there may be no such thing as college athletics ten years from now.