A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday afternoon: Back in the 1960s, Bear Bryant labeled Florida football a “sleeping giant.” Since then there have been pockets of success when the Gators were indeed gigantic. From 1990-2010 no one won as many games as the Gators – 210-51-1 record, 17 more wins than second place Ohio State; 18 more than Florida State and 19 more than Miami. Not a single losing season during that time, three national championships and eight SEC titles. In the 15 years since, the giant that was is sleeping again. Florida is 107-79 since with only three trips (all losses to Alabama) to Atlanta for the SEC championship game. Florida has recorded losing seasons in 2013, 2017, 2021-23 and 2025. Four coaches have come and gone – Will Muschamp (2011-14), Jim McElwain (2015-17), Dan Mullen (2018-21) and Billy Napier (2022-25). So what happened? Bad decisions by the coaches have a lot to do with it. Muschamp didn’t have a decent offensive coordinator until his last year and by then it was too late. McElwain was in way over his head and then he tried to lie his way out of it. Mullen held on to some assistants way too long and had others on his staff that had no business coaching at an SEC school. Napier was too arrogant to turn the play calling over to a competent assistant coach and he made rotten decisions when it came to assistants. Does the name Austin Armstrong ring a bell? As important as the decision-making is recruiting. With the exception of Muschamp’s 2012 and 2013 classes, both of which ranked No. 3 nationally, and his final class (2014) that ranked No. 9, Florida recruiting has gone into hibernation. With the exception of his 2001 class that ranked 47th, Steve Spurrier’s classes routinely ranked in the top five. His 1999 class was No. 1 and 2000 was No. 2. Ron Zook’s first class (2002) was 10th, his next two No. 1 (2003) and No. 5 (2004). Urban Meyer’s first class (2005) was No. 12, followed by classes that were ranked No. 2, No. 1, No. 6, No. 7 and No. 1. McElwain’s three classes: No. 21 (2015), No. 12 (2016) and No. 11 (2017). Mullen’s four classes: No. 14 (2018), No. 9 (2019), No. 8 (2020) and No. 12 (2021). Napier’s four classes: No. 17 (2022), No. 13 (2023), No. 13 (2024) and No. 9 (2025). Now recruiting has certainly changed during this era. NIL and changes in the transfer portal have in some cases made high school recruiting less relevant. Lane Kiffin got it done at Ole Miss with wholesale dipping into the portal for talent, but it’s hard to imagine portal-based recruiting building a sustainable foundation for the future. The approach taken by Jon Sumrall lends hope that the Gators have a head coach who understands the need to fill holes in the roster through the portal but stakes future success on awakening Florida’s sleeping recruiting giant. It is worth noting that with barely three weeks to work at Florida while still prepping Tulane for the American Conference championship and College Football Playoff, Sumrall held on to 16 of the 18 players who had committed to Napier. Florida’s recruiting class ranked 17th. Fast forward five months and Sumrall seems to be getting that first full recruiting class bounce that Zook, Meyer and Muschamp got. With the commitment of 4-star offensive tackle Kenedee Jackson (6-6, 301, Lithonia, GA) and 3-star defensive end Zahmar Tookes (6-4, 265, Rochester, NY Brighton) this week, the Gators have vaulted to No. 5 in the 247Sports and On3 recruiting rankings. Even before Jackson and Tookes committed, ESPN ranked the Gators No. 4. Should the Gators flip 5-star defensive tackle Jalen Brewster (6-3, 307, Cedar Hill, TX) from Texas Tech and 5-star wide receiver Easton Royal (5-11, 189, New Orleans, LA Brother Martin) from Texas it is entirely possible for Florida to move further up the rankings. The Gators are very much in the mix to land 4-star corner Kamauri Whitfield (5-11, 193, Orlando, FL The First Academy), 4-star defensive end Cahron Wheeler (6-5, 250, Baltimore, MD St. Paul School), 4-star linebacker Ellis McGaskin (5-11, 220, Mobile, AL Williamson) and 4-star safety Kamarion Johnson (6-0, 189, Homerville, GA Clinch County). Johnson and Wheeler are in Gainesville this weekend for an official visit. This is the best recruiting showing by any coach since Muschamp. It’s too early to determine if Sumrall can sustain the success he’s currently having, but recruiting seems to spread like a wildfire. When Zook, Meyer and Muschamp got hot they were able to build upon the foundation to leave an abundance of talent behind. Napier did not leave Sumrall an overall abundance, but Sumrall hasn’t complained. Instead, he’s just gone to work and the results have been promising. Rivals top 30 recruiting classes (SEC teams bold face): 1. Texas A&M; 2. Oklahoma; 3. Miami; 4. Texas Tech; 5. FLORIDA; 6. Notre Dame; 7. Ohio State; 8. Southern Cal; 9. Oregon; 10. Michigan; 11. Clemson; 12. UCLA; 13. LSU; 14. Auburn; 15. Texas; 16. Ole Miss; 17. Penn State; 18. Nebraska; 19. Virginia Tech; 20. Washington; 21. California; 22. Georgia; 23. Kentucky; 24. Louisville; 25. Wisconsin; 26. Alabama; 27. Minnesota; 28. South Carolina; 29. Missouri; 30. Tennessee. Other SEC schools and schools of interest: 32. Vanderbilt; 41. Florida State; 47. Mississippi State; 50. Arkansas; 63. UCF; 82. South Florida; 86. Florida Atlantic; 88. Florida International 247Sports top 30 recruiting classes: 1. Texas A&M; 2. Oklahoma; 3. Miami; 4. Notre Dame; 5. FLORIDA; 6. Clemson; 7. Penn State; 8. UCLA; 9. Virginia Tech; 10. Southern Cal; 11. Ohio State; 12. Minnesota; 13. Kentucky; 14. Michigan; 15. Oregon; 16. Washington; 17. California; 18. Wisconsin; 19. Auburn; 20. Ole Miss; 21. Louisville; 22. Pittsburgh; 23. Georgia; 24. Texas Tech; 25. Houston; 26. Texas; 27. West Virginia; 28. Nebraska; 29. Missouri; 30. Syracuse. Other SEC schools and schools of interest: 36. South Carolina; 39. Tennessee; 41. Vanderbilt; 46. Alabama; 47. Arkansas; 49. Mississippi State; 51. Florida State; 53. LSU; 59. UCF; 84. South Florida; 88. Florida Atlantic ATHLON, SPORTING NEWS PRESEASON TOP 25 Athlon top 25: 1. Ohio State; 2. Georgia; 3. Texas; 4. Notre Dame; 5. Indiana; 6. Oregon; 7. Miami; 8. Oklahoma; 9. Texas A&M; 10. LSU; 11. Ole Miss; 12. Texas Tech; 13. Michigan; 14. Southern Cal; 15. Alabama; 16. BYU; 17. Washington; 18. Penn State; 19. Houston; 20. Utah; 21. Tennessee; 22. SMU; 23. Louisville; 24. Boise State; 25. Iowa Sporting News top 25: 1. Indiana; 2. Ohio State; 3. Georgia; 4. Texas; 5. Notre Dame; 6. Oregon; 7. Miami; 8. Ole Miss; 9. Oklahoma; 10. Southern Cal; 11. Texas A&M; 12. Alabama; 13. Michigan; 14. LSU;15. BYU; 16. Utah; 17. Penn State; 18. Iowa; 19. Louisville; 20. Texas Tech; 21. Houston; 22. Illinois; 23. SMU; 24. Washington; 25. Virginia Tech ATHLON, SPORTING NEWS PRESEASON SEC RANKINGS Athlon: 1. Georgia; 2. Texas; 3. Oklahoma; 4. Texas A&M; 5. LSU; 6. Ole Miss; 7. Alabama; 8. Tennessee; 9. FLORIDA; 10. South Carolina; 11. Missouri; 12. Auburn; 13. Mississippi State; 14. Vanderbilt; 15. Kentucky; 16. Arkansas Sporting News: 1. Georgia; 2. Texas; 3. Ole Miss; 4. Oklahoma; 5. Texas A&M; 6. Alabama; 7. LSU; 8. Missouri; 9. Tennessee; 10. Vanderbilt; 11. FLORIDA; 12. South Carolina; 13. Auburn; 14. Mississippi State; 15. Kentucky; 16. Arkansas ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: The commissioner of the Mid-America Conference (MAC), John Steinbrecher teed off on the four power conferences Wednesday, the same day the commissioners of the Southeastern and Big Ten conferences issued a joint statement opposed to the Protect College Sports Act, which, if enacted by Congress, offers radical changes such as pooling media rights. First the SEC/Big Ten statement: “The Big Ten Conference and the Southeastern Conference support a sustainable national framework for college sports – one with an effective transfer portal, clear eligibility standards, and protections and benefits for student-athletes. While we appreciate the leadership of Senators (Ted) Cruz (R-TX) and (Maria) Cantwell (D-WA) in pursuing these shared goals, we do not support the Protect College Sports Act as drafted. “The bill leaves critical issues unresolved. It does not meaningfully preempt the patchwork of state laws or provide the protections needed to make and enforce consistent rules, both essential to long-term stability in college athletics. It also shifts ongoing rulemaking to Congress, limiting the ability to adapt quickly as the landscape evolves. Rather than reducing litigation, the bill likely expands it without offering clear alternatives for dispute resolution. Finally, the bill alters the House settlement revenue sharing framework in a way that may result in fewer student-athletes receiving direct revenue share payments. “We are committed to working with Senators Cruz and Cantwell and other members of Congress to improve this legislation so that it can provide lasting stability for college athletics.” Then came Steinbrecher’s reaction to the power conferences in his state of the MAC address: “I’ve been observing the continuing evolution of the intercollegiate athletics landscape over the past few years. In particular, the persistent and consistent power grab by the autonomy conferences. I am tired of listening to the complaints of the autonomy conferences who believe they know the best way to run the organization … I’m not sure if the right response to all of this is ‘be careful for what you ask for because you may get it’ or, B, ‘karma’s a bitch’ because we’re now living with what happens when the autonomy conferences make the rules.” The response of Steinbrecher is a much-needed dissent at this time when the focus is on the Big Ten and SEC. Perhaps the evolution of college sports will take us permanently to more of a professional model that bodes well for the power conferences with their media rights deals, but somewhere along the way the big guys can’t afford to kill off their Group of Six brethren. If the power conferences are to truly become the major leagues of college sports, then they can’t afford to overlook the minors, which are feeding them players. If the Group of Six schools can’t compete, then one-by-one we’re going to see sports being dropped for a lack of affordability. There are holes big enough to drive a freight train through in the Protect College Sports Act, but it’s a place to begin. What we have now can’t be sustained not only for the power conferences, but the Group of Six schools that are a necessary part of the food chain. Right now, we have more complaints than we have answers and time is definitely running out. If we intend to avoid implosion of the entire college sports landscape, then someone with common sense and a workable plan that accommodates both the power conferences and Group of Six needs to step forward. It can’t be all about the big guys because the little guys provide a necessary service. There has to be a way to compromise that benefits everybody.

Caden McDonald was the lone bright spot Monday night (UAA Photo) A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning: Florida baseball’s version of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” concluded Monday night with the Troy Trojans doing a dandy impersonation of Freddy Krueger, the slasher who did his dirty work through teenagers’ dreams. In the role of Krueger, Troy slashed and killed off the dreams of the Florida Gators, the No. 8 national seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Trojans were relentless Sunday when they left the Gators bleeding in the tall grass. In the Monday sequel, this one to decide the winner of the NCAA Gainesville Regional, the Trojans finished off the Gators, leaving no doubt that their 16-11 Sunday win was no fluke. Troy 10, Florida 2. Troy, wearing camouflage caps, uniforms and batting helmets that looked like they were clearance items from Play It Again Sports, will host an NCAA Super Regional where they will play host to Sun Belt Conference mates Little Rock, which breezed through the Hattiesburg Regional. Florida, which seemed to have one of the easier paths to Omaha when the tournament began, is left to wonder why its pitchers took a powder. In four games in the regional, the Gators gave up 43 runs, 49 hits, seven doubles, 10 home runs, 19 walks, five wild pitches and they hit three Troy batters. That prompted Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan to offer this explanation: “Quite frankly, we didn’t pitch well enough in this tournament.” Really? After the Sunday debacle in which the Gators gave up a nine-run sixth inning and five home runs to the Krueger impersonators, O’Sullivan went into the Monday game with a pitch by committee approach, one that disintegrated one out into the second inning. Cooper Walls, who gave up two first inning runs, was lifted after a four-pitch walk in the second. His replacement, Caden McDonald, came on to pitch brilliantly for the next 4-1/3 innings, allowing just two hits while striking out three. When McDonald was lifted one out into the sixth inning, the Gators were trailing 2-1. O’Sullivan brought in Russell Sandefer, who walked the bases full on 16 pitches. He was replaced by Ernesto Lugo-Canchola, who gave up a two-run single, a squeeze play bunt that scored another run, and a two-run double to Jabe Boroff. Later in the game off Josh Whritenour, Boroff launched a 3-run homer. Just three weeks ago Boroff was hitting .139. In two games against the Gators he was 6-11 with two homers (one a grand slam) and 11 RBI. The question on everybody’s mind when the carnage ended and Troy dogpiled on the infield of Condon Family Ballpark was why take McDonald out? “I mean, it’s always easy to second guess, but here’s the deal,” O’Sullivan explained. “I saw him in the dugout, and he looked gassed. I think the most number of pitches he’s thrown this year is 52, and that was against Oklahoma, and he was at 48. We knew we were going to go to Russ (Sandefer), so he (McDonald) threw two breaking balls that backed up on him, and it was real hard contact to the shortstop and I did not want to bring Russ in with runners on base because he has been starting, so he was going to start from the wind up. “And, you know, it’s a lot to ask somebody to be a two-way player, and I’m the one who sees him in the dugout. I could see him. He looked tired, and I didn’t want to put him in a situation where he pitched so well. All we’re looking for from Russ was to give us five outs, and unfortunately that didn’t work out.” No, it didn’t work out. And there was no help from Florida’s bats. In going 2-1 in the first three games, the Gators were good for 41 runs, 37 hits and 16 home runs. Monday, none of the Gators seven hits left the yard. This was a nightmare, one that left O'Sullivan grasping for an explanation of what went wrong. "It's hard to put into words, honestly," he said. "You go into these things feeling fully confident that you're going to win. It's going to take a while to fully digest it." He has eight months before the Gators play again to figure it out. NCAA Regional scores Atlanta: Oklahoma (36-22) 8, No. 2 Georgia Tech (50-11) 7, 10 innings; Georgia Tech eliminated Oklahoma wins regional Auburn: No. 4 Auburn (42-20) 8, Milwaukee (27-33) 3, Milwaukee eliminated Auburn wins regional GAINESVILLE: Troy (36-30) 10, No. 8 FLORIDA (41-21) 2; FLORIDA eliminated Troy wins regional Tallahassee: St. John’s (36-24) 5, No. 10 Florida State (40-19) 4; Florida State eliminated St. John’s wins regional College Station: Southern Cal (44-16) 7, No. 12 Texas A&M (41-16) 1; Texas A&M eliminated Southern Cal wins regional Morgantown: No. 16 West Virginia (43-15) 6, Kentucky (33-23) 5, 10 innings; Kentucky eliminated West Virginia wins regional Super Regional Matchups Morgantown: Cal Poly (39-22) at No. 16 West Virginia (43-15) Lawrence: Oklahoma (36-22) at No. 15 Kansas (45-16) Athens: No. 14 Mississippi State (43-17) at No. 3 Georgia (49-12) Auburn: No. 13 Ole Miss (39-21) at No. 4 Auburn (42-20) Chapel Hill: Southern Cal (44-16) at No. 5 North Carolina (48-11-1) Austin: No. 11 Oregon (45-14) at No. 6 Texas (43-13) Tuscaloosa: St. John’s (36-24) at No. 7 Alabama (40-19) Troy: Little Rock (39-26) at Troy (36-30) UF GOLF: GATORS SURGE INTO MATCH PLAY Led by Zack Swanick (66) and Jack Turner (68), the Gators shot a brilliant 12-under par Monday, surging into a tie for fourth at the NCAA Golf Championships in Carlsbad, California. The Gators began the day in a tie for 11th, barely inside the cut line as the tournament shifts into the match play competition that will decide the national championship. Only the top eight teams qualify for match play. The Gators began the tournament with a +3 opening round, improved by one shot (+2) in the second round and then earned their way into the top 15 for the final round of stroke play with a -4 on Sunday. Florida and Oklahoma State were tied for fourth at the end of Monday’s stroke play, but the Gators had the tiebreaker to earn the No. 4 seed for the match play. The Gators and Oklahoma State will face each other in match play beginning at 10:40 a.m. (Golf Channel) with the winner advancing to the semifinals against the winner of the Auburn-Stanford matchup at 5:05 p.m. Team leaderboard after 72 holes of stroke play: 1. Auburn -26; 2. Texas -23; 3. Vanderbilt -12; 4. (Tie) FLORIDA and Oklahoma State -11; 6. Arizona -3; 7. (Tie) Stanford, UCLA, North Carolina and Tennessee -2; 11. Virginia +1; 12. LSU +3; 13. Duke +4; 14. Oklahoma +5; 15. San Diego +24 National Championship Match Play (Morning quarterfinals) No. 1 Auburn vs. No. 8 Stanford No. 2 Texas vs. No. 7 UCLA No. 3 Vanderbilt vs. No. 6 Arizona No. 4 FLORIDA vs. No. 5 Oklahoma State KENTUCKY LANDS IOWA STATE HOOPS TRANSFER MOMCILOVIC Kentucky outbid St. John’s, Louisville and Arizona to land Iowa State transfer Milan Momcilovic (6-8, 220), who shot 48.7 percent on his three-pointers last season. Momcilovic participated in the NBA Draft Combine but couldn’t shoot his way into first round consideration, so he withdrew, sparking a bidding war for his services. Estimates are that Kentucky’s offer was in the $6-7 million range. As a junior at Iowa State last year, Momcilovic averaged 16.9 points and 3.1 rebounds for a 29-8 Sweet 16 team that got knocked out of the NCAA Tournament by Tennessee. The signing of Momcilovic along with the withdrawal from the draft of 7-footer Malachi Moreno temporarily take the heat off UK head coach Mark Pope. Kentucky fans expect championships and anything short of a deep run in the NCAA Tournament will only place Pope’s future in jeopardy. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: A Lubbock County judge heard Brendan Sorsby’s appeal for a temporary injunction that will allow him to play college football this season after being banned by the NCAA for gambling approximately $90,000 over four years. Sorsby is a Texas Tech transfer who threw for 2,800 yards and 27 touchdowns at Cincinnati last year. Prior to Cincinnati, Sorsby spent two years at Indiana. Using accounts held by family and friends, Sorsby wagered approximately $90,000 over a four-year period including placing more than 40 bets on Indiana in 2022-23. He was still gambling when he transferred to Texas Tech back in January. The NCAA permanently banned Sorsby from playing college football but Texas Tech, which signed Sorsby to an NIL deal reportedly valued at $5 million has appealed the NCAA decision. Texas Tech has countered with an offer of a two-game suspension and is seeking a temporary injunction that will free Sorsby to play in 2026. Texas Tech president Lawrence Shovanec writes in defense of the appeal that Sorsby “is not the first college athlete to face gambling addiction, and unfortunately, he will not be the last. Our responsibility as higher education leaders is to create environments that support young people’s growth, maturation, and success, fit for the times in which they live. Given that Brendan has taken accountability for his addiction and actions, a brave act in any circumstance, but especially under the intense scrutiny of a national spotlight, we believe that the best path forward for him is on campus, among his teammates, embraced by the strength of this community.” Oh please. Spare me the “we’re only concerned about his well-being and mental health” defense. And spare us all the Sorsby is healed from his admitted gambling addiction simply because he has completed a 35-day stay at a rehab center in Arizona. Sorsby is not a victim here. Even if a local judge grants the injunction, the NCAA should stick to its ban and appeal the decision all the way to the US Supreme Court if necessary. Allowing Sorsby to play college football would be a dangerous precedent. Simply because Sorsby has done rehab is no guarantee that he is healed from his addiction. This is not a case of a naïve athlete who didn’t know what he was doing. He knew but he still gambled on games. Who is to say he won’t continue to gamble? And, what about the athlete who wagers too much and can’t pay up? That athlete becomes a target for those trying to fix the outcome of games. College basketball has been plagued for decades by gamblers trying to fix games. Dating all the way back to the Black Sox scandal of 1919 when Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis permanently banned Shoeless Joe Jackson and other members of the Chicago White Sox for throwing World Series games, pro sports have come down harshly on those who flaunt the anti-gambling rules. Pete Rose gambled on baseball games when he was the manager of the Cincinnati Reds. He was banned permanently and has been denied entry into the Hall of Fame. Using those cases as precedent, the NCAA has to fight Sorsby and Texas Tech. There is no evidence that Sorsby ever tried to fix the outcome of a game, but if the NCAA doesn’t take a stand here, the door will be left open for some athlete to fall prey to people with very bad intentions.

Blazing Saddles got it right with the immortal words of Slim Pickens, who said, “What in the wild, wild, world of sports is a going on here?” If you were watching the NCAA regionals then you saw a brand of baseball that more resembled an open USSSA softball tournament. The overall No. 1 seed, UCLA, lost its first game, a feat never done before and then didn’t make it out of the Los Angeles regional. Florida scored 11 runs and lost to Troy with opening day ace and future first round draft pick Liam Peterson on the mound. That forced a winner-take-all game on Monday. Four seeded teams lost on the first day. I don’t know if the pitching is just that bad this year or the hitters have been taking lessons from Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa or some other legendary slugger but the offensive numbers have been staggering. Going into Monday’s games, there have been 1382 runs scored over the weekend. That’s an average of 14 per game! That’s each side scoring two touchdowns and extra points! On Friday, the winners scored a total of 300 runs or an average of 9.7 per game. The losers averaged 3.6 runs or a total of 112. There was only 1 shutout and only four games where the loser scored only 1 run. Coastal Carolina scored 10 runs and lost to Northern Illinois! Some of those games may be a result of the No. 1 seeds not throwing their aces against the No. 4 seeds, and maybe the No. 4 seeds doing the same. However, that wouldn’t be the case on Saturday when it’s best arms against best arms and teams fighting to stay in the field. So Saturday, there were a total of 33 games played. The winners scored 341 runs or just over 10 runs per game. The losers scored 146 runs or an average of 4.4 per game. That’s a total of 487 runs! 15 of those games featured winning teams scoring more than 10 runs. Gator fans know Miami scored 10 runs to lose because they gave up 22 to the Gators. Southern Miss, the #9 seed, scored 11 runs and lost to Virginia by 4 to be bounced from the tournament! So, Sunday had to have better pitching, right? Well maybe. The average for the winning teams dropped to only 10 runs per game! But the losing teams scored an average of 4.7 runs per game or the highest of the weekend! 483 runs were scored on Sunday by all the teams in 31 games played. That’s an average of 15 runs per game. St. John’s scored 21 in Tallahassee. Mississippi State scored 19 against Louisiana. And we know that Troy scored 16 against the Gators. There were 15 teams that scored double digits and won and two that scored double digits and lost! If you are a fan of offense, you loved this weekend. If you loved to see good pitching, you had to look elsewhere for the most part. I don’t know if the umpires were a factor in the games because the NCAA wanted a smaller strike zone like it did in softball, which jacked up offensive stats there, because I didn’t see every game. Or maybe it is just that the bats have gotten better, or the players have gotten stronger, but the results speak for themselves. Pitchers across the board this weekend got lit up. Balls were flying out of parks like it was a slow pitch softball tournament. Whatever caused it, it was an exciting and chaotic weekend of baseball.

Brendan Lawson homers in the third (UAA Photo) On paper this was an almost comical mismatch. The Gators were sending Liam Peterson to the mound to wrap up a championship weekend at the NCAA Gainesville Regional against the Troy Trojans, a team barely above .500 for the season. To counter Peterson and his 100-mph fast ball, Troy went with Cooper Ellingworth, whose very average fast ball had plenty to do with a plus-six earned run average. What could be easier? A soon to be first round pitcher backed up by bats that had just hung 22 runs on nine Miami pitchers, all of them more highly regarded than Ellingworth. Piece of cake, right? Well, not exactly. In five innings on the mound, Troy roughed up Peterson for nine runs and 10 hits, four of which went sub-orbital as they made their way to the parking lots beyond Condron Family Ball Park’s outfield fences. It wasn’t a case of Peterson not throwing hard. He routinely hit 99 on the gun. That same gun registered exit velos that were akin to rocket launches. Troy had Peterson’s number. So did Ellingworth, at least through the first five innings. He gave up four runs on five hits through the first five, then tired a bit in the sixth. By the time he called it a day after Troy (35-30) lit up the Gators (41-20) for nine runs in the sixth, the Trojans were well on their way to a 16-11 drubbing of Florida, the No. 8 national seed. Ellingworth was pressed into an emergency start since Troy had used up most of its bullpen simply getting to the Sunday night game. By eating up six innings, Ellingworth saved Troy from going deep into the bullpen for a third straight game. Not so for Florida, which used four pitchers against Troy and 11 for the three games so far in the regional. “Today is obviously disappointing,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We have not pitched well this regional. Our bullpen fell apart on Friday. We only got three innings out of Aidan King last night. Then obviously, today was not what Liam wanted. We have just got to pitch better if we want to move on…” Fortunately for the Gators, there is an opportunity to move on. NCAA regionals are double elimination, so Florida and Troy will square off Monday at 6 p.m. with the winner advancing to the super regional round. If Florida wins, the Gators will host Little Rock, the surprising winner of the Hattiesburg Regional. Should Troy win it would be an old home week revival of a Sun Belt Conference rivalry. Troy reached the Sunday game with Florida after knocking off Miami 9-6 in an elimination game earlier in the day. The momentum of lighting up five Miami pitchers for nine runs, 15 hits and three homers carried over to Sunday evening’s encounter with the Gators. The Trojans weren’t the least bit awed by Peterson’s heater, one of which traveled more than 440 feet after a full swing by Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Jimmy Janicki with one on in the first. Two innings later, Houston Markham led off with another no-doubter, his third of the season. Two hits and a pop out later, Janicki came to the plate again. Another no doubter. Jabe Boroff also found a Peterson fast ball to his liking, launching it over the fence in right center, the fourth Troy homer that traveled more than 400 feet before gravity coaxed it back to earth. Considering Florida’s late game awakenings that led to wins over Rider and Miami in the first two games of the regional, hope circulated the ball yard after a sixth inning home run by Caden McDonald cut Troy’s lead to 7-5. Then came Troy’s turn at the plate and a bad day at the office turned into a flaming disaster of Hindenburg proportions. By the time the Troy half of the sixth came to a merciful end off the fourth Florida pitcher of the inning, the Trojans had turned seven hits, three walks and a hit batter into nine – count ‘em – runs and an insurmountable 16-5 lead. “Obviously, the sixth inning was a disaster,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan understated. Disasters can be dealt with. This was ground zero. Not only did Troy barrel up every pitcher O’Sullivan threw at them, but Ellingworth kept the Gators off balance with a slider that managed to keep contact to a minimum. It wasn’t until Ellingworth departed the game after the sixth that Florida’s bats awoke from their slumber. The Gators rallied for six runs in the eighth and ninth innings but that made only a slight dent in Troy’s margin of victory. Cade Kurland launched his fourth homer in the last three games, a three-run shot to right field in the eighth, and McDonald belted his second homer of the game with one on in the ninth. Troy, which was one of the last teams selected for the NCAA 64-team field, goes into the Monday game playing with house money. The Trojans, whose uniforms look like they were tailored by Tractor Supply, have nothing to lose. They will come to the ball yard loose and feeling no pressure whatsoever. Florida, on the other hand, has the pressure of playing at home and the weight of the No. 8 national seed. Win and the Gators are assured of at least one more weekend of baseball. Lose and the season comes to a disappointing end. O’Sullivan said, “… you win: you move on. You lose: the season is over. We played a tough schedule. We have been through ups and downs. I definitely think they will be ready to play. What else do they have to lose? The alternative is that the season is over. So they have to go out there and give their best effort and have as much energy as they possibly can. When your name is called in the pen, you do your job, and keep swinging it the way that we have been swinging it, and keep playing how we have been defensively, the rest will play out in itself.” Game notes: Brendan Lawson hit his 19th homer of the season in the third, a 2-run shot that cut Troy's lead to 6-4. Lawson has hit eight home runs in the last 11 games ... Kurland has hit four home runs in three regional games ... McDonald's two home runs were his eighth and ninth of the season. All his homers have come in the last 19 games. NCAA Regional Scores Los Angeles Saint Mary’s (36-26) 6, No. 1 UCLA (52-8) 5, 10 innings; UCLA eliminated Cal Poly (39-22) 5, Saint Mary’s (36-27) 2; Saint Mary’s eliminated Cal Poly wins regional Atlanta Oklahoma (34-22) 15, The Citadel (36-26) 5; The Citadel eliminated Oklahoma (35-22) 15, No. 2 Georgia Tech (50-10) 8 Monday: Oklahoma vs. Georgia Tech Athens Liberty (43-20) 8, Boston College (37-23) 3; Boston College eliminated No. 3 Georgia (49-12) 6, Liberty (43-21) 6; Liberty eliminated Georgia wins regional Auburn No. 4 Auburn (40-20) 9, UCF (32-23) 3; UCF eliminated No. 4 Auburn (40-20) 8, Milwaukee (27-31) 1 Monday: No. 4 Auburn vs. Milwaukee Chapel Hill East Carolina (38-23-1) 10, VCU (38-25) 0; VCU eliminated No. 5 North Carolina (48-11-1) 9, East Carolina (38-24-1) 3; East Carolina eliminated No. 5 North Carolina wins regional Austin UC-Santa Barbara (40-19) 9, Tarleton State (38-21) 5; Tarleton State eliminated No. 6 Texas (43-13) 6, UC-Santa Barabara (43-20) 4; UC-Santa Barbara eliminated No. 6 Texas wins regional Tuscaloosa Oklahoma State (39-21) 12, South Carolina Upstate (34-30) 1; South Carolina Upstate eliminated No. 7 Alabama (40-19) 9, Oklahoma State (39-22) 7, 11 innings; Oklahoma State eliminated No. 7 Alabama wins regional GAINESVILLE Troy (34-30) 9, Miami (39-21) 6; Miami eliminated Troy (35-30)16, No. 8 FLORIDA (41-20) 11 Monday: Troy vs. No. 8 FLORIDA Hattiesburg Jacksonville State (48-14) 7, Virginia (37-23) 6; Virginia eliminated Little Rock (39-26) 6, Jacksonville State (48-15) 3; Jacksonville State eliminated Little Rock wins regional Tallahassee St. John’s (34-25) 21, Northern Illinois (36-18) 8 No. 10 Florida State (40-18) 7, Northern Illinois (36-19) 4, 10 innings; Northern Illinois eliminated Monday: Florida State vs. St. John’s Eugene Oregon State (45-13) 10, Washington State (31-28) 1; Washington State eliminated No. 11 Oregon (43-16) 4, Oregon State (45-14) 1 No. 11 Oregon wins regional College Station Southern Cal (45-16) 15, Texas State (37-26) 4; Texas State eliminated Southern Cal (46-16) 14, No. 12 Texas A&M (41-15) 3 Monday: Southern Cal vs. No. 12 Texas A&M Lincoln Arizona State (39-20) 11, No. 13 Nebraska (43-17) 8; Nebraska eliminated Ole Miss (39-21) 5, Arizona State (39-21) 4, 10 innings; Arizona State eliminated Ole Miss wins regional Starkville Louisiana (41-24) 8, Cincinnati (38-22) 6; Cincinnati eliminated No. 14 Mississippi State (43-17) 19, Louisiana (41-25) 5; Louisiana eliminated Mississippi State wins regional Lawrence Arkansas (41-21) 10, Northeastern (39-22) 9; Northeastern eliminated No. 15 Kansas (45-16) 13, Arkansas (41-22) 10; Arkansas eliminated No. 15 Kansas wins regional Morgantown No. 16 West Virginia (41-15) 10, Wake Forest (39-21) 5; Wake Forest eliminated No. 16 West Virginia (42-15) 11, Kentucky (33-22) 9 Monday: No. 16 West Virginia vs. Kentucky

Karson Bowen celebrates his second homer of the game (UAA photo) The Miami Hurricanes lit up Florida pitchers for 16 hits that produced a most impressive 10 runs Saturday night at Condron Family Ballpark. Aidan King, the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year, was one of the Hurricanes’ victims. He was knocked out of the box without registering a single out in the fourth, finishing his stint on the mound giving up eight hits and six earned runs. It was that kind of night for Florida pitchers. If this had been a normal night, the kind that becomes a chapter in a memory book, the Canes would have been sitting pretty in the driver’s seat of the NCAA Gainesville Regional. This wasn’t a normal night. Bizarre? Yes. Normal? No. This theater of the bizarre was punctuated by two contrasting innings, the Florida half of the sixth and eighth. In the sixth the Gators sent 12 men to the plate and scored seven runs with only one hit to show for their efforts. In the eighth, 12 again strode to the plate. That was another seven-run outburst only this one featured five home runs including back-to-back-to back jobs by Brendan Lawson, Blake Cyr and Ethan Surowiec. Miami coach J.T. Arteaga went through nine pitchers trying to stop the bleeding but tourniquets were in short supply, in part because Hurricane pitchers walked nine and hit three batters while committing four errors in the field. The only thing missing from this circus in the field were poodles jumping through flaming hoops. Florida 22, Miami 10, a football score on a baseball diamond. Whether you saw the game in person or on television, you probably agree with Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan, who said afterward, “I can’t explain tonight.” No explanation could come close to full appreciation of a night at the ball yard perhaps best described by that old adage it’s better to give than to receive. Miami was on the receiving end of a bad night at the office by the Florida pitching staff, but not to be outdone, the Hurricanes were downright benevolent, handing over control of the Gainesville Regional to the Gators. With two wins in two days in this double-elimination tournament, the Gators await the winner of a 12 noon encounter between Miami (39-19) and Troy (33-30) at 5 p.m. (ESPN+). Win and the Gators host a super regional next weekend. Lose and the Gators get a second chance to clinch the regional championship Monday. Saturday’s game began with a Miami leadoff home run by Jake Ogden, a foretelling of difficulty ahead for King. Florida answered with a six-run first in which featured a tape-measure home run by Cade Kurland, his first of two. This was a towering 3-run blast that cleared the stadium and wound up in the parking lot. King had an eight-pitch second, his only decent inning of the game but he gave up four straight hits and three runs in the third before allowing two singles and a wild pitch in the fourth. That brought on Luke McNeillie in the fourth followed by Jackson Barberi in the fifth. Miami tied the score at 8-8 before Barberi got into enough of a rhythm to shut down the Canes. Then came the Florida half of the sixth in which the Gators ran through four Miami pitchers en route to seven runs. Miami pitchers walked five Gators in the inning, uncorked a wild pitch, committed an error that counted and a mental blunder that could have doused water on the Florida rally. With two outs and two on, Caden McDonald hit a bouncer to Vance Sheahan at shortstop, who threw to Gabirel Milano at third. Milano was late arriving so there was no force and his tag of Kyle Jones was too late. A pair of run-scoring walks and a wild pitch followed to plate three runs, then Jones, up for the second time in the inning, launched a bases-clearing double that missed leaving the park by about two feet. Working with a 15-8 cushion through six innings, Barberi delivered a 1-2-3 seventh before allowing a pair of runs in the eighth. Florida answered that Miami rally with a five homer inning that began with Kurland’s second homer of the day, this one opposite field to right. One out and Kyle Jones being hit by a pitch later, Lawson homered to center on the first pitch he saw from Tate DeRias. Cyr also launched the first pitch he saw, this one to left center, and Surowiec made it three in a row with a blast to center field. Following a McDonald single to left, Karson Bowen hit his second home run of the game to left to make it 22-10. The five home run inning was the first of its kind in school history. The Gators have now homered 45 times in the last 15 games. Florida’s seven home runs traveled 2,729 feet. Game notes: Starting with a May 2 win over Oklahoma, the Gators have won 12 of their last 14 games … Each of Florida’s nine hitters delivered at least one base hit and scored at least one run … Bowen had three hits and five RBI while Kurland’s two homers drove in four … Liam Peterson (3-5, 3.86 ERA, 107 strikeouts in 79 innings) is expected to get the start for the Gators today. NCAA Regional Scoreboard (SEC teams bold face) Los Angeles No. 1 UCLA (52-7) 6, Virginia Tech (30-26) 5; Virginia Tech eliminated Cal Poly (38-22) 14, Saint Mary’s (35-26) 2 Atlanta The Citadel (36-25) 9, UIC (27-29-1) 8; UIC eliminated No. 2 Georgia Tech (50-9) 9, Oklahoma (33-22) 3 Athens Boston College (37-22) 8, Long Island (30-22) 4; Long Island eliminated No. 3 Georgia (48-12) 6, Liberty (42-20) 2 Auburn No. 4 Auburn (39-20) 17, North Carolina State (32-24) 13; North Carolina State eliminated Milwaukee (27-31) 13, UCF (32-22) 6 Chapel Hill VCU (38-24) 5, Tennessee (38-22) 4; Tennessee eliminated No. 5 North Carolina (47-11-1) 7, East Carolina (37-23-1) 5 Austin UC-Santa Barbara (39-19) 15, Holy Cross (25-30) 1; Holy Cross eliminated Texas (42-13) 17, Tarleton State (38-20) 2 Tuscaloosa Oklahoma State (38-21) 8, Alabama State (34-23) 7, 11 innings; Alabama State eliminated No. 7 Alabama (39-19) 7, South Carolina Upstate (34-29) 2 GAINESVILLE Troy (33-20) 15, Rider (33-20) 7; Rider eliminated No. 8 FLORIDA (41-19) 22, Miami (39-19) 10 Hattiesburg Virginia (37-22) 15, No. 9 Southern Miss (44-17) 11; Southern Miss eliminated Little Rock (38-26) 8, Jacksonville State (47-14) 6 Tallahassee No. 10 Florida State (38-18) 2, Coastal Carolina (37-21) 3; Suspended top of the sixth Eugene Oregon State (44-13) 9, Yale (30-14-1) 2; Yale eliminated No. 11 Oregon (42-16) 4, Washington State (31-27) 0 College Station Southern Cal (44-16) 19, Lamar (34-27) 6; Lamar eliminated Texas A&M (41-14) 17, Texas State (37-25) 2 Lincoln Arizona State (38-20) 17, South Dakota State (24-33) 0; South Dakota State eliminated Ole Miss (38-21) 6, No. 13 Nebraska (43-16) 3 Starkville Louisiana (40-24) 10, Lipscomb (29-25) 4; Lipscomb eliminated No. 14 Mississippi State (42-17) 10, Cincinnati (37-26) 5 Lawrence Northeastern (39-21) 5, Missouri State (34-21) 1; Missouri State eliminated No. 15 Kansas (44-16) 5, Arkansas (40-21) 3 Morgantown Wake Forest (39-20) 12, Binghamton (31-22) 3; Binghamton eliminated Kentucky (33-21) 11, No. 16 West Virginia (40-15) 9

Cade Kurland crosses home plate after his 8th-inning home run (UAA Photo) If given the opportunity, Kevin O’Sullivan would have scripted Florida’s first round NCAA win over Rider differently. There would have been no drama, just a rather ho-hum win that advanced the Gators into a Saturday winner’s bracket game. For seven innings, that’s what O’Sullivan got. Heading into the top of the eighth, the Gators were cruising along with a 4-0 lead. Then all hell broke loose but rather than succumb to adversity, Florida responded not once, but twice. Rider touched up three of Florida’s most reliable relievers in the eighth for six runs for a 6-4 lead. The Gators responded in their half of the inning with a solo home run by Cade McDonald, a triple by Karson Bowen and a 2-run opposite field home run to right by Cade Kurland. A 7-6 lead with Josh Whritenour on the mound to close things out would have been enough for a Florida win under most circumstances, but this wasn’t exactly a normal day. Whritenour, who gave up a 2-run homer in the eighth that propelled the Broncos to a 6-4 lead, served up a home run in the ninth, tying the score at 7-7. An upset was brewing, but the Gators had other ideas. Leading off the bottom of the ninth, Brendan Lawson launched a 2-1 fast ball more than 400 feet to the deepest part of Condron Family Ballpark that gave the Gators an 8-7 walk-off win and an 8 p.m. date with Miami in a winner’s bracket game. Miami pounded out a 10-5 win over Troy in a rain delayed game that didn’t end until 1:53 a.m. Rider and Troy will play an elimination game at 3 p.m. Lawson’s 17th home run of the season was a case of “the right batter up at the right time” by O’Sullivan, who got seven innings of three-hit baseball from starting pitcher Russell Sandefer and McDonald. The eighth was a nightmare, however, as Ernesto Lugo-Canchola, Jackson Barberi and Whritenour uncharacteristically struggled. Lugo-Canchola walked a pair of batters, Barberi walked one and gave up a grand slam, and Whritenour gave up a double and a two-run homer that put the Broncos ahead 6-4. In the ninth, Whritenour gave up a solo home run. Not exactly what O’Sullivan expected from a bullpen that has lately been dominant, but rather question his relievers, O’Sullivan credited Rider for coming from behind. “Everybody's in this tournament for a reason,” O’Sullivan said. “Rider's here for a reason, and, like I said, they took it to three of our best arms, and they battled so I tip my cap to them." To Florida’s credit, the six-run outburst was somewhat of a wakeup call. Trailing 6-4, McDonald homered on a full count and Bowen stayed alive with three foul balls after going down 1-2 in the count. His triple off the wall in right center just missed going out of the park buy a couple of feet. Kurland then took a 1-0 pitch to right field to put the Gators ahead, 7-6. McDonald, Bowen and Kurland hit five, six and eight in the batting order. Landon Stripling, who hit a home run in the sixth, hits in the six hole. Hitting ninth is Hayden Yost, who had a 2-4 game. The bottom half of the batting order went a combined 7-19 with two doubles, a triple, three home runs and five RBI. Florida staked Sandefer to a 1-0 lead on the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning when Kyle Jones hammered a home run that departed the park just left of the green monster in center field. Sandefer, who left last Saturday’s Georgia game after being hit on the arm with a line drive, was rock solid, going 5-2/3 innings and allowing only two hits before giving way to McDonald in the sixth. McDonald’s got the Gators out of the sixth and through the seventh while giving up just one hit. “I thought he (Sandefer) was really good,” O’Sullivan said. “It was really good … it was hot, probably as humid a day as we've had. So I thought he was really good. I thought he ran out of gas as we went to Caden. Then I thought he ran out of gas.” The last three guys out of the bullpen, however, didn’t have it. Still, the Gators had the hitting to make up for a subpar eighth and ninth by the relievers. Of Florida’s 12 hits, eight went for extra bases – doubles by Yost and McDonald, the triple by Bowen and home runs by Jones, Stripling, McDonald, Kurland and Lawson. In winning 11 of their last 13 games, the Gators have outscored opponents 125-65. O’Sullivan would have preferred less drama, but as many years as he’s been in the business, he knows that once the Gators get into NCAA play all wins are beautiful, even the ones that feature blown leads late in the game. “At this point in the season a win's a win,” O’Sullivan said. “You want to advance, but obviously we need to pitch better at the end of the game if we want to continue and get to our ultimate goal and destination." Regional results (SEC teams bold face) Los Angeles Saint Mary’s (35-25) 3, No. 1 UCLA (51-7) 2 Cal Poly (37-22) 6, Virginia Tech (30-25) 2 Atlanta No. 2 Georgia Tech (49-9) 22, UIC (27-28-1) 5 Citadel (35-24) vs. Oklahoma (32-21), 10 a.m., today Athens No. 3 Georgia (46-12) 15, Long Island (30-20) 1, Suspended bottom of the sixth, weather Liberty (42-19) 4, Boston College (36-22) 3 Auburn Milwaukee (26-31) 13, No. 4 Auburn (38-20) 8 UCF (31-21) 9, North Carolina State (32-22) 3, Suspended top of the eitheth, weather Chapel Hill No. 5 North Carolina (46-11-1) 8, VCU (37-24) 0 East Carolina (37-22-1) 7, Tennessee (38-21) 3 Austin No. 6 Texas (41-13) 19, Holy Cross (25-29) 1 Tarleton State (38-19) 11, UC-Santa Barbara (38-19) 5 Tuscaloosa No. 7 Alabama (38-19) 21, Alabama State (34-22) 3 South Carolina Upstate (34-28) 8, Oklahoma State (37-21) 5 GAINESVILLE No. 8 FLORIDA (40-19) 8, Rider (33-19) 7 Miami (39-18) 10, Troy (32-30) 5 Hattiesburg Little Rock (37-26) 7, No. 9 Southern Miss 4 Jacksonville State (47-13) 15, Virginia (36-22) 7 Tallahassee St. John’s (34-24) 6, No. 10 Florida State (38-18) 5 Northern Illinois (36-17) 12, Coastal Carolina (37-21) 10 Eugene No. 11 Oregon (41-16) 14, Yale (30-13-1) 2 Washington State (31-26) 3, Oregon State (43-13) 2 College Station No. 12 Texas A&M (40-14) 7, Lamar (34-26) 5 Texas State (37-24) 5, Southern Cal (43-16) 4 Lincoln No. 13 Nebraska (43-15) 4, South Dakota State (24-32) 1 Ole Miss (37-21) 7, Arizona State (37-20) 6, 14 innings Starkville No. 14 Mississippi State (41-17) 10, Lipscomb (29-25) 1 Cincinnati (38-20) 12, Louisiana (39-24) 2 Lawrence No. 15 Kansas (43-16) 6, Northeastern (38-21) 3 Arkansas (40-20) 9, Missouri State (34-20) 5 Morgantown No. 16 West Virginia (40-14) 10, Binghamton (31-21) 1 Kentucky (32-21) 6, Wake Forest (38-20) 5

When Greed Dims the North Star There’s a moment in every great institution’s history when the money gets loud enough to drown out the wisdom. When the smell of it curls around the room like cheap cigar smoke and suddenly the men in the expensive suits start looking at each other across the table with dollar signs where their eyes used to be. We have arrived at that moment in college football. The sport’s North Star — the one that has guided it through conference upheavals, television revolutions, antitrust skirmishes, and the slow combustion of the NCAA — is the Southeastern Conference. Not because it’s perfect. Lord knows it isn’t. But because for decades it operated on the bedrock understanding that greatness is built through competition, tradition, and yes, the kind of geographic and cultural identity that makes a rivalry game feel like life and death on a Saturday afternoon in October. Now here comes greed, dressed up in leverage, threatening to blow all of that up. At first it sounds inviting, the SEC only, and then logic prevails. And remarkably, it took a couple of United States senators to say out loud what some of the most powerful men in college athletics are either too timid or too compromised to say themselves. --- “One of the real risks is the SEC and Big Ten joining together.” That’s Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas — a man not exactly known as the guardian of the little guy — explaining why he and Sen. Maria Cantwell built an anti-super league provision directly into their bipartisan Protect College Sports Act, introduced just days ago. Let that settle for a moment. A Texas Republican and a Washington Democrat agreed on something. And what they agreed on is that college football’s two wealthiest conferences — the SEC, sitting on a record $1.03 billion in annual distributions, and the Big Ten, doling out $1.37 billion — cannot be allowed to merge, consolidate, or absorb each other into some gilded, self-governing, financially impenetrable super league that effectively ends the American college football model as we have known and loved it. The bill bars any conference clearing more than $1 billion in annual revenue from merging with, acquiring, or consolidating with another conference. That is precisely two conferences. You know their names. Twenty-six of 32 Division I conference commissioners signed a letter to Cruz and Cantwell expressing enthusiastic support for the bill. Greg Sankey did not sign it. Neither did Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti. Now, I want to be careful here, because Greg Sankey is not the villain in this story. Sankey has, at the SEC Spring Meetings this week in Destin, conducted himself with his customary measured deliberateness. He’ll tell you — correctly — that the SEC is the strongest football league in America by a country mile. He’s right about that. He’ll tell you the conference has earned every dollar it distributes because it delivers the best product, the biggest brands, the most passionate fanbases in the country. He’s right about that too. He prefers a 16-team playoff over 24. He’s even right about that — though you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone willing to say it plainly in a room full of coaches who see a 24-team field as job insurance. But Sankey finds himself at a crossroads this week, in more ways than one. And the direction the SEC takes from here — not just on the legislation, but on the philosophical question underneath it — will determine whether the conference remains college football’s true compass or becomes merely its richest bully. --- The whispers aren’t whispers anymore. Iowa State Athletic Director Jamie Pollard has essentially called out the power two conferences, challenging them to stop threatening to break from the NCAA and just do it already. His message, blunt as a two-by-four: put up or shut up. Here’s the dirty little secret: the SEC and Big Ten have been playing this threat like a fiddle for a decade. Every time the conversation turns uncomfortable — roster limits, transfer rules, revenue sharing with athletes — out comes the nuclear option. We’ll just leave. Well, guess what? After years of leveraging that threat into favorable legislation, the Senate has now called the bluff and built a legal wall around it. Any separation attempt, the bill makes clear, happens without congressional support. And given that the SEC-backed SCORE Act appears to be sputtering in the House, there is no friendly legislative runway available either. Meanwhile, the Big Ten and SEC can’t even agree among themselves whether the CFP should be 16 or 24 teams. You think those two conferences, with their separate television empires, their separate egos, their separate traditions, are going to voluntarily marry each other and share the proceeds? The greedheads want you to believe they can. Because threatening to do it is worth more than actually doing it. --- Here is the truth that lives underneath all of this noise: The SEC is college football’s North Star not because of its television contract. It’s because of autumn Saturdays in Gainesville and Tuscaloosa and Baton Rouge and Athens. It’s because of rivalries that predate television itself. It’s because there is a cultural soul embedded in this league that no merger, no super conference, no closed-system carve-out can replicate — and that soul is precisely what dies first when the money becomes the entire point. Greg Sankey knows this. Deep down, in whatever place a commissioner keeps his convictions, he knows the way. The question is whether the greedheads get loud enough to dim it. College football doesn’t need a super league. It needs a spine. Here’s hoping the men in those expensive suits find one. --- Buddy Martin has covered college athletics for more than five decades.

Calvin and Hobbes A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning: As the Southeastern Conference spring meetings wind to a close in Destin, this quote from the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes does a dandy job of defining commissioner Greg Sankey’s attempt to inject a measure of common sense and practicality into the state of college sports in these troubled times: “That’s the problem I’m trying to fix, you moron! I can’t turn the water off because the faucet leaks! Sheesh, where were you when they were passing out brains?” Indeed. Where are the people with brains these days? Greg Sankey is the smartest guy in any room 99 percent of the time and that includes the presidents of the 16 Southeastern Conference schools. They may have PhD after their name, but in many cases that only means they spent more years in school and then climbed the bureaucratic ladder to the top. It doesn’t mean they understand sports nor does it mean they have a keen understanding of the business that drives the sports engine. Sankey knows, which is why he’s tapping the brakes, urging the presidents and athletic directors of the conference to take a slower, well thought out approach to matters such as expanding the College Football Playoff. This is no time for desperate measures, which is what doubling the CFP from 12 to 24 teams will prove to be. Sure, more SEC teams will get into a 24-team playoff but the overall college football product will be diluted. Sankey favors staying at 12 teams but concedes that 16 has its merits. He’s willing to go along with adding four more teams and he has the backing of ESPN, which holds the contract for the College Football Playoff until the January 2032 championship game. Former Florida and Ohio State coach Urban Meyer tends to agree with Sankey. “I was OK ⁠with going to 16,” Meyer said on the Triple Option podcast. “I ⁠thought that was a good number. But 24 scares me … If we went to 16 and tried that for a few years, see how it goes, and then we can ​evaluate whether we should go to 24. And from my standpoint, I would just stay at 12 then, if we can’t get an agreement on ⁠16.” In other words, tap the brakes. Move ahead cautiously. A slow approach makes plenty of sense because the playoff is just one of the problems that have to be solved by the SEC and all of college sports where the combination of out of control NIL money and a transfer portal that has no guardrails have created cracks in the foundation. Tampering is rampant. Ole Miss is being investigated by the NCAA for the way it plucked linebacker Luke Ferelli away from Clemson. Everybody needs more money because the cost of doing business has risen exponentially. Kentucky has signed a basketball player who has gotten a waiver to play a seventh season. Besides the inevitable outbursts from The Mouth That Roared (Lane Kiffin), LSU has signed a soon to be 26-year-old pro from Israel to play basketball next season. The NCAA, in its infinite wisdom, is proposing 5-for-5 legislation that on the surface is a good thing, but it is written in such a way that the moment enacted will create a tsunami of legal action in courtrooms across the country. Because the SEC is in a three-year drought without a national champ in football, there are naysayers who believe the SEC is in the Big Ten’s rearview with a gap that is only increasing. It doesn’t help matters that the Big Ten also holds the national title belts in both men’s and women’s basketball. Sankey understands the sense of urgency when it comes to football, but he isn’t willing to concede that the SEC has hit a wall. "I can assure you that everyone in this league is trying to figure out how to come up on the top end of that in the future," Sankey said Wednesday in Destin. "But I think from a big picture, the breadth, the depth of this league, this league stands alone. In fact, we saw metrics out of the college football playoff presentation where there's no doubt we're the strongest league. Now, there's some segments of other leagues that are towards where we are, but not nearly the entirety of a conference like the Southeastern Conference. It's a pretty special place." The SEC is a special place, but to be truly special, the league needs to take the lead in addressing the overall mess college sports are in. All this talk of playoff expansion obscures the pressing issues that are draining all the money being generated by football. Playoff expansion should generate more money, which will help everyone balance the books, but expansion is nothing more than someone’s idea of a pill that will treat a symptom and not the cause. It might provide some immediate financial relief to schools that haven’t made wise decisions but how does playoff expansion resolve all these other issues? Sankey is smart to dig in his heels rather than follow the pack. As Calvin once said to Hobbes, “People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don’t realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world.” ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Back in 1960, first year Florida football coach Ray Graves led the Gators to a surprising 8-2 record that included a legendary 18-17 win over Georgia Tech, led by Graves’ former boss Bobby Dodd. The reward was a trip to the Gator Bowl. Now considered an irrelevant mid-tier bowl game that is sponsored by TaxSlayer, the Gator Bowl was a very big deal back then when there were only nine bowl games in existence: Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Gator Bowl, Sun Bowl, Tangerine Bowl, Bluebonnet Bowl and Liberty Bowl. Back in those days, bowl games were like the whipped cream and cherry on top of the ice cream sundae. They were true rewards for a season well done because bowl games didn’t factor in the voting for national champ, which took place immediately after the regular season ended. Oklahoma went unbeaten in the regular season and won the national championship but lost to Bear Bryant and Kentucky in the Sugar Bowl. In 1964, Bryant led Alabama to an unbeaten regular season and the national championship only to lose to Texas, 21-17, in the Orange Bowl, a game that ended when Joe Namath was stopped a couple inches from the goal line and the winning TD by Tommy Nobis. It wasn’t until 1968 that the Associated Press, whose vote determined the national champion, switched until after the bowl games. Six bowl games were added during the 1970s. When the decade of the 1980s ended there were 17. There were only 18 bowl games when Steve Spurrier and the Gators won their first national championship in 1996. Fewer bowl games meant quality games that made New Year’s Day special. Fast forward 30 years later and we not only have a 12-team playoff that threatens to expand to either 16 or 24 teams, but we have more than 40 bowl games. The product has been diluted. A 6-6 team in the regular season gets to go bowling and is rewarded for mediocrity. ESPN doesn’t care because it has holes in its December scheduling that require filling and what better way to do it than a bowl game even if it means subjecting two teams to a week in Shreveport. School presidents and athletic directors can use bowl games as an excuse to avoid the unpleasant task of firing a coach. There was once this unwritten rule that getting to a bowl game was a coach’s lifeline. It is far less a factor now, but still figures prominently in many decisions that involve a coach getting another year. So, let’s not be fooled by all this talk about expanding the College Football Playoff. Coaches want it because the plethora of bowl games has knocked holes in the barrier that once protected them from firing. Doubling the number of playoff berths puts a new obstacle in the path of administrations hell bent on firing a coach. School presidents and athletic directors see dollar signs. Less chance of having to fire a coach and pay buyout money. Commissioners like Phillips and Yormark, whose per team payouts pale in comparison to the SEC and Big Ten, see more money generated by additional teams in the playoff. The Big 12 (Texas Tech) and ACC (Miami) had only one team each in last season’s playoff while the SEC had five and the Big Ten three. These guys are no dummies. They are well aware that there are only a handful of teams capable of winning a national championship every year. More teams in the playoff won’t increase the odds of someone from their team winning it all but will bring in more money. Unfortunately, these days it’s all about the money and not about the quality of the game.

A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning: In an interview with the SEC Network prior to Florida’s semifinal game in Hoover back on Saturday, left fielder Blake Cyr had one of those unexpected tell it all moments in which he confessed that Kevin O’Sullivan had been the lifeline he needed to cope with the after effects of his father’s death. It was a side of Sully that few in the viewing public have ever seen. St. Sully the Compassionate. Whodathunkit? Okay, people who have known him closely through the years know that side of him, but too many fans see the fiery side who looks like he picks his teeth with rusty nails when he marches out to the pitcher’s mound to make a change. There is a caring side of him, too, probably obscured by rumors, innuendo and not enough real info about the personal, private sector of his life. Cyr offered up that rare glimpse and it helped bring into perspective what Kevin O’Sullivan has accomplished this season. He took an indefinite leave of absence during the fall to get his life in order, surprising a lot of people that he would dare to come back to coach in the spring, but come back he did. We’ve seen the team evolve from the one that lost a weekend series to High Point, got swept by Alabama and took one on the chin to JU to one that is scorching hot when it counts most. How hot are they you ask? The Florida Gators are hot enough that they are the No. 8 national seed for the NCAA Tournament which begins Friday in Gainesville with a noon game against the Rider Broncos of something called the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Since you probably don’t know what the MAAC is, here is a refresher: Iona is a member of that league and Iona, if you recall, was the incubator that propelled Walter Clayton Jr. back to Florida where he led the Gators to the 2025 NCAA basketball championship. Oh, that Rider. The Gators head into the Gainesville Regional winners of 10 of their last 12 games. They were 29-17 back on May 2, a lock for a No. 2 seed at a regional somewhere other than Gainesville, but now they’re a No. 1 and if they overwhelm the Gainesville field of Miami, Troy and Rider, they will host the winner of the Hattiesburg Regional in a super regional. All things considered, this might be Sully’s most memorable coaching job. Sure, it’s difficult to overlook 2017 when he led the Gators to their only NCAA baseball championship in school history, but that was a team whose weekend rotation of Alex Faedo, Brady Singer and Jackson Kowar made it to the big leagues. This year Sully has future big leaguers Aidan King and Liam Peterson on Friday and Saturday nights, but beyond that pitching is a crapshoot. Cyr, Brendan Lawson, Ethan Surowiec and Hayden Yost have been pounding baseballs into submission lately, but for two thirds of the season there were too many holes in the lineup. Defensively, the Gators make too many errors but lately they make all the plays when they count. Despite the early inconsistencies and still a few question marks, the Gators find themselves five wins (three regional, two super regional) from a tenth trip to Omaha for the College World Series in Sully’s 19 years on the job at UF. St. Sully the Compassionate it seems hasn’t forgotten how to win baseball games. The NCAA field of 64 teams and 16 regionals (National seeds in parenthesis and SEC teams bold face) Los Angeles: (1) UCLA 51-6; Saint Mary’s 34-25; Cal Poly 36-22; Virginia Tech 30-24 Friday 3 p.m.: Saint Mary’s vs. UCLA; 8 p.m.: Cal Poly vs. Virginia Tech Atlanta: (2) Georgia Tech 48-9; Oklahoma 32-21; Citadel 35-24; UIC 27-27-1 Friday noon: UIC vs. Georgia Tech; 5 p.m.: Citadel vs. Oklahoma Athens: (3) Georgia 46-12; Boston College 36-21; Liberty 41-19; Long Island 30-20 Friday 2 p.m.: Liberty vs. Boston College; 7 p.m.: Long Island vs. Georgia Auburn: (4) Auburn; UCF; North Carolina State; Milwaukee Friday 1 p.m.: Milwaukee vs. Auburn; 6 p.m.: UCF vs. North Carolina State Chapel Hill: (5) North Carolina 45-11-1; Tennessee 38-20; East Carolina 36-22-1; VCU 37-23 Friday noon: East Carolina vs. Tennessee; 5 p.m.: VCU vs. North Carolina Austin: (6) Texas 40-13; UC-Santa Barbara 38-18; Tarleton State 37-19; Holy Cross 25-28 Friday 1 p.m.: Holy Cross vs. Texas; 6 p.m.: Tarleton State vs. UC-Santa Barbara Tuscaloosa: (7) Alabama 37-19; Oklahoma State 37-20; USC-Upstate 33-28; Alabama State 34-21 Friday 2 p.m.: USC-Upstate vs. Oklahoma State; 7 p.m.: Alabama State vs. Alabama GAINESVILLE: (8) FLORIDA 39-19; Miami 38-18; Troy 32-29; Rider 33-18 Friday: 1 p.m. Rider vs. FLORIDA; 6 p.m.: Troy vs. Miami Hattiesburg: (9) Southern Miss 44-15; Virginia 36-21; Jacksonville State 46-13; Little Rock 36-26 Friday 2 p.m.: Little Rock vs. Southern Miss; 7 p.m.: Jacksonville State vs. Virginia Tallahassee: (10) Florida State 38-17; Coastal Carolina 37-21; Northern Illinois 35-17; St. John’s 33-24 Friday 3 p.m.: St. John’s vs. Florida State; 8 p.m.: Northern Illinois vs. Coastal Carolina Eugene: (11) Oregon 40-16; Oregon State 43-12; Washington State 30-26; Yale 30-13-1 Friday 3 p.m.: Washington State vs. Oregon State; 8 p.m.: Yale vs. Oregon College Station: (12) Texas A&M 39-14; Southern Cal 43-15; Texas State 36-24; Lamar 34-25 Friday 4 p.m.: Lamar vs. Texas A&M; 9 p.m.: Texas State vs. Southern Cal Lincoln: (13) Nebraska 42-15; Ole Miss 36-21; Arizona State 37-19; South Dakota State 24-31 Friday 4 p.m.: South Dakota State vs. Nebraska; 9 p.m.: Arizona State vs. Ole Miss Starkville: (14) Mississippi State 40-17; Cincinnati 37-20; Louisiana 39-23; Lipscomb 29-24 Friday 2 p.m.: Lipscomb vs. Mississippi State; 7 p.m.: Louisiana vs. Cincinnati Lawrence: (15) Kansas 42-16; Arkansas 39-20; Missouri State 34-19; Northeastern 38-20 Friday 1 p.m.: Northeastern vs. Kansas; 6 p.m.: Missouri State vs. Arkansas Morgantown: (16) West Virginia 39-14; Wake Forest 38-119; Kentucky 31-21; Binghamton 31-20 Friday noon: Kentucky vs. Wake Forest; 5 p.m.: Binghamton vs. West Virginia Bracket 1 Los Angeles winner vs. Morgantown winner Hattiesburg winner vs. Gainesville winner Chapel Hill winner vs. College Station winner Lincoln winner vs. Auburn winner Bracket 2 Atlanta winner vs. Lawrence winner Tallahassee winner vs. Tuscaloosa winner Austin winner vs. Eugene winner Starkville winner vs. Athens winner National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association top 25: 1. UCLA 51-6; 2. Georgia 46-12; 3. Georgia. Tech 48-9; 4. North Carolina 45-11-1; 5. Auburn 38-19; 6. Texas 40-13; 7. Southern Miss 44-15; 8. Oregon State 43-12; 9. Kansas 42-16; 10. Oregon 40-16; 11. West Virginia 39-14; 12. FLORIDA 39-19; 13. Texas A&M 39-14; 14. Florida State 38-17; 15. Arkansas 39-20; 16. Mississippi State 40-17; 17. Alabama 37-19; 18. Nebraska 42-15; 19. Southern Cal 43-15; 20. Oklahoma State 37-20; 21. Ole Miss 36-21; 22. Arizona State 37-19; 23. Jacksonville State 46-13; 24. Tennessee 38-20; 25. Coastal Carolina 37-21 UF WOMEN’S GOLF: GATORS COLLAPSE, FALL TO 11TH Tied for seventh after Sunday, the Gators shot 14-over par Monday, falling four places to 11th and out of contention for the NCAA championship. Only the top eight teams in stroke play advanced to the match play segment that will determine the national championship. Florida’s Siiu Wu’s day was a foreshadowing of what happened to the entire Florida team, which struggled in the windy conditions. Wu took a bogey on the third hole, then a quadruple bogey on the par 5 fifth, finishing the front nine with a 5-over 41. She was 1-under for the back nine, but the damage had been done as she finished with a 76 in 14th place with -2, 10 shots behind winner Farah O’Keefe of Texas. GATORS UP TO NO. 4 IN ESPN RECRUITING RANKINGS With 16 recruits already committed to the class of 2027, Jon Sumrall has the Gators on the hottest pace since Will Muschamp pulled in back-to-back No. 3 classes in 2012-13. The Gators are ranked No. 6 by 247Sports, No. 8 by On3. When ESPN came out with its latest rankings Monday, Florida had climbed from unranked to No. 4. No matter which of the recruiting services you follow, expect Florida to continue rising. Per Jason Higdon, whose info at 1standtenflorida.com is the final word when for those who take Florida recruiting seriously, the Gators will host 10 official visitors this weekend including a couple of Oklahoma verbals that stand a good chance of flipping – 4-star running back Keldrid Ben (5-10, 208, Montgomery, TX) and 3-star wide receiver TraVon Hall (6-1, 183, Tuscaloosa, AL Central). The Gators could get an answer on June 10 from 4-star offensive tackle Kenedee Jackson (6-6, 300, Lithonia Georgia) and they’re down to the nubs with 4-star offensive tackle Antonio Berry (6-5, 286, Tupelo, MS). ESPN top 15 2027 football recruiting classes: 1. Texas A&M; 2. Oklahoma; 3. Notre Dame; 4. FLORIDA; 5. Ohio State; 6. Texas Tech; 7. Southern Cal; 8. Miami; 9. UCLA; 10 Michigan; 11. Oregon; 12. Penn State; 13. Texas; 14. Washington; 15. Kentucky ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: The SEC Spring Meetings are about to begin in Destin. They’re billed as the most consequential in ages since the future of the College Football Playoff rests in the hands of commissioner Greg Sankey and ESPN, both of whom will state their case for rejecting the Big Ten proposal of expanding the playoff to 24 teams. Sankey and ESPN are both happy with 12 teams but would compromise for models that include 14 or 16 teams. This is a dig the heels moment for Sankey, who has been upstaged by Petiti and the Big Ten. We are in an era when perceptions are largely founded in trophies and dollars and no longer is the SEC perceived as the tall hog at the trough. The Big Ten has won the last three national championships in football and currently holds titles in both men’s and women’s basketball. Making matters worse, thanks to UCLA, the Big Ten holds the No. 1 seed in both baseball and softball as those sports shift into championship gear. There are some SEC coaches who are in favor of the Big Ten expansion model, largely because it’s next to impossible for a school president to fire a head coach who just got his team in the playoff. More teams in means fewer coaches getting pink slipped. While Sankey has to respect the leanings of his coaches, he also has to stand his ground. Despite the recent Big Ten surge and the fat media contracts that pony up record amounts of dollars, the SEC still holds plenty of cards, both financially and championship-level teams. Because the SEC easily draws more viewers to ESPN and its array of networks, more money will be forthcoming. The ninth conference game alone will substantially increase revenues. You don’t really think a game between Alabama and a D1AA team from Walla Walla, Washington is going to rake in money, now do you? But another SEC game will. Sankey has the backing of ESPN which will have to renegotiate its contracts with the SEC sooner rather than later. He has money and power in his corner this week so it’s time to assert his position as the most powerful leader in all of college sports. Whether politely or with an iron fist and heels dug in deep, Sankey needs to let it be known to wannabes like Petiti, ACC commish Little Jimmy Phillips and Brett Yormark at the Big 12, that the SEC dictates change but doesn’t follow the pack.

Would Greg Sankey and the SEC be willing to go it alone? A few thoughts to jump start your Sunday morning: “Okay Houston, we’ve had a problem here.” – Astronaut Jack Swigert, command module pilot, Apollo 13 That was 1974, back when there was less computing power in all of the Johnson Space Center in Houston than you have in your typical laptop some 52 years later. Because smart people with common sense and problem-solving focus found solutions, all the astronauts from Apollo 13 returned to earth safely. So here we are in 2026 and the NCAA, in its infinite wisdom, has screwed up college sports so badly that we are in desperate need of smart people with common sense and problem-solving focus to come up with practical solutions to avoid an implosion of epic proportions. Smart people. Common sense. Problem-solving focus. Three vital elements that seem to be in short supply at a point where time seems to be running out rapidly. At the core of the problem is the NCAA, which is 90 percent responsible for the mess college sports find themselves in. Mix horrendous leadership decisions, a bloated bureaucracy, outright stupidity, too many rules and no consistent enforcement together and you get what we have right now, which is a mess that teeters on the verge of collapse. So, what is the NCAA doing to avoid an iceberg bigger than the one that sunk the Titanic? Why, it’s gone to Congress, of course, hat in hand, begging for solutions from an organization that is taking a month-long vacation rather than dealing with issues that affect every American, documented or undocumented. Calling it the blind leading the blind would be more than generous. The Big Ten has grown so impatient waiting for answers that it is considering breaking away from the NCAA and abiding by its own set of rules. That’s not exactly a novel approach. Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey, who has insight while the other commissioners can’t see through bifocals, has for quite some time hinted that the SEC is more than willing to go it alone and he has the power of the single most vested network in college sports (ESPN) backing him up. But, when the two most powerful conferences in all of college sports are considering secession as an alternative to what we have now, then we indeed have a problem that needs to be addressed and solved immediately. Calling it frustration in the ranks would be the equivalent of calling a Cat 5 hurricane a gust of wind. As early as next month, the NCAA is expected to enact its 5-for-5 legislation. On the surface this is one of those rare moments when, like the bolt of lightning that struck Lee Trevino at the Western Open back in 1975, an intelligent thought has struck the NCAA. This is a great idea that there will be age limits and a time frame for playing that will eliminate things such as Kentucky signing Franck Kepnang, who will be playing his seventh year of college basketball. Showing the consistency of an amoeba, a brainless one-celled creature that splits into a second one-celled creature without so much as a thought, the NCAA has granted Kepnang a waiver to play. If the new legislation is passed as written, Kepnang will be ineligible. There are no waivers in the new rules. There are age limits. Pros from leagues around the globe such as soon to be 26-year-old Israeli point guard Yam Madar, who signed with LSU, will be ineligible. And players who had already played four years prior to the 2026-27 athletic year won’t be grandfathered in. There is this teensy problem, however, one that the NCAA always faces when it attempts to do something intelligent. Lawsuits. Every time the NCAA tries something new, it winds up in court rooms all over the country getting kneecapped by local lawyers and judges. It wouldn’t happen if all the so-called smart people at the NCAA could write legislation that has fewer holes in it than a slice of Swiss cheese. We know this is going to happen because this is what always happens. What we’re left to wonder is why all these allegedly smart people with the title of college president haven’t seen through all the years of NCAA blunders and urged their colleagues to start a new organization with airtight rules and a powerful commissioner who can and will rule with an iron hand. Why indeed. As it has been pointed out many, many times, at the heart of the problem is college presidents who (a) know nothing about sports, (b) know nothing about business and (c) believe they are the smartest person in any room they enter. Just because they have a PhD doesn’t make them smarter, it simply means they went to school more years and did a Peter Principle ascent up the academic bureaucratic ladder. The current situation hasn’t reached the point of no return. Yet. It’s getting close and we’re left to wonder if a leader with a plan and the strength to carry it out successfully will emerge. UF BASEBALL: WILL THE GATORS EARN A TOP EIGHT SEED? Despite their loss to Georgia in the SEC Tournament semifinals Saturday, the bracketologists at D1Baseball have moved the Gators (39-19) up one notch to a No. 8 seed. Hosting an NCAA regional has been a foregone conclusion for much of May, but the surge that has taken Florida from spinning its wheels to 10 wins in the last 12 games could mean the Gators will host a super regional if they can emerge from next weekend’s regional warfare. Here are the D1Baseball’s top 16 seeded teams (SEC teams bold face): 1. UCLA; 2. Georgia Tech; 3. Georgia; 4. North Carolina; 5. Auburn; 6. Texas; 7. Alabama; 8. FLORIDA; 9. Southern Miss; 10. Texas A&M; 11. Florida State; 12. West Virginia; 13. Nebraska; 14. Kansas; 15. Arkansas; 16. Mississippi State D1Baseball projects a Gainesville regional that will include Arizona State, Saint Joseph’s and Rider. Winner of the No. 8 seeded regional would play host to the No. 9 seeded regional in super regional play. In Florida’s case the No. 9 Hattiesburg regional hosted by Southern Miss. UF SOFTBALL: GATORS ONE WIN AWAY FROM OKC One day after pitching or lack of was responsible for Florida (52-11) to drop the first game of the Gainesville NCAA Super Regional to Texas Tech, Keagan Rothrock delivered a gutty performance to force game three today (12 noon, ESPNU) at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. A day after Texas Tech hammered four Gator pitchers for 10 runs, Rothrock (30-6) fought through the heat and humidity to scatter five Texas Tech hits while striking out five. Backed by 14 hits that included 2-run homers by Jocelyn Erickson and Madison Walker, Rothrock and the Gators decisively handed Texas Tech a 10-2 loss that evened the best-of-three series at 1-1. Erickson hit a 2-run homer in the first and a run-scoring single in the third. Walker blasted a towering home run in the fourth that sent Texas Tech ace Nijaree Canady packing. Walker also delivered an RBI single in the fifth. Kenleigh Cahalan drove in two with a single and Ella Weslowski doubled in a run to cap a 4-run Florida outburst. Gabi Comia’s seventh inning single completed the scoring for the Gators. Texas Tech came to Gainesville with a 1.80 ERA, but in two games against Florida, the Red Raiders have given up 18 runs, 23 hits and six home runs. Canady, who makes $1 million in NIL money, has allowed eight earned runs and four homers in 5-2/3 innings. Tech expects to start Kaitlyn Terry against the Gators today while Rothrock will get the start for the Gators. UF WOMEN’S GOLF: GATORS MOVE INTO TOP 15 The Gators rebounded from a disappointing 9-over par first round at the NCAA Championships in Carlsbad, California with a 3-under round Saturday that moved them up 12 places into a tie for 11th. Siiu Wu led Florida’s resurgence with an NCAA record 8-under 64. The Gators made the cut for the third round of stroke play today, but they have to finish in the top 15 to advance to the final round of stroke play Monday. The top eight advance to match play which determines the NCAA champion. Top 15 team leaderboard (SEC schools bold face) 1. Stanford -12; 2. Southern Cal -9; 3. Oklahoma State -7; 4. (Tie) Arkansas and Iowa State E; 6. (Tie) SMU and Duke +1; 8. Texas +2; 9. (Tie) Eastern Michigan and Arizona State +5; 11. (Tie) FLORIDA and Northwestern +6; 13. Missouri +7; 14. Pepperdine +9; 15. (Tie) Tennessee, Texas A&M and Florida State +10 ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: The NCAA, in its infinite wisdom, is finally doing a serious probe of Ole Miss for tampering violations regarding linebacker Luke Ferelli. Ferelli was the ACC’s Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2025 at California. He signed a contract with Clemson, enrolled in classes and had already begun offseason workouts with the Tigers. That didn’t stop Ole Miss, which continued to recruit him. Clemson general manager Jordan Sorrells sent Ole Miss a cease and desist letter that Ole Miss chose to ignore. Ole Miss coach Pete Golding reportedly asked Ferelli what it would cost to buy out his Clemson NIL deal, then sent a photo of a $1 million contract. Ferelli apparently took the money and ran. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney allegedly has evidence of Golding and Ole Miss tampering. Obviously the NCAA is taking the allegations seriously enough that it has demanded Ferelli’s phone records and imaging of the phones of Golding and other Ole Miss staffers who might have had contact with Ferelli. If the allegations are true, then this case demands the NCAA deal swiftly and harshly with Ole Miss, making the Rebels the poster child for what happens when you tamper with athletes who have signed contracts. This cannot be handled with a slap on the wrist. Something that resembles nuclear winter may seem overkill, but dreadful consequences are required to bring an end to the rampant cheating and tampering that’s going on in the portal. This raises a couple of questions: (1) Does the NCAA have the spinal cord it takes to take a severe stance against cheaters? and (2) even if it does drop the hammer on Ole Miss is it too late to regain control?

Off and running on a picture perfect day at Churchill Duwns When The Derby Gets In Your Blood In my world as a young sportswriter, just breaking into what we lovingly called “The Toy Department,” the Kentucky Derby was not merely an assignment. It was a summons. You started out covering high schools, learning how to write fast, spelled outlet names right and find the story hiding under a muddy jersey. Then, if you were lucky, you got the beat on the local college team. After that came the dreams: Maybe the Masters, maybe the Final Four, maybe the big fight. And somewhere high on that sacred list was Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May. For me, the Derby was the first major event outside the Masters that made me feel like I had crossed over. I loved every minute of the 16 Kentucky Derbies I was fortunate enough to see. The color, the noise, the horses, the hats, the brass bands, the smell of the barns and the sudden silence just before the gate opened. You don’t have to know a thing about bloodlines or fractions or Beyer figures to understand the Kentucky Derby. It explains itself in thunder. And if I wasn’t already hooked by the time I got there, Secretariat finished the job. That magnificent red horse did not just win the Triple Crown. He rearranged the imagination. His 31-length victory in the Belmont remains the most dominating performance I have ever seen in a championship event. Not a race, really. More like a revelation. Maybe I was destined for this. I was a native of Ocala, the “Horse Capital of the World,” where names like Needles and Carry Back were not just printed in record books. They were part of the local gospel. When your hometown has Derby winners in its bloodstream, the Run for the Roses feels personal. That is why I still watch, still care and still get pulled back in every spring. I did not have the winner this time. Most of us didn’t. Golden Tempo came rolling home and gave trainer Cherie DeVaux a place in history as the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner. But even when your ticket is torn up, the Derby never leaves you empty-handed. There is always another story. Always another reason to look twice. This year, one of them was a horse named So Happy, trained by Mark Glatt, whose Derby dream came only months after the death of his wife, Dena. A horse with a joyful name ca aarrying a brokenhearted man to the biggest stage in American racing. That is the Derby for you. It can be cruel and beautiful in the same breath. The race lasts barely two minutes, but the stories live a lot longer. That is what I learned as a young writer in The Toy Department. We thought we were going to cover games and races. What we were really covering was life — hope, grief, luck, courage and the occasional miracle wearing silks. The Kentucky Derby still has all of that. And every May, when the horses turn for home and the crowd rises as one, I am young again, notebook in hand, trying to catch the thunder before it gets away.

So when Florida stumbles, it is never just a stumble. It feels like a betrayal of natural law. The Gators are not Vanderbilt trying to find a miracle or Mississippi State trying to win uphill. Florida is Florida. That does not guarantee championships, but it does mean the excuses have expiration dates. There is an old story that still walks around Gainesville wearing a houndstooth hat. Bear Bryant, the most feared football man of his time, reportedly looked toward Florida in the 1970s and saw what too many Gator people had not yet learned to see for themselves: A sleeping giant. One account says Bryant warned, “Don’t poke that alligator. It’s asleep. You won’t like them when they wake up.” Florida’s own history department has repeated the broader idea, noting Bryant once said Florida was “a sleeping giant” waiting for the right coach. What Bryant saw was not a football program. Not yet. He saw geography. He saw speed. He saw a state filling up with families, highways, airports, high school stadium lights and boys who could run like the wind off the Gulf. He saw an institution sitting in the middle of fertile recruiting ground with no natural reason to be ordinary. And that was the maddening thing about Florida football for so long. It was not poor. It was not hidden. It was not without passion. It simply had not decided, fully and permanently, what it wanted to become. Then, eventually, the alligator opened one eye. Although warned, the Gator had been poked. There was Ray Graves, who gave Florida respectability. There was Charley Pell, who brought muscle and belief. There was Galen Hall, who had the Gators close enough to smell the orange blossoms. Then came Steve Spurrier, visor cocked, tongue sharpened, offense humming, and suddenly the sleeping giant was not sleeping at all. It was standing in the middle of the SEC, talking trash, throwing touchdowns and making Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Auburn and everybody else deal with a new reality. Florida was not just a good job anymore. It was a monster job. Then Urban Meyer came and proved the giant could win in the modern age, too. Not just conference titles. National titles. He proved that when Florida has the right coach, the right quarterback, the right staff and the right swagger, it does not have to apologize to anybody in college football. That is the burden of Bear Bryant’s prophecy. Once somebody that smart says you are a giant, ordinary no longer gets graded on a curve. Florida fans understand this better than anybody. They are not spoiled because they remember the mountaintop. They are restless because they know the mountain is still there. The stadium is still there. The brand is still there. The recruiting base is still there. The Gator logo still means something when it walks into a living room. The ghosts are still there, too, and they do not whisper. They bark. They sound like Spurrier asking why anybody would punt from midfield. They sound like Jack Youngblood playing on one leg. They sound like Emmitt Smith running through bad intentions. They sound like Tim Tebow promising that nobody would work harder. They sound like Mick Hubert losing his voice somewhere between “Oh my!” and forever. So when Florida stumbles, it is never just a stumble. It feels like a betrayal of natural law. The Gators are not Vanderbilt trying to find a miracle or Mississippi State trying to win uphill. Florida is Florida. That does not guarantee championships, but it does mean the excuses have expiration dates. Bear Bryant understood that. He knew giants do not stay asleep because they lack talent. They stay asleep because leadership, timing and alignment have not yet arrived at the same front door. That is the challenge in Gainesville now and always. The modern game has changed. The transfer portal spins like a carnival ride. NIL has turned recruiting into Wall Street with shoulder pads. Patience is shorter than a third-and-one quarterback sneak. The old program-building manual has coffee stains, missing pages and a few chapters that no longer apply. But some things have not changed. Players still follow belief. Fans still follow hope. Programs still rise when everybody in the building agrees on the standard. And Florida’s standard, like it or not, was set by the very men who woke the giant the first time. The question is not whether Florida can be great again. That question was answered decades ago. 🐊 The question is whether Florida remembers how much power is in its own bones. Because Bryant’s warning was never really for Alabama. It was for Florida. Don’t poke that alligator. Don’t underestimate that place. Don’t assume the sleeping giant is dead just because it has been quiet. In Gainesville, history does not sit in a trophy case. It waits. It watches. It judges the present against what it knows is possible. And somewhere, maybe, Bear Bryant is still leaning against a goalpost in that eternal houndstooth, looking south and saying what he knew before the rest of the SEC wanted to admit it: Wake that thing up, and you may not like what happens next.