*Watch the full press conference with Bobby Finke, Kieran Smith and Anthony Nesty at the bottom of the page. The guys were tired, worn out and still in a bit of a daze. They’d been up for hours, flown from the other side of the world and been through a gauntlet that’s so daunting, it only happens every four years (or in the case of a global pandemic, five years). But the past week had been such a fairy tale for two Florida Gators swimmers—juniors Bobby Finke and Kieran Smith—that they couldn’t help but smile, still caught up in the magic of it all as they met with local media after landing in Gainesville, and both sporting some new hardware. Finke returned from the Tokyo Olympics with two gold medals, courtesy of two of the most improbable and exciting races in Olympics swimming history. The winner in both the 800 meter and 1500 meter races, Finke trailed in both before turning on burners in the last 25 meters of the long distance races to win gold. "Leave it up to Bobby to get some excitement in the building,” joked Nesty. Excitement is a bit of an understatement, but Nesty is typically an understated guy. That wasn’t the case as Finke won his first gold, in the 800 meter. Camera’s showed Nesty—who was in Tokyo as an assistant coach for Team USA—celebrating with clenched biceps, screams and general hysterics. “He was tearing up a bit, which made me like, actually start tearing up a bit and I don't really cry that often,” recalled Finke of his post race interaction with Nesty. “So it was just really emotional and I was super excited and honored to be able to represent him and all the work he put into us, the University of Florida, and honestly just even the other athletes that he is coaching during the camp. So I was just super excited to see him cry and honestly just get so emotional. He doesn't really do it too often.” It was hard not to get emotional watching Finke though. The comeback he made—twice—was unheard of…even to him. “I did not come into this, even like really expecting to medal,” admitted Finke, medals clanking against each other as he smiled and remembered. “Like I really wanted to medal but I wasn't expecting to. But to come out of this with two golds, it's just, hats off to my coaches, really. “When I saw that I won, I was just thinking things that I can't say on TV, but is just the most exciting and most honestly overwhelming thing ever and I'm just super grateful that I was able to show the hard work that my coaches put into me.” The hard work from the coaches showed itself on the last legs of Finke’s races, as something he and Nesty discussed before hand paid off in the biggest of dividends. Explained Finke, “So one of the biggest things we worked on this year was being able to switch to another gear at the end of a race because it's really grueling, especially for the mile and 800, you know, then you're really taxed, you've been holding that pace for such a long time. “So being able to switch gears at the end of race is super important. I'd say it’s what kind of won me these medals. So just super glad we did that at the beginning of the year; small detail but it really paid off.” Still, when he turned for the final leg, the conserved energy paid off, but the mindset was simple. “It was just, ‘hey, there's Olympic gold on the line, I'm gonna do whatever I can to try and get that.’ So I just started sprinting.” “Prior to the 800 and I said, ‘Bobby, this is an 800. It's not a 750, it’s not a 600, it's an 800,” added Nesty. “You got to keep your composure. Because it's you know, the Olympics is always hyped up, especially the swimming part of the Olympics, and we can't get ahead of yourself. You have to have to be composed and you have to be patient.” Patience and composure were the key to Smith’s Olympic medal as well. The Bronze medalist in the 400 meter freestyle, Smith bided his time and pushed for the wall at the end, riding the draft of the Gold medal winner in what proved to be a successful strategy. “It was a weird one, visually to a spectator, because the middle of the pool went out so slow and you know three guys on my side of the pool and the two guys on the other side, were, were out relatively fast. “The Tunisian swimmer that was next to me who ended up winning was a great help in that race because I was chasing him down in the last 50 [meters] which, without me knowing it, helped me hold off the the guys in the middle of the pool that were coming through. I saw the light on the block when I touched. I knew I was on the podium, it was just a matter of which color.” For both guys, having former Gator Caeleb Dressel there in Tokyo, winning five gold medals and setting new world records, was also of the utmost help and motivation. Dressel was a senior when Smith and Finke were freshmen, and getting to be teammates with him again as he dominated the pool was special. “We just had a massive hug,” said Finke of his most race moment with Dressel. “He later that night, I believe won the 100 free. So we just honestly had a really big tight hug and congratulated each other.” More so than Dressel though, just having each other there was the biggest difference according to Finke and Smith. Explained Finke, “It was honestly the biggest blessing. Especially with Nesty and Kieran there, obviously Caeleb, he’s gonna be there. It just made it more relaxing towards the beginning. I really didn’t have to adapt to a new coach or new warmups. I was just really grateful to have [them] there.” “It’s helpful that I had Bobby and Caeleb and Coach Nesty there with us,” added Smith, before clarifying, “but at the same time we’re all lumped together as one Team USA and it’s a different environment than with a college team.” For Anthony Nesty, an Olympic gold medalist himself (1988 Seoul games, 100m butterfly), being there as a coach was—well, special. “It's definitely a special moment. As a coach, as a head coach at the University of Florida and having guys who came in three years as one of the best classes in the country and see them develop…it’s very special for me, Obviously I've been there as a as an athlete as well and to do it as a coach, having two athletes at the same Olympics getting medals it's extra special for me.” Now Nesty will hit the recruiting trail, striking while the iron is hot with some extra hardware to show off to swimmers contemplating the University of Florida. Smith will head home to Connecticut where he has plans to “not look at a pool for two weeks.” He’ll let his family and friends and club team take pictures with his bronze medal, before brining it back with him to Gainesville. Finke will be putting his two golds in a safe. But while home in Clearwater for a couple of weeks, he’ll head to the hometown aquarium, where a seahorse has been named after him. Then they’ll return to Gainesville, for a fall semester, a new season and back to normal life; at least normal life for a while. Nothing is every really the same once you’ve become an Olympic medalist. Then there’s Paris in 2024 and that training will start soon. For swimmers like Bobby Finke and Kieran Smith—and for that matter Caeleb Dressel and Ryan Lochte (who isn’t quite ready to hang up his swim trunks) getting to train with Anthony Nesty and former Florida and Team USA coach Gregg Troy makes Gainesville the place to be and the school they want to represent on the world stage. “I think it's the best in the world for that matter,” commented Nesty. “Obviously it was a good showing by the Gators [in Tokyo] and that just means we’re doing things the right way here with us, training the guys to compete at the high level and women. And that's just an awesome—awesome for me, awesome for the athletes and it's awesome for the Gator Nation too, for us to get to that level and then represent, you know, not only us but also, University of Florida.”

A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning: AS CAMPS PREPARE TO OPEN, A BIG QUESTION FOR EVERY SEC TEAM A sure sign that college football is about to get back to normal is the press conference that will be held at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at 11 a.m. Dan Mullen and several UF players will be talking with media actually present. This isn’t one of those ZOOM calls that we got used to last year at the height of the pandemic, but a real live press conference. What it tells us is expectations are that we are full speed ahead for a normal season in 2021. There are two big questions Mullen can expect to be asked more than once today: (1) Can Emory Jones keep Florida’s offense humming along and (2) can Todd Grantham’s defense bounce back from last year’s disaster? Mullen is certainly going to stand by his man whether it’s Jones or Grantham. For now at least. This is August and it’s all talk until the whistle blows and the foot hits the football the first time on September 4. Then and only then might the answers change. Because I know the stock answer that will come from Florida’s HBC about Jones and Grantham, the big question for me is how much better should the Gators be in terms of strength and conditioning this year compared to 2020 when there was no spring practice and no offseason program for physical development? I’m of the opinion that the offense will be fine whether it’s Emory Jones or Anthony Richardson at quarterback. I’m also of the opinion that the defense is going to improve dramatically and that Kaiir Elam and Ventrell Miller (and others) could have All-SEC or better seasons. What I don’t know is how the Gators responded to Nick Savage and if he has the defensive guys bigger, stronger, faster and readier to have a big year than last. THE REST OF THE SEC Alabama: The defense is stacked with seven returning starters along with stud Tennessee transfer Henry To’o To’o. All the questions are on the offensive side where Bryce Young takes over as the starter at quarterback. The big question for Alabama’s offense is how will they adapt to new coordinator Bill O’Brien? O’Brien hasn’t coached at the college level since 2012-13 when he was the head coach at Penn State. O’Brien’s Penn State offenses weren’t exactly dynamic, nor were his offenses with the Houston Texans, where he was the head coach from 2014 until he was fired last year. Alabama has a lot of talent, but not nearly as much as there was on hand last year. Combine that with a brand new coordinator who isn’t exactly known for his X and O wizardry and it’s enough to raise some eyebrows. Arkansas: The Razorbacks return 17 starters, eight on offense and nine on defense, the most of any team in the SEC West. With Kendal Briles calling the plays, there is a lot of confidence that the offense will do well even with a new starter at QB in KJ Jefferson. The questions are over on the defensive side where former Missouri head coach Barry Odom is the coordinator. When the Hogs held Georgia to 37 points in last year’s season opener and followed that up by intercepting three Mississippi State passes and six against Ole Miss, people were singing Odom’s praises. However, in the four most important games after that, Arkansas gave up 43 (Texas A&M), 63 (Florida), 50 (Missouri) and 52 (Alabama). Fan expectations are the highest they’ve been in years in Fayette Nam, but how well the Hogs do has everything to do with how well the defense plays. If the defense makes quantum leaps from the end of 2020 disaster, Arkansas thinks it could go bowling. Auburn: Bo Nix returns for his third year as the starting quarterback. He is the only starting QB in the league who owns a win over Alabama. Those two facts alone should rank Nix right at the top of the quarterback rankings in the SEC, but Nix has flatlined when it comes to making progress the last two years in large part because his mechanics stink and he is so inconsistent as a decision-maker. Nix has a new offensive coordinator in Mike Bobo, the same Mike Bobo who started Colorado State transfer Collin Hill over Ryan Hilinski last year at South Carolina, a move that had plenty to do with South Carolina firing Will Muschamp. Bobo’s job No. 1 is to exorcise the demons of inconsistency that have plagued Nix the next two years. That’s not an easy task and it raises this question: How long will Auburn stick with Nix when LSU transfer TJ Finley is standing on the sideline piloting a clipboard? And, how will such a move to Finley received by the Auburn faithful since Nix is a legacy whose dad led the Tigers to a 20-game winning streak playing for Little Terry Bowden back in the 1990s? Georgia: It’s another year and once again Georgia is being hyped as a team way too talented to miss out on the College Football Playoff. And, once again they have their Moses to lead them to the Promised Land. Last year it was the forgettable Jamie Newman, hyped as Heisman candidate only to opt out for the entire season in August, allegedly for COVID-19 concerns but more likely the fact he was being outplayed in scrimmages by Stetson (The Hat) Bennett IV and the equally less impressive D’Wan Mathis. This year’s Moses is JT Daniels, who was cleared to play before last year’s Auburn game but curiously was held out until after the Poodles had lost to Florida. He looked brilliant in three starts against bottom feeders and had some rather shaky moments in the Peach Bowl win over a Cincinnati team Alabama and Florida would have lit up for 50 or more. There are only two decent teams on the Georgia schedule (Clemson and Florida) so Daniels could throw for a bazillion yards and still be the same quarterback who was sacked early and often in his Southern Cal days because he holds onto the ball way too long and can’t run. So, the question heading into the season is JT the BMOC who can lead UG to the CFP and win an NC? Kentucky: The last time Kentucky averaged more than 200 passing yards per game was 2015. Only once in Mark Stoops’ 8-year tenure as the UK head coach have the Wildcats averaged more than 400 yards per game of offense. They have never thrown 20 touchdown passes in a season since Stoops took over. They have had only one season when they averaged 30 points a game. In the last four years, especially, the offense has been ground and pound. In the SEC that will get you only so far which is why Stoops has hired former Los Angeles Rams assistant Liam Coen to rejuvenate the offense with some pro principles. It sounds good, but does Coen have a quarterback capable of lighting up another team with his arm? Maybe a better question is will Mark Stoops stray too far from his ground and pound roots? LSU: A year ago, Coach O was the toast of college football after turning all the doubters into believers with a magical 15-0 run to the national championship in 2019. No one holds last year’s 5-5 record against Coach O since the Tigers essentially lost an NFL team from 2019. There is plenty of talent to turn the Tigers into a championship contender in 2021 even with Myles Brennan going down a couple of days ago with a broken arm that has required surgery. The big question for LSU is whether Coach O can survive the season? If he goes down, who will be the culprit: the NCAA or Title IX? Mississippi State: When you consider Mike Leach was trying to fit a square peg into a round hole last year, that 4-7 record in his first year at MSU doesn’t seem so bad. Leach took over a team that was geared to run the ball and introduced the Air Raid, which rarely runs. And somehow the Bulldogs were three plays away from a 7-win season. If it’s a typical second year under Leach, the offense will improve dramatically from 2020. The defense, which returns eight starters, wasn’t all that bad. Can they lop a touchdown a game off last year’s 28.1 points allowed and perhaps give Leach’s offense better field position in 2021? Missouri: In their final three games of 2020, Missouri’s defense gave up 48, 49 and 51 points. It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon or a brain scientist to figure out that’s where the Tigers have to improve in 2021. There’s just one problem. Only five starters return from that unit and one of the MIAs is linebacker Nick Bolton, who is going to pick up an NFL paycheck. The offense will be fine with quarterback Connor Bazelac running the show. Can the defense keep opponents out of the end zone? Ole Miss: Everybody knows Lane Kiffin is one of the more brilliant offensive minds in all of college football and that he’s got a legit Heisman candidate in QB Matt Corral. Everybody also knows that the Ole Miss defense stunk last year but since we don’t know if they have good enough personnel to improve the defense significantly they’ll need to win games by shootout most likely. That raises the question what to do with John Rhys Plumlee? If you want an option QB who can flat out fly, he’s your guy. He’s too good an athlete to keep on the bench. Can Kiffin turn Plumlee into a Percy Position kind of guy who drives defensive coordinators crazy? If Kiffin can do that the Ole Miss offense could go from scary to frightening. South Carolina: Other than Vanderbilt, this is the worst job in the SEC. Yes, Steve Spurrier had four straight seasons in which he won 10 or more games, but he’s been gone awhile and it’s back to mediocrity in Columbia, which brings us to new head coach Shane Beamer. He’s a fine recruiter and a great special teams guy but he’s never been a head coach before. Think about it. Special teams guy. Never been a head coach before. Now gets his first gig in the SEC. Sounds like Ron Zook only Zook was at Florida where it’s possible to win. Can Beamer win more than three games this year? If he does he could be SEC coach of the year. Tennessee: To Josh Heupel’s credit, he left Randy Shannon back in Orlando and didn’t bring him to Knoxville to coordinate the defense. That alone proves that Heupel does use his brain for something besides parting his ears. Heupel is a renowned play caller who has put points on the scoreboard everywhere he has coached, whether as an OC or HBC. If he gets the right personnel, his offenses will score plenty at UT. The problem in Knoxville is the personnel. More than 30 have been dismissed, transferred out or asked release from their letters of intent so it’s going to take awhile to stack the roster. The question is how long a leash will impatient Vol fans give him? He’s safe this year but how much longer? Texas A&M: This is year four of Jimbo Fisher’s 10-year, $75 million deal to coach the Aggies. The Aggies are better now than they were when Jimbo took over, but they still haven’t come close to winning the SEC West much less the league championship. With Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC in the very near future, Aggie fans are likely to get very nervous and start feeling inferior once again, which had everything to do with Texas A&M leaving the Big 12 for the SEC back in 2012. The expectations for Jimbo are already through the roof. Are they about to increase exponentially with Texas and Oklahoma joining the league? Will Jimbo be feeling the heat if he goes 9-3 or 8-4? Vanderbilt: Vanderbilt is coming off an 0-9 season and hasn’t had a winning record since James Franklin’s final year in 2014. The Commodores aren’t going to have a winning record this year either even though everyone in Nashville is thrilled that former walk-on fullback Clark Lea is now the HBC. Fortunately for Lea, the chardonnay and brie tailgate set at Vandy considers firing a coach such a distasteful thing so his job is safe for probably six or seven years at least. A lot of promises were made to lure Lea from the comfort of his Notre Dame DC job to Vandy. The question of questions is will Vanderbilt actually keep its promises and bring its football program out of the dark ages? ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: In the latest episode of “Who Can We Blame for the Demise of the Big 12,” US Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) is asking the Department of Justice to investigate whether ESPN engaged in “anti-competitive or illegal behavior” to assist Texas and Oklahoma bolting to the SEC. It seems everyone is pointing a finger somewhere except at Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby. Oklahoma president Joseph Harroz Jr. says it was back in 2016-18 when Texas and Oklahoma started believing the Big 12 was heading for disaster in the future and that if something wasn’t done in a hurry, the league would eventually collapse. Questions need to be asked why didn’t Bowlsby and the rest of the league see this coming?

A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning: DEFENSE WILL GET BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM THE TRANSFER PORTAL Florida’s 2021 defense might be the perfect example of how the NCAA transfer portal and subsequent changes to transfer eligibility rules has changed recruiting now and forever more. High school kids who require time to develop will still be the foundation of every roster, but the ability to plug and play to fill holes caused by injuries, transfers or just a lack of development will make the transfer portal a coach’s best friend if he has a good eye for finding kids who are just the right fit. A year ago, Florida’s defense was statistically the worst in school history. Sure, there were a couple of games – Georgia is one that comes to mind immediately – when the Gators got the job done defensively, but there was never any consistency. That can be said almost across the board in college football as fears of COVID-19 kept teams from full contact practices due to the fear of injury at a time when roster management fluctuated due to the virus. However, Florida’s defense took the most serious serious plunge, dropping from No. 9 nationally in 2019 to No. 83 in 2020. Only four starters return from last year’s disaster – Zachary Carter, Brenton Cox Jr., Ventrell Miller and Kaiir Elam – but all four are very good players who are going to be earning Sunday paychecks in the future. The problem, at least on paper, is the other seven. Dan Mullen and coordinator Todd Grantham could fill out the defense with a host of backups and newbies from solid recruiting classes but that might not improve the unit enough to challenge for a second straight SEC East title but thanks to the portal, there is an alternative and it’s actually going to be a blueprint for how coaches are going to recruit in the future. Instead of 25 high school kids signed every year, expect that number to dip to 17-20 with the rest coming from the transfer portal. Mullen has been supplementing his recruiting classes with transfers since he arrived in 2018 with the likes of wide receivers Van Jefferson and Trevon Grimes (2018); linebackers Jonathan Greenard and Cox (2019); and offensive lineman Stewart Reese, wide receivers Justin Shorter and Jordan Pouncey and running back Lorenzo Lingard (2020). Jefferson and Grimes were 4-star recruits out of high school. Cox, Shorter and Lingard were 5-star recruits and Reese and Greenard were multi-year starters at their previous schools. All those transfers came before the NCAA radically changed its policies that allow a one-time transfer without having to sit a year. Additionally, the Southeastern Conference changed its rules that allow intra-conference transfers immediate eligibility. So, you take changed policies that benefit the transfer and a coach who has already mastered finding kids from other schools who are the right fit at UF and you have the making of what may end up being a perfect storm for returning the UF defense back to the land of the living. When the Gators run out onto the field for their season opener with Florida Atlantic on September 4 as many as half the starters on defense will have begun their collegiate careers elsewhere. DE: Zachary Carter DT: Daquan Newkirk (transferred from Auburn) DT: Antonio Valetino (transferred from Penn State) EDGE: Brenton Cox Jr. (transferred from Georgia) LB: Mohamoud Diabate LB: Ventrell Miller LB: Diwun Black (juco) CB: Kaiir Elam CB: Jedarrius Perkins (transferred from Missouri) STAR: Elijah Blades (transferred from Texas A&M) S: Trey Dean III S: Rashad Torrence TELEVISION, TIMING AND SCHEDULING FOR A 16-TEAM SEC Now that the shock of Texas and Oklahoma bolting the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference has worn off, it’s time to address the more difficult problems ahead, such as the timing of their departure from the Big 12 and how it affects television contracts, plus how a 16-team league will alter the way the SEC schedules football. The timing of the departure from the Big 12 has yet to be determined. Contractually, Texas and Oklahoma are tied to the Big 12 until 2025 but having two lame duck programs dominating football five more years makes no sense whatsoever. For the Big 12 to survive this high profile divorce, it needs Texas and Oklahoma gone sooner and not later so it can pick up the $150 million or so in alimony and salvage its status as an autonomous Power 5 conference. The longer Texas and Oklahoma are in the Big 12, the less leverage the Big 12 will have in negotiating a television contract beyond 2025 when the deal with Fox and ESPN expires and the more other leagues will be able to dictate terms if the Big 12 comes calling. The sooner the Big 12 can either add schools or merge with another league like the American Athletic Conference the more likely it will be able to get a television contract that. That won’t make up all the revenue lost by Texas and Oklahoma departing but it will at least keep everybody afloat. This is where things are a bit tricky for all parties involved. Start with the SEC which has a contract with CBS for two more seasons, which is a problem if Texas and Oklahoma wish to join earlier than 2024, when ESPN owns sole broadcasting rights for the Southeastern Conference. It would seem that ESPN would have to buy out the 2022-23 SEC broadcast contract with CBS or else Texas and Oklahoma would be stuck in the Big 12 until 2024. And, what happens if the Big 12 disintegrates after the 2021 season? That could happen if Kansas and Iowa State are asked to join the Big Ten and West Virginia gets an invitation to join the ACC. If extended invitations to leave the Big 12, Kansas, Iowa State and West Virginia are goners. Count on it. There is also the possibility that the Pac-12 might be interested in expanding to the Central Time Zone by adding Texas Tech, TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma State but would that help the Pac-12 get a new media rights contract? Their contracts with ESPN and Fox expire in 2024, a year earlier than those in the Big 12. Of course, if any of these possibilities become reality the Big 12 will fall completely apart. That would solve the divorce settlement for Texas and Oklahoma, but how will CBS and ESPN deal with two new members in the Southeastern Conference? For the moment and until bright minds get together to figure things out with the bankers and networks who pay for all this, think 2024 as the first football season when Texas and Oklahoma compete in the SEC. That brings us to scheduling. Currently, the SEC operates two 7-team divisions. If the league wishes to remain in a two-division format, then it’s a simple enough matter to shuffle Alabama and Auburn to the East, Missouri to the West and add Oklahoma and Texas to the West. Except for one problem. SEC teams play an 8-game schedule, six against the teams in their division and two against the other division with one permanent opponent from the other division. That’s actually a scheduling nightmare since it can take years to play every team in the other division home and home. The one permanent opponent is necessary since it allows inter-division rivalry games like Alabama-Tennessee and Georgia-Auburn to continue. In eight game divisions, to keep the rivalry games and play at least one other opponent from the other division it would mean expanding to 9-game schedules. The greatest drawback of the division format is that it prevents scheduling the best against the best in so many cases. For example, Alabama rarely plays Georgia or Florida. LSU rarely plays Georgia and Florida rarely plays Auburn. With Texas and Oklahoma coming in as national brands, divisional scheduling would prevent a lot of great television matchups that drive the SEC brand nationally and that is something that needs to change. There are other proposals that ensure every team in the SEC will play every other team in the league on a regular basis but none of them are without some sort of drawback. However, every single model that works with 16 teams does expand the schedule to nine conference games. Here is a look at the three most prominent scheduling models that are currently out there. DIVISIONS SEC East Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Auburn SEC West Ole Miss, Mississippi State, LSU, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas A&M, Texas, Oklahoma The only real change in the division format would be for Missouri to move from the East to the West, which is where it should be now anyway. 4-TEAM PODS Pod 1: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee Pod 2: Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky, Vanderbilt Pod 3: Ole Miss, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri Pod 4: Arkansas, Texas A&M, Texas, Oklahoma The pod system divides the league into four 4-team groups or pods. For this to work, the schedule would have to increase to nine games. There are two ways to make this system work. One would be play every team in your pod on a home and away basis, then play two teams each from the other three pods for a nine-game schedule that would allow every team to play every team in the league home and away every four years (except neutral site games like Florida-Georgia, Texas-Oklahoma and Texas A&M-Arkansas). The problem with this concept is some traditional rivalries would be eliminated like Georgia-Auburn and Alabama-Tennessee. The way to preserve the rivalries while operating out of a pod system would be for every team in the league to have a permanent rival from one of the other three pods. Here is how it might work for the teams in Pod 1. Florida: Kentucky, LSU, Arkansas Georgia: Auburn, Ole Miss, Oklahoma South Carolina: Kentucky, Mississippi State, Texas A&M Tennessee: Vanderbilt, Missouri, Texas In this system, there are three games against the members of your pod, games against the three permanent rivals from the other pods and then home and home against one of the three other teams in each pod. In this scenario, every team would play every team in the league home and away every six years. While it would preserve the rivalry games, from a television scheduling standpoint, playing every team home and away every four years is a better scenario. THREE PERMANENT RIVALS AND NO DIVISIONS This may end up being the best way to do it. Each team in the league would have three permanent rivals, then there would be six games scheduled home and away for two years followed by six games home and away against the other six teams in the league. Here is how Andy Staples of The Athletic sees the permanent rivals for each team: Alabama: Auburn, Mississippi State, Tennessee Arkansas: Kentucky, Missouri, Texas Auburn: Alabama, Georgia, Vanderbilt Florida: Georgia, Tennessee, LSU Georgia: Auburn, Florida, South Carolina Kentucky: Arkansas, Mississippi State, South Carolina LSU: Florida, Ole Miss, Texas A&M Mississippi State: Alabama, Kentucky, Ole Miss Missouri: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M Oklahoma: Missouri, Ole Miss, Texas Ole Miss: LSU, Mississippi State, Oklahoma South Carolina: Georgia, Kentucky, Vanderbilt Tennessee: Alabama, Florida, Vanderbilt Texas: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M Texas A&M: LSU, Missouri, Texas Vanderbilt: Auburn, South Carolina, Tennessee Three permanent opponents is probably the best format although the Staples suggestion of Alabama playing Auburn, Tennessee and Mississippi State will draw howls particularly since Florida has to play LSU and Georgia and Texas would have to play Oklahoma and Texas A&M. Who plays who can be arranged in a more equitable fashion perhaps, but it should be noted that every team would play every other team in the league home and away at least once every four years so it’s not like it’s possible to duck tough games. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Back in 1990 when then SEC commissioner Roy Kramer wanted to expand the league to 12 teams so it could play the first conference championship game, the first two choices were Florida State and Miami. Florida State was just three years into its dynasty run of 14 straight top four finishes with a pair of national championships mixed in. Miami had already won three national championships and would win one more in 1991. FSU said no thanks to the offer and joined the ACC. Bobby Bowden defended the choice by saying the ACC was the easier path to national championships. Miami joined the Big East and stayed there until 2004 when it joined the ACC. Those moves probably seemed like a good idea at the moment, but both FSU and Miami are probably asking themselves what the hell were we thinking? The ACC is a financial bottom feeder that is locked into a deal with ESPN until 2036 that ESPN isn’t about to renegotiate. Miami and FSU pulled in $32.3 million from their media contract last year. Meanwhile every school in the SEC got paid $44.6 million. When the new contract with ESPN kicks in every school in the SEC will make somewhere around $65 million and that’s without factoring in Texas and Oklahoma. There are estimates that the amended contract to include Texas and Oklahoma will result in payouts of more than $70 million a year. FSU and Miami would swim naked through a sewer to get into the SEC, which isn’t going to be asking a second time. Think of the SEC as the penthouse. Think of the ACC as a first-floor efficiency.

The Florida Gators are well represented in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, with 30 athletes overall; 15 are competing for Team USA and 15 for their various home countries. We will keep this updated here with medal and standout performances from current and former Gators throughout the Olympic Games. This will be updated at the end of each night. GATORS MEDAL COUNT: Gold: 7 Silver: 3 Bronze: 3 You can check out the Florida Gators hub with bios for all Gator Olympians here. CALEB DRESSEL AND TEAM USA WIN GOLD IN 4X100 FREE RELAY Dressel swam the opening leg KEIRAN SMITH WINS BRONZE IN 400 FREE Smith will swim for another medal in the NATALIE HINDS ON THE PODIUM WITH RELAY TEAM Hinds swam a 53:15 split to help the Team USA Women's 4x100 relay team win bronze KELSEY STEWART HITS A WALK-OFF FOR TEAM USA WIN In it's return to the Olympics, Team USA softball received an exciting finish thanks to Kelsey Stewart's walk-off home run Keiran Smith and Team USA Miss Podium In 4x200 Relay Smith swam the opening leg and gave the USA a lead with a cushion, after a great 1:44.74 split. Great Britain soared ahead on the last leg and Team USA ended up falling behind to the point of finishing 4th. Team USA SOFTBALL WINS SILVER Team USA softball, which boast 3 Gators, wins the Silver medal in softball's return to the Olympics BOBBY FINKE WINS GOLD IN INCREDIBLE 800m COMEBACK The Gator junior was in 5th place for almost the entirety of the 800m Free race. In the last 25m, he hit the turbo and jetted for the finish, not only getting on the podium, but winning gold. CALEB DRESSEL WINS GOLD IN 100M, SETS OLYMPIC RECORD The Gator star wins his fourth gold medal, but first individual gold medal in the Olympic Games. He set a new Olympic record in the process with a time of 47.02 DRESSEL SETS ANOTHER RECORD IN 100 FLY SEMIFINAL Dressel finishes first in the 100 Fly semifinal with a time of 49.71 to set a new Olympic Record. Dressel will take on the finals on Friday night at 9:30p.m. ET. KOLOZSVARY AND Team USA BASEBALL OPEN WITH A WIN In baseball's return to the Olympics, former Gator Mark Kolozsvary and Team USA open with a win DRESSEL WINS GOLD AND SETS WORLD RECORD IN 100M FLY Dressel set a new world record with a time of 49.45 in the 100m fly. The win gives him his second career individual Olympic gold. It's his third gold so far in the Tokyo Games (he previously won in the 4x100 relay and in the 100m free) DRESSEL QUALIFIES FOR 50M FREE Dressel swam 21.42 in the 50m semi-final heat. He'll compete for another medal in the Finals on Saturday evening at 10:30pm EST. Team USA MISSES PODIUM IN 4X100 MIXED MEDLEY DRESSEL ADDS THIRD INDIVIDUAL GOLD AND SETS RECORD Dressel won his third individual gold of the games and set a new Olympic Record in the 100m butterfly. BOBBY FINKE DOES IT AGAIN FOR HIS SECOND OLYMPIC GOLD Gator junior Bobby Finke made another incredible and improbable comeback in the final 25 meters to win GOLD in the 1500m. He swam a 25.78 split on the last leg, which is faster than most sprinter swimmers. DRESSEL SWIMS 3RD LEG AS TEAM USA WINS GOLD IN LAST SWIM OF THE GAMES In the last swimming event of the Tokyo Olympics, Team USA men win the 4x100 medley relay. Dressel swam the third leg, the butterfly, as Team USA upset the Great Britain men's team, which had been the heavy favorites. Jacksonville native Ryan Murphy swam the opening leg, giving the Americans a heavy lead. Dressel becomes only the fourth American swimmer in history to win five gold medals at one Olympic Games. The other three are Mark Spitz, Matt Biondi and Michael Phelps. TAYLOR MANSON WINS BRONZE WITH TEAM USA PODIUM FINISH Gators Track and Field star Taylor Manson ran for Team USA in the qualifying rounds of the 4x400m relay on the track. With Team USA going on to win the bronze in the finals, Manson is a medalist as well. FULL TRACK AND FIELD SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEK GRANT HOLLOWAY TO THE FINALS WITH EASE Gators Track and Field star began his Olympic run on Monday with the heat runs. On Tuesday, he competed in the semifinals, and won his heat with ease with a time of 13:13. He will run for a medal—and possible World Record—at approximately 10:55pm EST on Wednesday night.

A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning: JUD FABIAN WILL BE BACK Jud Fabian was in the driver’s seat all along when it came to the Major League Baseball Draft. Because the 2020 season didn’t count against anyone’s eligibility, Fabian still has two years of college eligibility remaining, so he had leverage when the Boston Red Sox selected him early in the second round of the July Major League Baseball Draft. He was under no pressure to sign with the Red Sox because he is still an underclassman when he comes back to UF. The Baltimore Orioles wanted Fabian and were willing to offer him a bonus well beyond the slot value of $1.86 million, but the Red Sox selected him ahead of the Orioles and they weren’t nearly as flexible. Reports are that Fabian would have signed with the Red Sox for something in the neighborhood of $2.2 million – far less than what the Orioles were willing to pay – but Boston overspent and couldn’t meet Fabian’s price. As a result, Florida’s center fielder will be back for another year with the Gators. As a third-year sophomore, Fabian hit 20 home runs and drove in 46 but saw his batting averaged dip 45 points over the .294 he was hitting when the 2020 season was postponed because of COVID-19. His 79 strikeouts in 2021 no doubt cost him dearly as Fabian began the season as the No. 4 overall prospect. But, now he has a chance to come back to UF, work on making better contact and getting back to first round draft status. By returning to UF, Fabian will also have a chance to play a season with younger brother Deric, Florida’s Mr. Baseball and the Class 4A Player of the Year after a season at North Marion in which he hit .462 with 13 homers. A high school shortstop, Deric Fabian could play second, third or shortstop at UF. Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan lost nine players to the transfer portal, but only three – first base/pitcher Jordan Butler, second baseman Cory Acton and shortstop Jordan Carrion – are significant losses. The Gators picked up catcher BT Riopelle from Coastal Carolina in the transfer portal. In the Major League Baseball Draft, only four high school signees and two junior college pitchers were taken from Florida’s national No. 1-ranked recruiting class. Currently, O’Sullivan has 38 on the roster – 19 returning veterans, one transfer and 18 incoming freshmen. NCAA rules allow 35 on the roster so there will have to be some trimming done between now and February when the 2022 season begins. UF BASEBALL ROSTER AS OF AUGUST 2, 2021 Catchers (4): Cal Greenfield, R/R (6-1, 210, SR); BT Riopelle, L/R (6-0, 205, GR/TR); Mac Guscette R/R (6-0, 210, SO); Rene Lastres, R/R (6-3, 205, FR) Infielders (6): Kris Armstrong B/R, JR); Josh Rivera, R/R (6-2, 205, SO); Colby Halter, L/R (6-1, 200, SO); Wyatt Langford, R/R (6-1, 215, RFR); (6-4, 225, Deric Fabian, R/R (6-3, 180, FR); Jorge De Goti, R/R (6-1, 180, FR) Outfielders (8): Jud Fabian, R/L (6-2, 190, JR); Kendrick Calilao, R/R (6-1, 210, JR); Sterlin Thompson, L/R (6-3, 185, SO); Tucker Talbott, R/R (6-2, 185, RFR); Ty Evans, R/R (6-2, 200, FR); Michael Robertson, L/R (6-1, 175, FR); Corey Robinson, R/R (5-11, 170, FR); Matthew Prevesk, L/L (6-3, 190, FR) Pitchers (20): Garrett Milchin, LH (6-5, 210, RSR); David Leuthje, RH (6-5, 210, JR); Hunter McMullen, RH (6-2, 205, RJR); Nick Pogue, RH (6-5, 235, RSO); Hunter Barco, LH (6-4, 220, SO); Timmy Manning, LH (6-2, 190, SO); Nick Ficarrotta, RH (6-3, 180, SO); Tyler Nesbitt, RH (6-3, 195, RFR); Blake Purnell, RH (6-3, 210, RFR); Ryan Slater, RH (6-3, 185, RFR); Jac Caglianone, LH (6-5, 210, FR); Pierce Coppola, LH (6-8, 215, FR); Phil Abner, RH (6-1, 225, FR); Brandon Neely, RH (6-3, 205, FR); Fisher Jameson, RH (6-5, 220, FR); Anthony Ursitti, RH (6-4, 205); Kyle Larsen, RH (6-2, 225, FR); Karl Hartman, RH (6-4, 213, FR); Samuel Sloan, RH (6-3, 200, FR); Carsten Finnvold, LH (6-1, 175, FR) GATORS SIGN SHOOTING GUARD ELIJAH KENNEDY Mike White has filled the scholarship vacated by Samson Ruzhentsev by signing shooting guard Elijah Kennedy (6-4, 205, Virginia Beach, VA Green Run). Kennedy and 5-star (by Rivals.com) freshman Kowacie Reeves will be the only freshmen on Florida’s 12-man roster. White still has one vacant scholarship that could be filled with another freshman or a transfer. Kennedy is a lefty shooter who was the Virginia High School Association Class 5 Player of the Year in 2021. A two-time All-State player in Virginia, Kennedy averaged 22 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.1 steals and 2.6 assists per game last year. Kennedy was impressive at the recently concluded Nike Peach Jam where he played for Boo Williams, the same AAU program that sent Keyontae Johnson to Florida. UF BASKETBALL ROSTER AS OF AUGUST 2, 2021 Post (4): Colin Castleton (6-11, 231, SR); Anthony Duruji (6-7, 209, RSR); Jason Jitoboh (6-11, 305, JR); CJ Felder (6-7, 231, JR) Wings (6): Keyontae Johnson (6-5, 229, SR); Phlandrous Fleming Jr. (6-5, 205, GR); Myreon Jones (6-3, 175, SR); Neils Lane (6-5, 206, SO); Kowacie Reeves (6-6, 182, FR); Elijah Kennedy (6-4, 205, FR) Point guards (2): Brandon McKissic (6-3, 185, GR); Tyree Appleby (6-1, 163, RSR) OVER, UNDER, AROUND AND THROUGH THE SEC Alabama: The Board of Trustees has approved Nick Saban’s contract extension which will keep him coaching until 2029. Saban’s deal has an annual raise of $400,000 to go with an $800,000 completion payment for each year he coaches beyond 2025. Saban will make in excess of $10 million for 2023 and will pay a base of $11.25 million the final year of the contract. Auburn: Former Auburn and NFL corner Trovon Reed is joining Bryan Harsin’s support staff as an assistant in player development. Georgia: Tykee Smith, who transferred to Georgia from West Virginia, is being sued for $7,941 plus court costs for late rent and garbage fees from his apartment in Morgantown. LSU: Quarterback Myles Brennan, who suffered a season-ending injury in game three last year, broke the humerus bone in his left arm. He will undergo surgery today and there is no timeline for his return. Brennan was expected to battle Max Johnson for the starting job. Ole Miss: Strong safety Jon Haynes, who started 10 games in 2020, has entered the NCAA transfer portal. In two seasons as the starter, Haynes had two interceptions and 86 tackles. South Carolina: First year head coach Shane Beamer, who was the special teams coordinator at Oklahoma last year, said that by adding Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC, “… this is the toughest conference in America and it just got tougher.” Vanderbilt: Pitcher Kumar Rocker, who the New York Mets didn’t sign after selecting him No. 10 in the Major League Baseball Draft, will not return to Vanderbilt. Rocker, who reportedly had some arm issues that made the Mets hesitate to sign him, will either spend the next year rehabbing so he can be drafted again next year or go the Japan, which might be willing to pay millions. DOING THE LATE, GREAT ELLA WHEELER WILCOX PROUD … Listening to some of the reaction to Oklahoma and Texas leaving the Big 12 Conference for the SEC reminds me of the late, great poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox, who was known for her passionate prose. In her classic Solitude, Wilcox penned the phrase, “Laugh and the world laughs with you; weep and you weep alone.” Some of the non-SEC reactions around college football are downright laughable and some of them are just sad. Here are a few recent reactions: New Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff, who no doubt became an expert on college football during his days as a member of the Board of Governors of the WNBA, said expansion of the College Football Playoff from four to 12 teams needs to be paused, all because Texas and Oklahoma are leaving for the SEC. “It’s [the playoff] certainly going to be readdressed,” Kliavkoff told CBS Sports. “Remember that was a two-year process done by four people. The proposal is good, but it’s not done. We’ve mis-set fans’ expectations that it’s going to move on a very fast timeline.” Kliavkoff is the commissioner of a conference that has had exactly two CFP teams in seven years (Oregon 2014; Washington 2016) but they cash a $66 million check every year that the playoff pays to each power conference. Expanding the playoff to 12 teams is expected to triple the payoff to each conference. For a conference that is a financial bottom feeder, the Pac-12 can’t afford to delay CFP expansion and should pray it happens sooner than 2025. *** Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades, who has suffered the indignity of seeing women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey bolt to LSU in the SEC, told Max Olson of The Athletic that Texas has an inferiority complex. “Many of my colleagues around the country believe that the University of Texas created this situation because they think so highly of themselves,” Rhoades said. “I disagree. I think it’s because they felt too little of themselves.” Not really. Texas did what Texas needed to do after having to cut six sports and lose millions upon millions because of COVID-19. Faced with a league whose contract expires and no one wants to renegotiate, Texas went where there is financial stability. *** There were reports that Clemson and Florida State reached out to the SEC to see if there is room at the inn for them. Clemson reacted with a statement that said, “There is no truth to the report that Clemson University has been in contact with the Southeastern Conference regarding membership.” Florida State hasn’t issued any such statements. The folks in Tallahassee are probably wondering what the hell were we thinking when the SEC asked them to join in 1990? The SEC isn’t in an inviting mood and if it did, Clemson and FSU would crawl backwards to Birmingham to join. The answer’s pretty simple. The additions of Texas and Oklahoma will generate yearly TV payouts of $70 million+ for the SEC. The ACC is stuck with a contract that pays all of $32.3 million a year. The contract expires in 2036. *** Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby talks apples and oranges when discussing the difference in the likes of Rutgers and Maryland bolting for new leagues and Texas and Oklahoma leaving for the SEC. “The others that have moved have typically been the Rutgers and Marylands that were down in the ranks,” Bowlsby said. So, it’s okay for other schools to leave for leagues that offer more financial stability because they need the money, but it’s wrong for Texas and Oklahoma, who also feel a need for more money to do the same thing? Right. You’re making tons of sense Bob. And this from Bowlsby, who says he doesn’t blame schools for looking for a better place but “there is a right way to do it.” Bob’s still mad that Texas and Oklahoma didn’t announce to the world that they were dissatisfied with the money, the stability of the Big 12 or his leadership. And he’s mad that Greg Sankey didn’t call him up to say, “Hey Bob, Texas and Oklahoma came to me in confidence about joining the SEC. They think you and the Big 12 suck. I’m letting you know so we can screw things up permanently and have them go join the Big Ten instead.” ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Quarterback Quinn Ewers is going to forego his senior year at South Lake High School in metro Dallas/Fort Worth to enroll at Ohio State all because he thinks he will make a ton of money on name, image and likeness. New Ewers is considered a 5-star prospect that some say is a sure thing, but at the recent Elite 11 competition, he was completely outplayed. Sports Illustrated ranked him sixth, trailing Clemson commit Cade Klubnik (Clemson commit), Maalik Murphy (Texas), Nick Evers (Florida), Devin Brown (Southern Cal) and Ty Simpson (Alabama). Now he may tear it up from day one at Ohio State and put redshirt freshmen C.J. Stroud and Jack Miller (former 4-stars) and true freshman Kyle McCord (5-star) in his rear view mirror, but those three will have a distinct advantage. Stroud and Miller have been at Ohio State for a full year and McCord was there for spring football. Now some talking heads on radio were saying Ewers will benefit from skipping his senior year, but I would disagree. This isn’t like enrolling early AFTER your senior season and it’s not like kids enrolling early in basketball. There is a reason why kids don’t go straight from high school to the NFL and it’s because there are only limited numbers of games to play as opposed to basketball where thanks to the AAU circuit kids sometimes play 70-80 games a year. Ewers might make a ton of money on NIL, but what happens if he falls behind kids who have more experience?

He’s tall, good looking, smart with a quick grin that could charm someone who lives north of the Arctic circle into buying a bag of ice. Not the kind of guy you would think walks around with a chip on his shoulder the size of his native Texas. The chip sitting so prominently on Nick Evers’ shoulder serves as a reminder that he can’t ever stop working nor can he stop learning. “You can’t ever think you’re already there, that you’ve arrived,” Evers said this past Friday at Piesanos in Gainesville as he relaxed before the Friday Night Lights event. “Once you start thinking like that, you’re done. You have to believe you’re really good because you’ve put in the time and the work to prepare for this moment, but when you start thinking you’ve got it made, someone’s going to come along who’s worked harder than you. So I keep working harder and keep trying to learn the game. There are people out there who doubt me now … there will always be people who doubt you. So I have that chip on my shoulder and it tells me the way to shut the doubters up is to keep working harder, keep learning more and never give up. No matter how good I might get in the future, the chip stays right where it is, right on my shoulder, and it’s a big one.” It’s that chip on his shoulder that made Nick Evers one of the high risers at the recent Elite 11 showcase on the Left Coast. He started the week with three stars attached to his name, ranked in the lower half of the 20 quarterbacks selected to attend the week of competition and learning. When it started, Evers was ranked the 26th dual threat quarterback by 247Sports.com, 9th by Rivals. Once the competition began, however, Evers began a spectacular rise that saw him pick apart the rankings. He finished in the top eight in every workout, was spectacular in the accuracy gauntlet competition where he threw six in a row through the target bullseye, and impressed everyone with his ability to quickly grasp a new concept. When the week ended, Evers was the No. 3 quarterback in the Sports Illustrated All-American rankings, trailing only Clemson commit Cade Klubnik and Texas commit Maalik Murphy. Among those trailing Evers were No. 4 Devin Brown (Southern Cal); No. 5 Ty Simpson (Alabama); No. 6 Quinn Ewers (Ohio State); No. 7 Conner Weigman (Texas A&M); No. 10 A.J. Duffy (Florida State); No. 12 Walker Howard (LSU); No. 15 Drew Allar (Penn State); No. 16 Tayven Jackson (Tennessee) and No. 20 Jacurri Brown (Miami), who all started the week ranked higher. Evers earned his fourth star at Elite 11 but most of those aforementioned quarterbacks still have a higher ranking according to 247Sports and Rivals. That is like heaving a couple of 50-gallon gas cans onto the fire that is already raging within Nick Evers. “Do I think about it?” he asked in response to a question about the lack of respect given by the two major pay for info recruiting services. “Sure I do, but all it does is make me work harder. I can’t control anything other people think, but I can control how hard I work.” He can also control who’s going to be directing his path in college. He had 25 offers and had just finished a visit to Georgia when he committed to the Gators. Evers will be the first to tell you the other schools that were recruiting him did their best to highlight their advantages but that paled when he compared it to Florida’s combination of academics, family atmosphere, coaching staff and learning to play quarterback as taught by Dan Mullen. He's well aware of the Mullen legacy when it comes to quarterbacks. Mullen proteges Alex Smith, Chris Leak and Tim Tebow were a few years ahead of Evers’ time, but he relates to former Mississippi State and now Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and Kyle Trask, who made the Heisman podium last year and will apprentice under Tom Brady at Tampa Bay. “Look at Dak Prescott and Kyle Trask and the way he [Mullen] transformed them,” Evers said. “Those guys weren’t 5-star recruits but look at how he turned them into NFL quarterbacks. I want a coach like that who sees your potential and knows how to get the best out of you. Playing in the NFL has always been a goal of mine, ever since I started playing quarterback. Everybody has a dream and I think Coach Mullen is the missing piece for me in this process. “When you add it all up, Florida had everything for me. I had a checklist. I wanted great academics and Florida’s right up there. I wanted a family atmosphere and it’s there. People really do care about you here. Another check. Coaching staff … they’re all working together, helping each other … [Quarterbacks] Coach (Garrick) McGee … Coach Mullen. Florida’s got it all.” Mullen has earned his reputation as a genuine quarterback whisperer who doesn’t go with a cookie cutter approach. He has a quarterback-centric offense that is like an amoeba in that it changes shape with the skills of each particular quarterback. Just look at how Mullen has adapted to each personnel change. Working for Urban Meyer at Bowling Green, Mullen took a 240-pound sledgehammer best suited to be a single-wing tailback in Josh Harris and turned him into an effective passer. Alex Smith was 2-4 as a passer the year before Mullen got hold of him at Utah. Two years later, Smith was the first pick in the NFL Draft. Mullen designed an entire offense around non-runner Chris Leak and with Tim Tebow as the stand-in runner, won the national championship at UF. Tebow and Mullen teamed up for the 2007 Heisman and 2008 national championship. Prescott was offered as a linebacker at Alabama. He went to Mississippi State to play quarterback for Mullen and now he’s one of the highest paid players in the NFL at Dallas. Prescott’s successor at Mississippi State was Nick Fitzgerald, whose best two offers other than MSU were Mercer and Samford. He’s the all-time leading rusher among SEC quarterbacks with 3,607 yards. At Florida, Mullen made Feleipe Franks respectable and then turned Kyle Trask into an NFL second round pick. Not bad for someone [Trask] who hadn’t started a game since he was a freshman in high school. Evers comes to Florida with excellent credentials, ready to walk down whatever path Mullen and McGee lead to become the best he can possibly be. “I think I’m fairly well-rounded because I can run and do a lot of things, but my real strength is when I throw,” Evers said. “I’ve got a good arm, good accuracy and strength, but there’s so much more to it than just throwing a football. You have to know how to make good decisions, know when to throw and when to pull it down and run, know who you throw it to and why. It’s understanding the big play isn’t always there so you take a 5-yard or a 10-yard pass because it moves the ball down the field. “It’s making good decisions. It’s reading a defense and knowing when you need to check down and what you check down to. What’s the defense telling you? It’s knowing what throws you can make and the ones you can’t make. There are throws I can get away with in high school that I won’t be able to do here because the DBs are so much better in the SEC than I’ll ever see in high school. Being great in the SEC means you process information in a hurry and you make the right decisions. This is why it’s going to be great working with Coach Mullen and Coach McGee. It’s a learning process and I’ll have the best teachers.” It was sitting in a film room with Mullen that made Evers know he had found THE GUY when it comes to making him a better quarterback. It took only the time he spent at UF getting to know Mullen and the other coaches that home was going to be Gainesville once he leaves Flower Mound High School in Texas. “When you start watching film with him and he starts showing you how the play is developing and who’s going to be open and why he’s going to be open, you start thinking this guy [Mullen] is from another planet when it comes to football,” Evers said. “He sees the whole field and knows every weakness and where you’re going to have success if you get the football to the right guy. You watch how he’s doing something now that’s setting up something two or three plays later, like he’s setting everything up for a big play. It’s amazing and if you’re his quarterback and you’re willing to listen to him and do what he says, he’s going to take you to a whole new level.” But it’s more than just football and that has everything to do with why Nick Evers is a Gator through and through, doing his best to help the recruiting effort so Mullen brings in a powerhouse class. “Coach Mullen and the whole coaching staff, sure they want to develop you as football players so you’re the best you can be, but they want you to be the best you can be as a teammate, in your classwork, as a person,” Evers said. “You come here and you’re going to get a great education, you’re going to go from being a boy into a man, and you’re going to leave here better than you were when you started. That’s what I’m telling guys who we’re recruiting – you can go other places that promise you all kinds of stuff about football, but you come here and the coaches are going to make you a better football player and a better person. Better here than any other school I talked to.”

As I sat watching Steve Spurrier holding forth in the new Spurrier’s Gridiron Grille—the handsome $11 million restaurant opening on Aug. 11 in Celebration Pointe—it looked like royalty in motion. We fossils who were around in the early 1960s instinctively knew he was different when the Tennessee teenager first arrived in Gainesville, confident, poised, congenial and competitive. As a player he engendered new faith and hope at Florida with his patented comebacks, looking like Atlas with the whole Gator Nation on his shoulders. Maybe not able to leap tall buildings with a single bound, but it sure seemed that way when he started mounting those patented late comebacks. That’s when some writers began tagging him SuperSteve for his perceived super powers. Hope had been in short supply around the UF football program, but Spurrier brought a new vision and then kicked his way into Heisman Trophy fame. That’s The Day The Music Arrived in Gainesville. He was so laid back that he could have been labeled him “Easy Rider” six years before Jack Nicholson and Peter Fonda made the movie. Because of his Cool Cat demeanor, people underestimated the ferocity of Spurrier’s competitive spirit inside that Beach Boy image he often portrayed. That was just the first chapter of a remarkable athlete, coach and ambassador. And even he admits, it took a while to jumpstart his attitude. Until as a head coach he would open up a giant can of WhoopAss. They underestimated him. His own coach did, in fact. Standing before the Tampa Gator Club just before Spurrier’s first game as Florida coach, Ray Graves attempted to take some pressure off the shoulders of his former quarterback by warning the fans not to burden him with expectations. “He may not win the SEC, but at least he’s going to make Florida football fun,” Graves said. Spurrier took the mic and took exception. “I told him I begged to differ, but we expected to compete for the SEC right away,” Spurrier said, not meaning to disrespect his former coach. Of course he proved to be right as the 1990 Gators went on to post the best record in the SEC that year and set the table for one of the greatest runs in the history of the conference. After nearly 60 years, I pretty much know every inch of the Steve Spurrier story, having written several books with him or about him, doing probably 60-70 interviews with him and watching him chisel his legacy in Mount Rushmore. (BTW, if there was a Mount PASSmore, he would own it.) I could only think one more question to ask him. When I tuned into the Zoom presser held from his restaurant Wednesday night, it finally hit me, just a few days after he’d been inducted into another Hall of Fame (South Carolina). Danny Wuerffel, Chris Doering and Connor Shaw had been dancing all around the word. I really couldn’t come up with it until I heard Aaron Rodgers invoke an old quote from Packers safeties coach Darren Perry, commenting that this was “a quote one time that has always stuck with me and he said, ‘You can’t motivate people, but you can inspire people.’” “Inspire.” That’s the proper term to describe his trait that fueled the Spurrier aura and era. The specter of his influence spread wide and far, from Gainesville, to Durham, to Tampa, to Columbia, to Orlando and then some. His ability to convince players they had more in the tank and could reach higher plateaus by believing in a vision helped forge the formula for championships. He found out right before a big game against Clemson that his Duke quarterback was taking a curriculum in acting and asked him to act like he was the best quarterback on the planet. He did, throwing for over 400 yards as the Blue Devils upset Clemson. Inspiration. That’s how in his first season at Florida he was able to pluck Shane Matthews from the bottom of depth chart anonymity -- predicting that he would lead the SEC in passing when he’d never started a game at Florida -- and turn him into the two-time SEC Player of the Year in a six-time league championship run which also would later include the 1996 national title with Danny Wuerffel. Before he got to Florida, Wuerffel was being courted big-time by Gene Stallings at Alabama and the Tide coach tried to lure him by saying they would open up the offense. He said he hoped Wuerffel might have some 200-yard games passing. Spurrier snickered and showed up with his stat sheets. “He said that would be a half,” Wuerffel recalled. Spurrier saw 400-yard days in Danny’s future. And it happened quite a few times. “We were just fortunate that the defenses in the SEC hadn’t caught up with the passing offenses yet,” Spurrier told me. It was a simple, yet sophisticated attack based on how to find the holes in their zone defenses and access his best receivers on man-to-man matchups. And boy did it work! “Coach Spurrier explained it to me like this: ‘They’re over here (left) and you’re and going to throw it over there (right.) Then they’re and going to move to the other side and you throw it over there.” Spurrier even taught the strait-laced Wuerffel how to “trash” talk. Before a game against FSU, back when Wuerffel was splitting time with Terry Dean, when FSU linebacker Derrick Brooks bragged although that Wuerffel was starting, he wouldn’t be around at the end. “Coach Spurrier told me at Thanksgiving dinner at his house, ‘did you see what he said? I want you to tell him, he’s going to see you – and he’s going to see you there for the whole game,’” Danny said. The confidence he had in his quarterbacks “meant a lot to me and made me believe in myself.” It caused Wuerffel to recall the theme of the ESPN Special produced by Kenny Chesney called The Believer. “There couldn’t be a better title,” Wuerffel said. As I sat watching Steve Spurrier holding forth in the new Spurrier’s Gridiron Grille, the handsome $11 million restaurant opening on Aug. 11 in Celebration Pointe, it looked like royalty in motion. There behind him in this spectacular setting was a museum of his artifacts. Like a king in his court, with all the spoils of victory. “We’ve got two Heisman’s – mine and Danny’s,” said Spurrier. “Do you know any other restaurant that has TWO Heismans, Buddy?” he said proudly. Don’t get this confused with some Joe Schmo’s Sports Bar in the suburbs because in addition to all the historical elegance of the trophies – even the actual football he kicked for the winning field goal against Auburn – the ninth largest restaurant in the state (18,000 square feet) has its own personality. That includes the intimacy of the glass-enclosed “HBC Room,” which seats, of course, 11. And the rooftop bar “Visors” with a retractable roof which displays 200 of his own personal golf hats. And the bathroom wallpaper is festooned with drawings of actual ball plays from the Fun’N’Gun playbook. Spurrier’s website says the restaurant “will incorporate some of Coach’s favorite foods: avocado-topped burgers, grilled chicken, seafood, pasta, salads and desserts inspired by his wife Jerri’s recipes, like pecan pie a la mode and homemade chocolate chip cookies, which have been longtime favorites of former Florida players like Danny Wuerffel and James Bates.” I’ve taken two groups for a personal tour courtesy of Managing Partner Freddie Wehbe and sampled a few bites of the food. Quick summary: Love the lambchops and the Mediterranean Salad, plus Jerri’s Cookies. Can’t wait to try the Tomato Sandwiches with cheese on white bread. And take sip of The Kick cocktail from the special glass bearing Spurrier’s likeness kicking the Auburn Field Goal. With Spurrier, I’ve learned never to underestimate him as a coach and player. And I’m not going to do that with his restaurant, which could turn out spectacular. At the end of our long interview, when I asked him who inspired him the most, he said the same thing he always said: “My dad. He taught me the importance of winning.” Which is always his answer. What surprised me was his comment about his lack of development following college. Transitioning to coaching almost by accident after the NFL, he began to commit himself to the very thing that he would eventually ask of his players: Go all in, be passionate about winning, believe in yourself and make goals for your dreams. “As a coach, I had to get better at my ‘Give A Damn,’” Spurrier said. Following that, he began avoiding excuses, meeting all the challenges of an underdog until his team became upperdogs. And to compete right away. “You got 11, they got 11, let’s go play,” said Spurrier. So there’s the reason that Mike Griffith of Dawg Nation got together with Football Writers of America to inaugurate this new award for the national coach in his first year of a new job. Oddly enough, two of those on the immediate watch list will be Gus Malzahn of UCF and Shane Beamer of South Carolina. They already know Spurrier’s secret: Work on your “Give A Damn.”

*Special to GatorBait Magazine. Tre Mann becomes the first Florida Gators player since Bradly Beal in 2012 to go in the first round of the NBA Draft. NEW YORK – The Oklahoma City Thunder selected Florida guard Tre Mann with the 18th pick of the 2021 NBA Draft on Thursday. Mann spent the draft in New York City surrounded by friends and family, including Florida head coach Mike White, associate head coach Al Pinkins and former Florida assistant Jordan Mincy, now Jacksonville’s head coach. The Gainesville native becomes the 36th NBA Draft selection in Florida history and UF’s 12th first-round pick after he led the Gators with 16.0 points per game and earned All-SEC honors during his sophomore season. “We’re all just so excited for Tre,” White said. “He has put in an incredible amount of work to get to this point, and his dedication, commitment and maturity have helped him reach this goal. He has earned this moment, and I couldn’t be happier for him.” Mann will be the fourth Gator coached by White to reach the NBA, joining Dorian Finney-Smith, Chris Chiozza and Devin Robinson. Mann increased his scoring average by 10.7 points as a sophomore over his freshman season, which marked the largest single-season increase by a Gator over the past 25 years. He finished his Florida career strong, averaging 20.7 points over his final seven appearances, including a career-best 30 points vs. Tennessee in the SEC Tournament, which marked the third 30-point game ever by a Gator at the SEC Tournament (Anthony Roberson, Kenyan Weaks). Mann posted a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds in Florida’s win at Auburn last season, joining Nick Calathes as the only Florida guards over the past 25 years to post a 19/13 stat line. Mann also joined Calathes and Matt Walsh as the only Gators over that same period to post four straight 20-point games. He also scored 11 of Florida’s final 20 points to close out the Gators’ win at Kentucky last season.

I learned that Caeleb Dressel was more than a superhuman athlete last year. It was January and the then-named Stephen C. O’Connell Center Natatorium was filled to the brim with spectators watching the Florida Gators swimming and diving teams host the Auburn Tigers for Senior Day. Former Florida basketball standout Omar Payne quietly sat poolside to support his peers, while former Florida linebacker James Bates, in James Bates fashion, cheered loudly for his daughter Talia alongside his wife Tina, who once swam in the same pool for the Gators. Meanwhile, on the pool deck, isolated from everyone else in the chlorine-smelling building, Caeleb Dressel stood leaning up against the wall -- the same wall that his name and records are fixated on forever. Careful not to draw attention, Dressel watched as his younger sister Sherridon took the pool on her Senior Day. But despite his best efforts, his camouflage failed and he was eventually surrounded by dozens of young swimmers from the Bolles Swimming club, the same club team the Green Cove Springs native swam for when he was younger. For over an hour, I witnessed a 23-year-old world champion and national champion selflessly sign shirts, hoodies, hats and Apple Watch bands for wide-eyed young swimmers aspiring to be just like him. He stood there with his back to the pool until the last article of clothing was signed and his now-wife Meghan snapped the last photo. For me, it was reminiscent of watching Tim Tebow sign autographs until nightfall after football practice. The selflessness that Dressel displayed that afternoon on the pool deck made me a fan -- not of his swimming abilities, but of his ability to represent himself and the University of Florida so well. For me, it was one of those, “ It’s great to be a Florida Gator” moments. And on Wednesday night, Americans around the globe got a taste of what that feeling was like. After swimming an Olympic record time of 47.02 seconds in the 100 freestyle, Dressel used the last bit of strength he had to pull himself onto the lane rope separating lane four and lane five before looking to the results board. While still looking for his breath, Dressel’s eyes lit up as he realized he had just broken the Olympic record en route to capturing his first individual gold medal. His child-like expression says all there is to say about his feelings: he can’t believe it. But his post-swim interview is what really put it into perspective. Still dripping wet, disheveled and fumbling to catch his breath, Dressel attempts to describe his emotions: “I don’t know if it’s really set in yet,” a choked-up Dressel said. “Right now I’m just kinda hurting.” Obviously physically taxed, the longer he was out of the pool, the more prominent his emotions became. “It’s a really tough year,” Dressel said. “It’s really hard. So to have the results show up, I mean, it really came together, so I’m happy.” But it was the moment Dressel got the opportunity to see his family, albeit virtually, that the former Florida Gator captured the hearts of an entire nation. As the screen panned to his family and wife, Dressel’s hand instantly found its way over his mouth and the Olympic gold medalist broke. After exchanging tearful “I love yous” between sobs, Dressel’s emotions continued as he made his way into the depths of the arena and into the team locker room. Once on the podium, Dressel’s eyes continued to well as the national anthem played. The amount of pride and raw emotion that Dressel showed on Wednesday night reminded me that the former Gator isn’t just superhuman in the pool, but that he’s also a super human out of it.

“Species keep on evolving or changing with time. As the environment changes, the requirements of an organism also change and they adapt to the new environment. This phenomenon of changing over a period of time as per the natural requirements is called adaptation.” – Charles Darwin This theory of natural selection has become better known by the phrase only the strong survive. In the evolution of the English language, that phrase has been redefined by the Urban Dictionary to mean eat or be eaten. Essentially, that’s what is going on with the Southeastern Conference, which rubber stamped an invitation for Texas and Oklahoma to join the league by a 14-0 vote on Thursday. Rather than wait for one of the other power conferences to make the first survival move in these times when many Division I schools struggle to make ends meet, the strongest conference has taken the initiative to become the ultimate carnivore. Nobody, but nobody will eat the SEC, at least not as long as Greg Sankey has anything to do with it. Naysayers and critics alike have spent the past week vilifying Texas and Oklahoma for looking out for their own interests while torching the SEC for its willingness to expand at the expense of its not so wealthy Big 12 Conference brethren. But should Texas and Oklahoma stay tethered to a league that does little to enhance their national brands or secure the long term financial health of their athletic departments? Should the SEC say no when two of the biggest names in all of college sports – owners of 11 national championships in football – state their intent to defect from the Big 12 to join the nation’s most stable, best-run conference? The answer to both questions is a loud and resounding no. A number of sports economists who have crunched the Big 12 numbers contend that the value of Texas and Oklahoma to the Big 12 is $29 million of the $38 million the Big 12 distributed to its 10 member schools earlier in the year. The Big 12 media rights contracts with ESPN and Fox are set to expire in 2025 and there has been no willingness on the part of either network to negotiate a new deal. Given the choice of playing wait and see at a time when both had to make serious cuts in their athletic budgets due to the effects of COVID-19, Texas and Oklahoma reached out to the SEC, whose new 10-year deal with ESPN that begins in 2024 is valued at $300 million a year. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey could have dismissed Texas and Oklahoma but it’s his job to do what’s best for the Southeastern Conference even if the Big 12 will be irreparably damaged by the defections. It was not Sankey’s job to ask permission of Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby if he could talk to Texas and Oklahoma after they approached him in confidence, nor is it Sankey’s job to keep the Good Ship Big 12 from taking on water in troubling times. Sankey’s job is to put the SEC in the best possible position to succeed, which is exactly what he has done. Once Texas and Oklahoma made their intentions clear, Sankey went to the presidents and athletic directors at the 14 SEC schools. While it’s unclear if ESPN was engaged directly in any of the expansion discussion, things could not have proceeded unless the SEC knew the network was amenable to expanding behind a contract that accommodates 14 schools. Sankey couldn’t have moved forward with Texas and Oklahoma without knowing he had a network capable of adjusting its contract and the necessary votes since three negatives would have torpedoed a deal. Even before the expansion story was conveniently leaked at SEC Media Days in Hoover, Alabama, Sankey knew he had everything to make this happen. The only thing left was the formal vote which took place Thursday. From a purely economic standpoint, the already rich Southeastern Conference will get richer. From an athletic standpoint, the league will be the most powerful in all of college sports. In an eat or be eaten world, the SEC sits at the head of the table. That Texas and Oklahoma are leaving the Big 12 is more than an exit. It’s a divorce and a bitter one at that. Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby is an angry man as well he should be. His league is in danger of falling completely apart and there is no combination of teams the Big 12 could add that could lessen the economic impact. There is no way Bowlsby can prevent Texas and Oklahoma from walking out but he can try to slow down the exit and make it as financially difficult as possible, which seems to be his mindset at the moment. Thursday, Bowlsby filed a cease and desist letter to ESPN, claiming the network is attempting “to not only harm the Big 12 Conference but to result in financial benefits for ESPN.” Bowlsby told the Associated Press, “I have absolute certainty that they (ESPN) have been involved in manipulating other conferences to go after our members.” Will Bowlsby bring legal action against ESPN? If he does and wins he might bring in a few hundred million dollars, but win or lose will it help him gain a favorable media rights contract for whatever form the Big 12 takes in the future? Following the announcement by the Southeastern Conference that it has formally invited Texas and Oklahoma to join, Bowlsby vowed to make Texas and Oklahoma fulfill their obligations to the Big 12 until the media rights contract runs out in 2025. In a statement released to the press, Bowlsby said: “Today’s SEC announcement reaffirms that these plans have been in the works with ongoing discussions between the parties and television partner for some time. We are disappointed these discussions went as far as they did without notice to, or inclusion of, other Big 12 members. Despite our concerns for the process and for the overall health of college athletics, we will do everything possible to make sure that the student-athletes at both universities enjoy an excellent experience throughout the remaining participation and competition in the Big 12 Conference.” It sounds good on paper and probably to the ears of the eight jilted schools whose options are limited, but is it what is best for the long-term future of the league? Divorce has made Bowlsby the angriest man in college sports, but it is still his job to do what is best for the Big 12 and hanging on to Texas and Oklahoma might not be the smart thing to do. For every year beyond 2021 that Texas and Oklahoma are part of the Big 12, Bowlsby loses whatever leverage he has to save the league from extinction. The Big 12 is granted autonomy as a power league by the NCAA for as long as it is a viable conference so it’s in Bowlsby’s best interests to find a number of cooperative schools to partner with whatever is left of the Big 12. Schools in the American Athletic Conference or the Mountain West that toil in relative obscurity will certainly have to consider the advantages that membership in a power league gives them. Boise State or Cincinnati might not bring anything close to the sex appeal or television market share of Texas and Oklahoma, but they have a far better chance of making the College Football Playoff as a member of a power conference than they do in the Group of Five. Additionally, the longer Bowlsby waits to finalize the divorce the more likely it is that the Big 12 will shrink even further. Kansas and Iowa State have appeal to the Big Ten, Kansas as a basketball blue blood and Iowa State as an up-and-coming football power. Both are members of the prestigious Association of American Universities which means they fit the Big Ten academic model. In the event the Atlantic Coast Conference elects to expand, West Virginia fits that geographic footprint. If he’s down to five schools, Bowlsby’s best option may be to facilitate a merger with the 11 schools of the American Athletic Conference. That’s not sexy, but a league that has markets in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas-Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Memphis, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Washington D.C. and Florida’s I-4 corridor should be able to sell a decent television package albeit one that won’t generate nearly the same amount of income as the current deal with ESPN and Fox. The Pac-12 could throw a wrench into Big 12 plans to remain autonomous by expanding to add Baylor, Texas Tech, TCU and Oklahoma State. Those four might find the option of going west as members of an existing power league superior to a conference that will have to poach schools from the Group of Five to stay afloat. Not only would adding Big 12 schools put the Pac-12 in the Central Time Zone but it would give the league a foothold in Texas, the nation’s second most populous (30 million+) state. At this moment, it seems the Pac-12 would prefer to remain at 12 teams rather than expand by adding independent BYU along with Boise State, San Diego State and UNLV from the Mountain West. New ACC commissioner Jim Phillips is openly courting Notre Dame, already a member of the league in everything but football. Adding the Irish would make the most economic sense for the ACC although it would still trail the SEC in yearly distributed revenue by at least $20-25 million per school. Unless Notre Dame feels its chances of making an expanded College Football Playoff are diminished as an independent by SEC expansion, no changes in status should be expected. A smart move on Phillips’ part might be to invite West Virginia and UConn, which would pretty much bring back the old Big East football conference since Miami, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Louisville and Boston College are already in the ACC. West Virginia would crawl backwards to join the ACC. If UConn intends to save its football program from extinction, it should also crawl backwards to join if the ACC comes calling. None of these potential moves by the Big 12, Big Ten, ACC or Pac-12 will have any impact on the SEC. For all the talk of Bowlsby that the Big 12 will try to force Texas and Oklahoma to remain in the league until the media contract ends in 2025, the money he could exact from a divorce settlement (estimated at $76 million each) could help the schools that remain in the league or be used to help new schools divorce their current leagues for the purpose of joining the Big 12. Thursday night, new Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff suggested tapping the brakes on expanding the College Football Playoff because the SEC is expanding. Each of the power conferences pulls in $66 million a year from the current CFB with an additional $6 million paid for each of its teams making the Final Four and $4 million for each school that gets into a New Year’s Six bowl. Estimates are that a 12-team College Football Playoff will generate as much as $2 billion a year in television revenues, which could triple the Pac-12 share of the CFP revenue. So, Kliavkoff’s suggestion probably should be taken with the same grain as Bowlsby’s threat to make Texas and Oklahoma stick it out in the Big 12 for four more years. Kliavkoff can’t afford to halt CFP expansion since his league is a relative pauper among the power conferences. Likewise, Bowlsby needs the Big 12 to survive as a power league so it can pick up its share of the expanded CFP revenue. Money talks and at a time when every school in the country took a serious financial hit because of the global pandemic, talk of halting the playoff or exacting revenge on Texas and Oklahoma is all posturing. Nothing more. Meanwhile, Greg Sankey has the Southeastern Conference in a rather enviable position of strength. Despite rumors to the contrary, there is no need to further expand the SEC beyond 16 teams. For one thing, there is only so much money to go around and expanding beyond 16 teams will not guarantee the revenues increase substantially. There is also the matter of scheduling and a 16-team league divided into four 4-team pods provides the perfect scheduling solution since it ensures that all 16 teams will play each other home and home at least once every four years. Just the scheduling alone should help increase the league’s yearly revenue distribution to $70 million or more because better football games mean more money coming in. Darwin theorized that only those within a species that are strong enough to adapt will survive. In the species that is college athletics, Greg Sankey and the SEC are the strongest and the most adaptable. Therefore, they will not only survive, but they will thrive financially. Once again, Sankey has proven that whatever the SEC is paying him, he’s cheap at three times the price. He is the most powerful voice in all of college athletics because he thinks years ahead of his peers and is able to implement his plans successfully even on short notice such as last year’s salvaging a football season that nearly every expert was writing off. Sankey is a genius, a Michelangelo painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome while the rest of college sports administrators are painting stick figures on the walls of caves. Adding Texas and Oklahoma not only gives the SEC two national brands with enormous followings but ensures that everyone else in college athletics will be marching to the drumbeat of the Southeastern Conference.

A few thoughts to jump start your Friday morning: REPORTS OF TRE MANN’S DEMISE WERE GREATLY EXAGGERATED Many of the so-called NBA experts had Tre Mann falling completely out of the first round of Thursday night’s Draft while numerous others had him slipping to the final three picks. Obviously, the Oklahoma City Thunder didn’t get the memo because they selected Mann with the 18th pick in the first round. If you had checked the mock drafts a month ago, that’s where Mann would have gone, so it’s rather apparent he held his value at a time when the experts were reading bad tea leaves. Mann is the first Gator to be drafted in the first round since Bradley Beal was taken by the Washington Wizards in 2012 and the 12th first rounder in school history. Florida coach Mike White was excited that his sophomore guard was valued so highly. “We’re all just so excited for Tre,” White said. “He has put in an incredible amount of work to get to this point, and his dedication, commitment and maturity have helped him reach this goal. He has earned this moment and I couldn’t be happier for him.” For being picked 18th in the first round, Mann will receive a contract valued at $11.7 million with $5 million guaranteed. In addition to Mann, Florida’s Scottie Lewis was taken by the Charlotte Hornets with the 26th pick (56thoverall) in the second round. Due to a poor second half of the 2020-21 season at Florida, few NBA experts had Lewis being drafted so his selection comes as a complete surprise. It’s rare that second round contracts are guaranteed so if Lewis makes the Hornets he can expect to make rookie minimum and will probably be farmed out to the Hornets’ G-League team where he can play regularly and gain experience. The Thunder are one of the youngest teams in the NBA and one of the worst 3-point shooting teams so Mann is going to a team that not only isn’t afraid to play kids but one that seriously needs a shooter with his range and ability to knock down shots from beyond the arc. Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com gave the Thunder an A- for selecting Mann. Parrish wrote, “A lot of future freshmen considering the draft should consider Mann’s story. He wasn’t great as a freshman, came back to be a sophomore and did everything NBA teams wanted to see in Year 2. His ability on the pick-and-roll and particularly with step-back jumpers is very tantalizing.” Jonathan Givony of ESPN wrote, “Tre Mann’s talent with the ball, positional size – which should allow him to play either guard spot – and upside is attractive at this spot. He’ll need to add strength and improve his consistency as a decision-maker and defender to carve out a niche in a rotation short-term, but he has the type of shot-making prowess, creativity and versatility NBA teams covet with the bonus of being a late-bloomer physically who still has room for growth as his frame continues to evolve.” Mann was one of seven Southeastern Conference players taken in the first round. Others were Josh Primo (Alabama) to San Antonio at No. 12; Moses Moody (Arkansas) to Golden State at No. 14; Keon Johnson (Tennessee) to the New York Knicks at No. 21; Isaiah Jackson (Kentucky) to the Los Angeles Lakers at No. 22; Cameron Thomas (LSU) to the Brooklyn Nets at No. 27; and Jaden Springer (Tennessee) at No. 28 to Philadelphia. Second rounders from the SEC besides Lewis included Herbert Jones (Alabama) to New Orleans at No. 34 overall; J.T. Thor (Auburn) to Detroit at No. 37; Sharife Cooper (Auburn) to Atlanta at No. 48; and Brandon Boston (Kentucky) to Memphis at No. 51. THE SEC FORMALLY INVITES TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA It didn’t take long for the Southeastern Conference to vote to invite Texas and Oklahoma to join the league. In what amounted to a rubber stamp, the SEC presidents voted 14-0 to invite the two Big 12 Conference teams. Texas and Oklahoma stated their intention to leave the Big 12 last week and made the formal request to join the SEC on Monday, so this is a rather quick decision. Texas and Oklahoma will, of course, say yes but when they can officially join the SEC has yet to be determined. Some have speculated that the two could be playing in the SEC as soon as the 2022-23 athletic year but for that to happen, there are a few hurdles that have to be cleared. First and foremost, as Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby announced Thursday evening, the remaining eight teams in the league intend to hold Texas and Oklahoma to their contractual obligation that will keep them in the Big 12 until 2025. That is almost certainly negotiable. Texas and Oklahoma will have to pay a hefty exit fee (estimated at $76 million apiece) to leave early but the cash infusion of more than $150 million could be used to help poach replacement schools from other leagues and/or help the remaining eight teams financially. Another obstacle could be legal action by the Big 12 against ESPN, which Bowlsby claims collaborated with the SEC for the intent of damaging the Big 12. In a cease and desist letter to ESPN on Thursday, Bowlsby said, “I am absolutely certain ESPN employees have discussed and provided incentives for at least one conference to raid 3-5 members of the Big 12. In doing so, they are prepared to reward them with future television proceeds. If the conference goes away as an entity, Oklahoma and Texas could be relieved from their exit obligations. Those obligations at this time would include the payment of $70 million to $80 million – two years full revenue – per school and leaving their media rights with the Big 12. “We’re just not going to sit still and let somebody who is supposed to be our partner collaborate and disrupt our business. I know with certainty they are doing it relative to one conference. I suppose they have done the same thing in moving Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC.” ESPN denied the allegations and responded to Bowlsby’s letter: “Apart from a single vague allegation that ESPN has been ‘actively engaged in discussions with at least one other’ unnamed conference, which ESPN disputes, your letter consists entirely of unsubstantiated speculations and legal conclusions.” Bowlsby did admit to the Associated Press that he has no proof of ESPN’s involvement in the active discussions Texas and Oklahoma had with the SEC. Decisions will have to be made by the SEC on how to divide the league for the purpose of scheduling. Currently, there are two 7-team divisions (East and West) that play an 8-game football schedule. There are no divisions in basketball but the scheduling format is very awkward and tends to change each year. It is the football scheduling problem that has to be resolved because the current format is untenable. There are teams that still haven’t seen each other home and home since the league expanded from 12 to 14 teams in 2012. Another example, Florida and Alabama will play for the first time since 2014 on September 18. It’s only the second time Bama will have visited Gainesville in the 14-team era of the SEC. Florida was at Alabama in 2014. Should the SEC stick with the division format, two 8-team divisions will create almost the same number of scheduling nightmares. The advantage of a 16-team league is that it could be divided into four 4-team pods and rarther than the current 8-league game format, one more conference game would be added. Each team would play all three teams in its pod every year and play two from each of the other two divisions home and home before rotating to the other two teams in each pod. This would ensure that all 16 SEC teams would play every team in the league home and home every four years. GATORS IN THE BIG LEAGUES … Pete Alonso hit his 22nd home run in the New York Mets’ 6-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves Thursday night. Since winning the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game, Alonso has hit six homers and driven in 13 runs, bringing his season total to 23 homers and 62 RBI. Jonathan India is hitting .275 as the leadoff batter for the Cincinnati Reds. India his hit eight home runs and driven in 39. Kirby Snead pitched a scoreless inning Thursday night as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox 13-1. Since being called up to the majors, Snead has pitched 1-2/3 scoreless innings. Dane Dunning is 4-7 with a 4.20 ERA for the Texas Rangers. He picked up his fourth win Tuesday night when he went 6-1/3 innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks, allowing six hits and two runs while striking out three. Harrison Bader is 9-23 over the last seven days with three homers and six RBI for the St. Louis Cardinals. Bader is now hitting .293 with nine homers and 25 RBI. Bader is hitting .363 in July with five homers and 16 RBI. Anthony DeSclafani is 10-5 with a 3.10 ERA for the San Francisco Giants. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: I understand completely that Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby is the angriest man in all of college sports. His 10-team conference is losing the two teams that account for approximately 76 percent of the league’s value, in other words $29 million of the $38 million or so the Big 12 distributed earlier in the year. There is absolutely no way to replace that lost revenue, but Bowlsby is angrily pointing fingers at ESPN, the SEC and some unnamed league that he says tried to poach 3-5 members of the Big 12 rather than look in the mirror. The man most responsible for the predicament the Big 12 finds itself in is Bob Bowlsby. Since 2011, the Big 12 has seen the exodus of Colorado (to the Pac-12), Nebraska (to the Big Ten), Missouri and Texas A&M (both to the SEC), which has plenty to do with the Big 12s lack of revenue compared to the Big Ten and SEC. He replaced those four with two – TCU (from the Mountain West) and West Virginia (from the Big East) – neither of which have added a whole lot to the league. Back in 2016, Bowlsby had a chance to expand the league to 12 or more teams. Among the schools that were considered were UCF, South Florida, Houston, Cincinnati, Memphis, Air Force, Boise State and BYU. SMU, which once was a member of the Southwest Conference along with Houston and TCU, was never given a sniff. Rather than expand, Bowlsby elected to remain at 10 teams. None of those teams offered the Big 12 what was lost in Colorado, Nebraska, Texas A&M and Missouri, but had the league expanded back then it wouldn’t be facing the possibility there will be no league at all within 12-24 months. Houston and SMU should have been no-brainers even though the Big 12 already was in the Texas television market. UCF and South Florida would have given the Big 12 a footprint in the I-4 corridor where eight million (or more) people call home. With BYU the Big 12 could have had a team whose followers number in the millions because of the outreach of the LDS Church. Boise State would have given the Big 12 a football program that would have been third best in the league. Instead, the Big 12 is down to eight teams and is likely to lose three more as Iowa State and Kansas go to the Big Ten and West Virginia to the ACC. When that happens, it will take a whole lot of persuading to convince the very stable 11 members of the AAC to join a league that has zero in the way of vision for the future, led by a commissioner who needs to look at the mirror and scream at the top of his lungs at who he sees.

A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning: RANKING THE FOOTBALL COACHES IN AN EXPANDED SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE 1. Nick Saban, Alabama: With seven national championships (six at Alabama, one at LSU) under his belt, Nick is generally considered the greatest coach of all time. At Alabama he is 170-23 in 14 years and that includes 7-6 in year one. He’s gone from ground and pound to wide open while going through eight offensive coordinators in 14 years. The secret to the success is running the roster like an NFL personnel department. Alabama outrecruits everyone because Saban does the best job of evaluating high school kids. Until he retires, the rest of the country will be playing for second place nearly every year. 2. Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M: When A&M gave Jimbo a 10-year deal worth $75 million to leave FSU, it raised eyebrows. Heading into year four, it looks like well-spent money. Jimbo won a national championship at FSU and he’s spent three years building the Aggies into a team that nobody wants to play. Always a superb recruiter and play caller, Jimbo helps out defensive coordinator Mike Elko with a great ball control offense that typically averages more than 34 minutes of possession time. A&M will be good this year. Circle games with Alabama, (at) Ole Miss and (at) LSU. Those three games will determine whether the Aggies are simply very good or real contenders. 3. Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma: When he was handed the keys to the Cadillac by the surprising retirement of Bob Stoops, it was thought that Riley woke up on third base and thought he had hit a triple. His first two quarterbacks (Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray) won the Heisman Trophy and his third (Jalen Hurts) was on the podium. No one will be surprised if Spencer Rattler wins it this year. Granted, Riley inherited a program that was a consistent playoff contender, but he hasn’t allowed it to slip even an inch. Now that he will be coaching in the Southeastern Conference, Riley will be recruiting even better players. If there is a question it’s about defense. They don’t play much of it in the Big 12. It’s expected in the SEC. 4. Ed Orgeron, LSU: This is a shaky No. 4 because of the off-the-field shenanigans that are associated with the LSU program. It’s also shaky because he has two coordinators for 2021 who have never called plays before in a college (or pro) game. But, Coach O did go 15-0 to win the national championship in 2019 with a team that he recruited and there is something to be said about that. There are NCAA issues, most of which occurred when Les Miles was the head coach, and Coach O is named in a Title IX lawsuit so even though he’s somewhat of a folk hero in Louisiana for that national championship season, he could be shown the door if any of these allegations are proven true. 5. Kirby Smart, Georgia: He sure can recruit, but until Georgia’s on-the-field performance matches up with the wins on National Signing Day, the knock on Kirby will be that no one does less with more. He’s 52-14 in his first five seasons on the job at Georgia, which is essentially the same record Mark Richt had (52-13) in his first five years. Smart inherited a program from Richt that was 51-17 in the five years prior to his arrival. Until he wins the national championship that is expected of him every year, Smart will be thought of in the same vein as Lee Westwood, who PGA commentators are quick to label as “The Best Who Never Won a Major.” 6. DAN MULLEN, FLORIDA: As a playcaller and quarterback whisperer, Mullen has few peers. What he’s done as Florida’s head coach in three years (29-9) is remarkable considering the state of the program he inherited from Jim McElwain. Florida’s offense in 2021 will transition from chunk it all over the yard to more of a balanced attack that takes advantage of a dual-threat quarterback (Emory Jones and Anthony Richardson). It’s not the offense that has Mullen ranked the sixth best coach. It’s the defense that has to make a rather substantial improvement. If Todd Grantham rebounds with a top 30 defense, the Gators will win 10 games or more in 2021 and Mullen will climb the coach ranking ladder. 7. Mike Leach, Mississippi State: Critics are quick to say Leach will never win big with an Air Raid offense that all but ignores the running game, but considering he’s never held a head coaching job at a blueblood school, his 143-97 record is pretty remarkable. Quirky offense or not, you don’t win consistently in Lubbock (Texas Tech), Pullman (Washington State) or Starkville if you can’t coach. Those aren’t exactly the garden spots of college football. He went 4-7 in a pandemic year at Mississippi State and probably gets the Bulldogs to seven regular season wins in 2021. 8. Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss: Lane Kiffin Part Deux will be scary good if he ever has a defense that can get him the football. The Rebels averaged 555 yards and 39 points per game last year and that was without the benefit of spring practice to install his offense. The problem was a defense that gave up 38.3 points and 519 yards per game. The offense will be every bit as good this year. The defense might take awhile before it catches up but if and when it does, Ole Miss will contend for championships. Kiffin’s once atrocious image is on the up and up after getting it cleaned up those three years at the Alabama laundromat run by Nick Saban. 9. Mark Stoops, Kentucky: He has taken Kentucky to five consecutive bowl games, which is a school record and tells you how far he’s brought the program since taking over a near disastrous situation left behind by Joker Phillips. Stoops is trying to open up the offense more this year which is why he brought in Liam Coen as his coordinator, but Coen isn’t going to wander far from Stoops’ control the clock with the running game to keep the defense off the field philosophy. If the Wildcats can’t throw the ball any better than they have the last couple of years, they’ll be hard pressed to be any better than 7-5. Fortunately for Stoops, the folks in Lexington are thrilled when they get to go to the Music City Bowl in Nashville or take an occasional trip to Jacksonville for the Gator Bowl. 10. Steve Sarkisian, Texas: The folks in Austin are counting on the Sark who called the plays so brilliantly for Alabama in 2020 to turn the Longhorns into national championship contenders. Sark has come a long, long way since his alcohol induced meltdown at Southern Cal in 2015. He’s kept his nose clean and he’s done rehab at St. Nick’s Home for Wayward Coaches. The Longhorns figure to score a bunch of points. Success in the SEC will require a defense that can come up with stops on a fairly regular basis. 11. Bryan Harsin, Auburn: With the exception of two years as Mack Brown’s offensive coordinator at Texas and a year as the head coach at Arkansas State, Harsin’s entire coaching career has been spent on the Left Coast. He was 69-19 as Chris Peterson’s successor at Boise State. He favors a power running game and a midrange (15-17 yard darts) passing game that works off play action. He hired Mike Bobo as his offensive coordinator to exorcise the demons out of quarterback Bo Nix. The defensive coordinator is former Vandy head coach Derek Mason who is shifting the team to a 3-4 front. Harsin shares the same state with Nick Saban and he’s about to learn that he’ll be judged by his ability to beat Nick. Good luck on that. 12. Josh Heupel, Tennessee: Heupel was 28-8 as the head coach at UCF. All but one of the losses were by eight or fewer points. His teams are going to score. The question is can they stop anyone? To his credit, he didn’t bring UCF defensive coordinator Randy Shannon along with him to Knoxville. His DC is Tim Banks, who he hired from Penn State. He brought in Rodney Garner, who is somewhat of a recruiting legend, to coach the defensive line. Tennessee is not going to be a quick fix, but Heupel should right the ship after the disaster that was Jeremy Pruitt. 13. Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri: The first-year results at Mizzou were promising. No one expected a 5-5 record, but it was an unusual year and difficult to judge. He won’t catch anyone by surprise in 2021 so we’ll have a far better idea of Drinkwitz as the head coach. He did a fine job bringing along untested Connor Bazelac at QB last year. If he makes as much progress with his QB this year, then Mizzou will be a bowl team and Drinkwitz’s head coaching stock will rise higher. 14. Sam Pittman, Arkansas: The Arkansas program was in such bad shape when he took over that it may take awhile to determine if Pittman can turn the Razorbacks into a consistent winner. They do have the misfortune of playing in the SEC West. One thing for certain, Arkansas was vastly improved when it came to physical toughness and play in the trenches last year. It’s going to take two or three recruiting classes to have an SEC roster that doesn’t have big holes in it. 15. Clark Lea, Vanderbilt: This is Lea’s first head coaching gig after spending the three previous seasons as Brian Kelly’s defensive coordinator at Notre Dame. He has approached Vanderbilt as a solvable problem that requires exceptional personnel evaluation to bring in the kind of players who can win games in the Southeastern Conference. Lea is a defensive guy but so was Derek Mason before him. Mason’s offenses always stunk. Lea brought in David Raih from the NFL where he coached wide receivers. He’s never called plays. The administrators at Vandy will have to be very, very patient. 16. Shane Beamer, South Carolina: When Beamer was Steve Spurrier’s lead recruiter, the Gamecocks put together the four most impressive seasons in school history. Now he’s back in Columbia as the head coach facing a serious rebuilding job. The single most important task will be to rebuild the roster. The Gamecocks have maybe 40 SEC-ready players. To compete they’ll need at least 25 more. GATORS AT THE OLYMPICS It was a big day in Tokyo for Gator swimmers Caeleb Dressel and Bobby Finke, who brought home gold medals. Dressel won the 100 freestyle with a time of 47.02 while Finke won the 800 meter freestyle in 7:41.47. Dressel led from start to finish in his sprint to gold while Finke turned it on with an impressive 54.98 over the final 100 meters. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Reggie Bush wants his 2005 Heisman Trophy back, but unless the Heisman changes its rules, it will not happen. Using the recent name, image and likeness (NIL) ruling as the basis for his appeal, Bush asked the Heisman Trust to give back his vacated award, citing the impermissible benefits that got him and Southern Cal into hot water in 2005 is perfectly legal now. The Heisman Trust said it would consider doing it if and only if the NCAA restored his records. The NCAA announced Wednesday that it stands by its ruling even though it settled out of court a lawsuit with Todd McNair, Bush’s former position coach at USC who was involved in the infractions. Hypocritical? Not really. Times change and rules change with the times. You can’t go retro and apply today’s rules to what happened way back when.