The crowd stood and cheered. Not because of the score, but because for the first time in a long time, they recognized their team.     By BUDDY MARTIN GatorBaitMedia.com   The Florida Gators were running on fumes. Tomorrow’s headline would read like an all-too-familiar eulogy: Another collapse, another loss to Georgia, another punchline in what used to be a proud era of college football.   The fans still showed up — all 76,131, half blue, half red, like our country — but you could see it in the eyes of most Gators — hope replaced with weary resignation.   What could possibly be salvaged from another season gone wrong and the coach fired?   Enter Billy Gonzales, the interim coach — a man not chasing glory or headlines, just doing his duty. He wasn’t the kind of leader that strutted through the tunnel or barked into microphones. He was the kind of man who turned up early, stayed late and told his players there was one thing still worth fighting for:   “The patch,” he said to them, parenthetically holding up an old, faded emblem from some forgotten youth league. Back then, you earned those. Not for winning. For trying. For doing things right. For caring.   These players — still kids really, in a sport that eats its young — stared back at him, maybe seeing something they hadn’t felt all year. Pride. Purpose. They were playing for the patch now.   Playing for effort, for each other, for something that couldn’t be measured in NIL deals or social media clout. Sure, they played vs their rivals from across the border. They lost again — but not like before. This time it went down to the final minutes and they actually led Georgia in the fourth quarter for the first time since Amos Alonzo Stagg was a ball boy.   They got a break or two, but not the ones they desperately need. Those went to that Lucky Dawg name Smart, who should be called Kirby Lucky. There was a questionable outcome of a replay review that broke hearts but not spirits.   When the whistle blew and the scoreboard confirmed the loss, something strange happened. The crowd stood and cheered. Not because of the score, but because for the first time in a long time, they recognized their team.   In the locker room afterward, tears mixed with sweat. Billy didn’t talk about next week or next year. He just nodded. “You played for the patch!”   You can call it a bitter loss, but I submit a one-time moral victory should be properly mandated. In an age where everything seems to come with a price tag, the 2025 Gators gave something money couldn’t buy — effort, heart, and the quiet dignity of caring when it would’ve been easier not to. Because sometimes, moral victories do count.   Gonzales addressed his team with the real takeaway: “You win or you lose. But I told them they’re going to face challenges in life — being fathers, husbands, men. How you respond matters. You can’t always control the situation, but you can control your emotion, your response. That’s the most important piece”.   That message highlights the deeper life lessons learned through sports — dealing with adversity, maintaining composure, and controlling reactions despite unfavorable circumstance. I would argue that tattered, tired old axiom is no longer valid — you DO have moral victories beyond the pale of stats and scoreboard, because in an era of tearaway loyalties and rent-away players and coaches, it’s critical to manifest values.   That should be the New Calibration of Success in college football. For decades, it has been measured by the oldest and loudest of metrics: Wins and losses.   The scoreboard ruled, and the statistics told a story that most fans learned to read fluently. But that measuring stick, once sturdy and self-assured, is starting to splinter. In today’s game — where loyalties shift faster than a blitzing linebacker, and where the transient culture of transfer portals and NIL deals reshapes rosters overnight — the traditional calibration of success no longer fits the field.   College football once prided itself on continuity. Teams reflected their regions, coaches built legacies, players stayed four years to grow alongside teammates and fans. The myth of loyalty — while always partly romantic — was at least a plausible narrative. Now, that narrative has thinned.   A coach signs a contract on Monday, then bolts for a richer one by Friday. A star quarterback might suit up for three programs in as many years. The constancy that anchored fans’ emotions and institutions’ identities is dissolving. Within that churn, the idea of “moral victories,” once dismissed as consolation talk, becomes a new and necessary lens. Programs that emphasize integrity, community, and character are not just playing for pride — they’re redefining relevance.   A team that unites a fractured campus, that honors commitments even when the scoreboard stings, achieves something as rare as a championship ring: Cultural endurance.   In an era when everything can be rented — talent, loyalty, brand  — values themselves are what must be owned, nurtured, and displayed. Championships are still preeminent. Winning still matters most. It has to. But the moral fiber of a program — its capacity to persevere with dignity, to stand for something larger than NIL endorsements or transient fame — now counts just as much.   A Saturday victory fades by Monday morning; a program built on authenticity endures for generations. The best coaches today don’t just call plays; they instill principles that outlast their own tenure.   If it sounds Old School, it is,  because that’s how it used to be.   The best players don’t just transfer skills; they transfer values. So maybe success in college football isn’t dying — it’s evolving. The trophies may stay the same, but their meaning is shifting.   When the game is over, and the field is empty, what lingers isn’t always the score. It’s whether a team — briefly, beautifully — showed that amidst chaos and commerce, college football can still be about heart, honor, and something that can’t be measured in yards gained or points scored.   Just boys — and girls — in as much orange and blue as the NCAA lets you buy — clapping for each other, playing for the patch, and singing about weather that never decides between hot rain and sweaty hope. In all kinds of weather, the song goes. But sometimes the weather is “loss with dignity,” and you hang another patch on the wall. It will never make the highlight reel, but if there’s anything left of college football worth saving, it’s the patch.   While the money always cashes, so does caring. So thank you, 2025 Florida Gators. The scoreboard may not care, but some of us still do.

Sometimes the right play is called but it's not executed properly. (Photo by Chris Spears)

Tommy Haugh scores two of his 27 points (UAA Photo) LAS VEGAS, Nevada – A lot of people have said it, but John Wooden is generally credited with that time honored adage, “Defense travels.”   Quite obviously, Florida’s defense took a detour on the way to T-Mobile Arena Monday night. Despite shooting 20-30 from the foul line, 7-27 from the 3-point line and committing 15 turnovers the 3 rd -ranked Gators scored more than enough points to beat 13 th -ranked Arizona.   There was just one teensy problem and that was down at the defensive end of the floor where the Gators couldn’t get stops, gave up 49 percent shooting and fouled so much that Arizona went to the foul line 38 times.   “It was our defense that was the issue,” was the understatement by Florida coach Todd Golden after the Gators dropped their season opener, 93-87.   Arizona played well enough and deserved to win this game, but it’s not like the Wildcats did it completely on their own. It’s not that the Gators were willing conspirators, just that they didn’t make plays when they were needed most, more often on the defensive end but also when there were shots to be made in the final 2:20 of the game. Florida trailed 85-76 at that point but with 43 seconds left they had a chance to tie the score at 88-88 when Boogie Fland came up with a steal on an Arizona inbounds pass and had a wide open 3-ball from the corner.   It clanged off the rim.   With 15 seconds remaining and Arizona ahead 91-87, Xaivian Lee could have cut the margin down to a single point, but like Fland’s shot, it hit the iron and missed the net.   “We had a chance to tie the game with 43 seconds to go and then we had another opportunity one possession later with another wide open three to cut it to one,” Golden said. “So I’m super disappointed that we lost, but the reason why we played this game was to give ourselves a really good opportunity to get a quality win. I don’t think anybody is going to hold this loss over our head moving forward and I do think it gives us a great opportunity to teach our team before we play North Florida on Thursday.”   Jaden Bradley, who scored 27 points, hit a pull-up jumper from about 15 feet out with 2:41 left in the game for an 83-76 Arizona lead. That was the last time the Wildcats scored from the field. Against a physical Florida press, the Wildcats kept getting to the foul line where they went 10-11 in the final 2:20.   While Florida struggled to make a three from the field, Arizona calmly stood at the stripe and kept knocking down free throws that extended the lead. For the game, the Wildcats were 31-38 from the line.   “You can’t send a team to the line 38 times,” Golden said. “A good team – any team – to the line 38 times and you expect to give yourself a really good chance to win.”   Arizona is a very good team that is going to hang around the top ten all season. The Gators should be a much better team than they showed Monday night. They played the first 10:06 of the game like the team everybody expected, carving out a 32-20 lead with 9:54 left in the first half.   At that point, it looked like the Gators were going to win in blowout fashion, but the shots stopped falling and the defense went AWOL. Florida scored only 16 points the rest of the half while Arizona lit the Gators up for 30 for a 50-46 lead.   That the Wildcats were able to hang 50 on the Gators without loading up on 3-pointers had to be particularly troubling to Golden. Arizona launched only four threes in the first half, landing two of them. The second of the threes was an off-balance desperation heave from Ivan Kharhenkov with 3:53 remaining. Florida’s Urban Klavzar was all over Kharchenkov who found the bottom of the net from 25 feet out for a 42-41 lead, the Wildcats’ first since the game was 4-2 in the first two minutes.   Arizona scored 26 points in the paint in the first half, six on 3-pointers, four on short jumpers and 14 at the foul line. The Wildcats outrebounded the Gators 21-12 and outscored UF 10-4 on second chance points.   The Wildcats attempted only one 3-pointer in the second half (a miss), but they continued to pound away on the inside where they scored another 24 points. The only non-paint points were Bradley’s 15-footer with 2:41 left and 17 free throws in 22 attempts.   When Bradley wasn’t either getting to the rim or making shots from the foul line (he was 9-10), freshman Koa Peat ate the Gators alive. The 5-star freshman forward finished the night with 30 points, seven rebounds, five assists, a blocked shot and three steals. That he was so effective caused Florida’s Tommy Haugh to shake his head.   “I think our bigs as a group know we need to be the best front court in the nation this year,” Haugh said. “We can't let somebody like that come out here and score 30 points on us. It's not acceptable, and it won't happen moving forward.”   Haugh had plenty to do with keeping the game close enough that the Gators might have been able to pull out a win. He had the best scoring night of his collegiate career with 27 points to go with four rebounds, two assists, a blocked shot and a steal. He hit 7-13 shots overall, 1-4 from the 3-point line and 12-14 from the foul line.   In the final 2:20 Haugh had two brilliant plays, each one that brought the Gators to within three points of the Wildcats from what was once a 9-point deficit. It was his steal of an Arizona inbounds pass and tap-in of his own miss with 29 seconds to go that brought the Gators back to within three, 88-85, with 43.4 seconds to go. He brought the Gators back within three again – 90-87 – with a thunderous dunk with 29 seconds left.   It was a mixed bag for Florida’s other three bigs. Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu started along with Haugh but the combined for only 15 points and nine rebounds between them. They didn’t block a single shot.   Condon finished with 11 points on 4-9 shooting overall, 0-1 from the 3-point line. He was 3-6 from the foul line. He had eight rebounds, four assists and two steals but he turned the ball over six times and fouled out with 2:20 left in the game. Chinyelu had perhaps his worst game as a Gator, finishing with four points on 2-6 shooting and one rebound. His five fouls included a flagrant early in the second half.   Micah Handlogten came off the bench to deliver the best game he’s had since before the broken leg at the 2024 SEC Tournament championship game. Handlogten hit all five of his shots from the field to finish with 11 points and 12 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive end. With the Gators down 88-80 with 47 seconds left, Handlogten came through with a 3-point play. Powering up through three Arizona defenders trying to roof him, he put the ball in the basket, drew the foul and made the shot. Less than four seconds later, Haugh stole the inbounds pass and scored to make it a 3-point margin.   Florida’s front line combined for 53 points on 18-33 shooting overall, 1-5 from the 3-point line and 16-23 from the foul line.   Contrast that to the backcourt. Starters Xaivian Lee and Boogie Fland combined for 23 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and four steals. They turned the ball over only twice. Lee had 14 points, six rebounds, five assists and a steal, but he was 5-17 overall from the field, just 3-11 from the 3-point line and 1-2 from the foul line. Fland scored nine on 3-9 shooting, 0-2 from the 3-point line and 3-5 from the foul line.   “Xai is a really good player,” Golden said. “I think he’s going to integrate himself into our system and get really comfortable. Obviously wasn’t very efficient shooting the ball tonight. Made some good plays tonight, five assists to two turnovers. The area that we really need him to step his game up is on the defensive end … The guys that we’re replacing (Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Will Richard) were really big fiscal defenders and I think that’s going to be an area where to be the best he can be for us and to continue to lift our program will be something that’s really important. But he’s a special offensive player, and, you know, I think he is a guy that we can play off of over the course of the season.”   Urban Klavzar came off the bench to score eight points including 2-6 from the 3-point line. He also had one rebound and one steal. Freshman CJ Ingram hit his first 3-point attempt but missed the next two. He blocked a shot and had an assist.   Assessing Florida’s overall performance, Golden said, “ I thought we had some uncharacteristic turnovers and just made some plays that just weren't winning plays is the best way I can say it. We ended up with 15 turnovers. We had nine in the second half. We didn't shoot the ball great. We’re a high-floor program. We rebound well, we take care of the ball, and that's going to usually give us a great chance to win, and we were deficient in both those areas tonight and we’re walking out here with a six-point loss.”   This game in many ways was reminiscent of Florida’s win over South Florida in the season opener last year, also of the loss to Kentucky in the first SEC game. Both those games left plenty to be desired, particularly on the defensive end. And, despite scoring plenty (98 against South Florida, 100 against Kentucky), the Gators could have played so much better.   Both those games led to teaching moments that helped the Gators advance to the point they were the hottest team in the country when it counted most. Can this game do the same thing?

(Photo by Chris Spears) LAS VEGAS, Nevada – Todd Golden has the kind of problem every Division I basketball coach wishes he had. Florida’s 4 th -year coach has a full roster of 13 players, all of them capable of contributing, so how is he going to divide the minutes?   “Man, so much depth,” Golden said last week as the 3 rd -ranked Gators were fine tuning for tonight’s season opener with 13 th -ranked Arizona at T-Mobile Arena (7 p.m., TNT). “I still want more guys!”   Among the lessons learned last season was it might be impossible to have too much depth. When the injury bug struck Golden had players and options at his disposal, enough that the Gators never missed a beat. When Alex Condon suffered a high ankle sprain against Mississippi State, Tommy Haugh stepped in to fill the void in the starting lineup and 7-1 Micah Handlogten burned his redshirt to ensure there were more than enough tall, talented bodies to go around. When Walter Clayton Jr. suffered a sprained ankle against Tennessee and when Alijah Martin suffered a painful hip pointer against Vanderbilt, Denzel Aberdeen stepped into the starting lineup and Urban Klavjar came off the bench to provide another shooter who could stretch defenses.   Thanks to adequate depth the Gators suffered little if any lapses in productivity. They won their final 12 games and went on to win the third NCAA championship in school history. As good as the depth was a season ago, there is more of it now.   There is enough depth and versatility that Golden can afford to tinker with his starting lineup, abandoning the two big, three perimeter approach that he’s been using since he became Florida’s basketball coach in 2022.   “We’re gonna do what we can do to get our best players on the court as much as possible,” Golden said.   That means moving Haugh to the wing where he will combine with 6-11 Alex Condon and 6-10 Rueben Chinyelu to give the Gators the tallest and most talented front line in the country. This was pretty much how the game was played for decades before the 3-point line came about and coaches went small to have three shooters in the lineup.   Well, Haugh may be 6-9, but he can shoot, handle the ball, rebound and defend four positions on the court. He’s a matchup issue that will force opponents to adjust their lineups in a way that might not be comfortable. Haugh proved in the NCAA Tournament that he is every bit as capable of knocking down 3-pointers as he is posting up and scoring on the inside.   The way Golden’s offense operates with five players touching the ball, Haugh should see the ball all over the court. Golden is counting on that being a nightmare for opposing coaches.   Haugh won’t be restricted to the wing. He will still get minutes inside where he will team with Condon, Chinyelu and Handlogten. There is also fast developing Serbian Viktor Mikic, a 6-10, 265-pounder who would play most every place but Florida. At UF he is a victim of too many live, talented bodies and only so many minutes to split up.   “Rueben will start, with Micah the backup and Condo coming over from the four a bit,” Golden said. “Micah has a great IQ, as you all know. He’s not a consistent jump shooter, but he’s really easy to keep us in our offense. Rueben has made some big strides. He’s played very well this preseason. Again, they’re guys who know how to play basketball and our perimeter knows how to put them in good spots. Micah always finds a way to help us win when he’s on the floor.”   Everybody in the country is aware of Florida’s depth and talent on the inside. What people are nervously awaiting is to see how the Gators operate with Boogie Fland (6-3, 180) and Xaivian Lee (6-4, 180) operating the two guard spots. Both are natural point guards but Fland will act as the Gators’ primary ballhandler most of the time.  He’s explosive off the bounce, a good knockdown shooter from the 3-point line and a hound of a defender. Both Fland (5.1 assists) and Lee (5.5 assists) are proven scorers who are every bit as good getting teammates involved in the offense as they are getting their own shots.   So far during practices and in Florida’s preaseason scrimmages against Florida International and Illinois, Fland and Lee showed they play well together.   “We feel like we’re playing two point guards out there at the same time,” Golden said. “The reality is most teams have a really good perimeter defender that they want to put on the ball and make that guy's life hard. But that next guy out there is going to have to guard one of those two. And when they do that, and you're playing out of the ball screen, and you're allowing them to make second-side decisions. We feel like that's a really advantageous position for us. We've assisted well in our first two scrimmages.; We’ve taken care of the ball. We actually didn't take very good care of the ball against FIU. I thought we did an elite job of that this past weekend. And that's got to be something that our team's really good at. We have a lot of guys that value the basketball and know how to play. So ball security should be something that we're good at.”   Klavzar played well in the scrimmages. He’s a more confident shooter than he was last year and his defense has picked up considerably. The Brown brothers, sophomore Isaiah and junior transfer AJ (from Ohio U) offer physicality and athleticism. Freshmen Alex Lloyd and CJ Ingram won’t play a lot of minutes, but Golden has confidence that all his perimeter guys can score, defend and handle the basketball.   Golden understands that last year’s results fuel this year’s expectations. He knows he has talent, depth and probably more experience than any team in the country. But, it’s a new year and new years always create their own share of question marks. In Florida’s case there is also that matter of being the reigning national champion.   Some teams and coaches melt under the weight of those expectations, but Golden is having fun. As much as last year?   “Honestly, more fun in the sense of like, you know, last year going into the season, we had some a little bit of expectation, but there were still lot of question marks about what our program was, right?” he said. “Like, we had given up 100 points in the tournament year before, 'Do they guard, like, how good really are they?' You know, I think we've been able to get our program after winning the national championship last year to a level where, you know, people respect what we've done, they respect our program. And for me, the challenge is to continue to keep it at that level. And so, you know, there's not as much worry about proving who we are. I'm just more concerned about putting our program in the best place that we can be to win games. And you know, this is like last year. We had an incredible time every day with our group last year. Like they were a great group of guys. We enjoyed being around each other and competing together, and I feel the same way about the group that we have in there right now."   ANTICIPATED STARTING LINEUPS FLORIDA: Alex Condon (6-11, 230, JR); Rueben Chinyelu (6-11, 265, JR); Tommy Haugh (6-9, 215, JR); Xaivian Lee (6-4, 180, SR); Boogie Fland (6-3, 180, SO)   ARIZONA: Koa Peat (6-8, 235, FR); Motiejus Krivas (7-2 ,260, JR); Anthony Dell’Orso (6-6, 205, SR); Brayden Burries (6-4, 205, FR); Jaden Bradley (6-3, 200, SR)

The last four years have been filled with what ifs and a lot of “shoulda”, “coulda”, “woulda”. By Loren Meadows, GatorBaitMedia.com , Football Analyst, Host of the Lowdown with Loren Meadows What if it was a catch? (Chris Spears photo) The Florida Gators rolled into the fourth quarter of yesterday’s game looking to pull of what would have been its biggest win against its hated rival from the north in five years. The Gators seemed to have Georgia on the ropes and were looking to put Georgia down two scores with less than ten minutes to go in the ball game. What followed was another “what if” moment that seems to be the standard for the Florida Gators the last four years. Jaden Baugh was stuffed on a 4th down play and Georgia as most good teams do, marched 82 yards in just seven plays to take the lead. What if Baugh gets the first down? Does Florida put the game away? Yet there was still hope on the next series with Florida facing a 3rd and 4 from their own 31. DJ Lagway would be flushed to his left and have a wide open J. Michael Sturdivant all alone behind the Georgia secondary. What would follow was a badly underthrown pass that was ruled incomplete and upon further review (for some reason) was upheld after further review. While the on-field officials and those in the replay booth will draw the disdain of Florida fans, “what if” Lagway takes his time and throws a strike to Sturdivant for the go ahead touchdown? What if the replay booth overturns the call on the field? For context, when asked about the play in the postgame presser Billy Gonzalez confidently stated he did not think that Sturdivant caught the ball.  Florida left some plays on the field yesterday that could have sprung the trap for Georgia. Late in the half Lagway missed a wide open Tank Hawkins on a corner route that would have put Florida in position to take a 17-7 lead into halftime but again Lagway missed the throw. What if Lagway hits Hawkins and the Gators score to end the half? They also got the ball after halftime, 24-7? For four years this has been the story with this football team. Near misses, miscues, and headscratchers that one does not need the internet to recall? What if Anthony Richardson makes JJ Weaver miss instead of throwing the ball right to him in 2022? What if Mertz finishes the game and doesn’t get hurt at Missouri? What if Florida knocks the ball down on 4th and 17? What if Mertz finishes the Tennessee game or Florida can count to 11? What if Lagway finishes the Georgia game or plays against Texas? What if two TD’s don’t get called back against South Florida or Baugh’s 60 yard run against Mississippi State? The trend has got to stop somewhere because it seems to be that the Gators like my fantasy team has been snake bit. Lamar Jackson did return to get me 29.5 points this week but that’s not the point. Soon there will be a new man atop the pedestal that is the head football coach at the University of Florida and he will inherit a number of monumental challenges while equipped with more resources than any other coach in school history. I just have one question. What if that man is not named Lane Kiffin? One more “what if” wouldn’t hurt, I guess. We are used to them by now.

(Photo by Chris Spears) Sometimes it’s all about perceptions. Saturday against Georgia, the Gators gained 281 yards of offense, which is about what you might expect if Billy Napier were still the head coach. Napier offenses tended to be dull and predictable. Some might even say boring almost to the point of being the cure for insomnia. Saturday, however, the only real predictability was obvious passing or short yardage-run situations.   Napier wasn’t calling the plays so perhaps that has something to do with why the offense at least gave the perception that it is capable of excitement and big plays. Unlike a Napier-called offense, the game plan put together by interim head coach Billy Gonzales, quarterback coach/play caller Ryan O’Hara and offensive coordinator Russ Callaway seemed capable of delivering big plays, especially in the passing game.   In the first half alone, the Gators threw the ball downfield six times. That may not sound like much, but it’s double in one half the number of downfield shots the Gators took the entire game against Miami back in game three. Throughout the game, DJ Lagway was looking to stretch the Georgia defense and back the safeties off the line of scrimmage.   Take the game’s most controversial play for instance. In the fourth quarter with the Gators trailing, 24-20, Lagway was chased out of the pocket by Georgia’s blitz-heavy pass rush that presented more bodies than the Gators had blockers. Rolling left outside the pocket and about to be sacked, Lagway launched a pass that traveled 38 yards in the air. J Michael Sturdivant appeared to make the catch but replay ruled against him and the Gators.   Sturdivant, it turned out, was the fourth receiver in the progression according to Lagway. Such a concept. Pass routes downfield that have more than one potential receiver.   That the pass was incomplete was a downer for Florida fans who feel they were jobbed by SEC officials and the replay booth. However angry Gator fans were, they left Ever Bank Stadium feeling much better about the direction of the offense. Perceptions are that the Gators will be more aggressive in the final four games.   Aggressive enough to win three of the last four to make a bowl game? That remains to be seen but the approach against Georgia was refreshing. Yards were tough to come by, that’s for sure, but it wasn’t because the offensive approach was too conservative.   Associated Press top 25 : 1. Ohio State 8-0; 2. Indiana 9-0; 3. Texas A&M 8-0; 4. Alabama 7-1; 5. Georgia 7-1; 6. Oregon 7-1; 7. Ole Miss 8-1; 8. BYU 8-0; 9. Texas Tech 8-1; 10. Notre Dame 6-2; 11. Oklahoma 7-2; 12. Virginia 8-1; 13. Texas 7-2; 14. Louisville 7-1; 15. Vanderbilt 7-2; 16. Georgia Tech 8-1; 17. Utah 7-2; 18. Miami 6-2; 19. Missouri 6-2; 20. Southern California 6-2; 21. Michigan 7-2; 22. Memphis 8-1; 23. Tennessee 6-3; 24. Washington 6-2; 25. Cincinnati 7-2     AFCA Coaches top 25 : 1. Ohio State 8-0; 2. Indiana 9-0; 3. Texas A&M 8-0; 4. Alabama 7-1; 5. Georgia 7-1; 6. Oregon 7-1; 7. Ole Miss 8-1; 8. BYU 8-0; 9. Texas Tech 8-1; 10. Notre Dame 6-2; 11. Virginia 8-1; 12. Oklahoma 7-2; 13. Texas 7-2; 14. Georgia Tech 8-1; 15. Louisville 7-1; 16. Vanderbilt 7-2; 17. Missouri 7-2; 18. Miami 6-2; 19. Miami 6-2; 19. Utah 7-2; 20. Michigan 7-2; 21. Southern California; 22. Tennessee 6-3; 23. Memphis 8-1; 24. Iowa 6-2; 25. Cincinnati 7-2   SEC FOOTBALL (Associated Press rankings) No. 4 Alabama (7-1, 5-0 SEC): Ty Simpson is now No. 3 on the Caesar's Palace Heisman Trophy board. Simpson has thrown 20 TDPs and only one interception for Bama, which has won seven straight games since the loss to Florida State. Saturday: LSU (5-3, 2-3 SEC)   Arkansas (2-6, 0-4 SEC): Any chance Bobby Petrino had at having the interim label removed went down the pipes when the Razorbacks blew a fourth quarter lead and lost to Mississippi State. Once again it wasn’t about the offense because the Razorbacks not only outgained the Bulldogs but racked up 239 yards rushing.   Auburn (4-5, 1-5 SEC): Hugh Freeze has been fired after losing 10-3 to Kentucky Saturday night. Freeze went 15-19 in three-plus seasons. James Franklin and Jimbo Fisher are thought to be among the leaders to replace Freeze, who leaves Auburn with a hefty $15.4 million buyout. Saturday: at Vanderbilt (7-2, 3-2 SEC)   No. 5 Georgia (7-1, 5-1 SEC): Defensive lineman Jordan Hall left the Florida game with a lower leg injury. He was seen on crutches on the sideline in the second half. Hall has been dealing with leg injuries most of his Georgia career. Saturday: at Mississippi State (5-4, 1-4 SEC):   Kentucky (3-5, 1-5 SEC): The Wildcats got their first SEC win of the season when they eked out a 10-3 win over Auburn. Kentucky held the Tigers to a field goal and only 241 total yards. Kentucky gained only 240. With four games remaining, the Wildcats need to win at least three of them to lessen the heat on HBC Mark Stoops. Saturday: FLORIDA (3-5, 2-3 SEC)   LSU (5-3, 2-3 SEC): Brian Kelly is gone and so is the LSU season. The Tigers were supposed to challenge for the national championship. Instead they will try to keep from imploding the rest of the way. Frank Wilson is the interim. He has zero chance of having the interim label removed. Saturday: at No. 4 Alabama (7-1, 5-0 SEC)   Mississippi State (5-4, 1-4 SEC): The Bulldogs broke an SEC losing streak that dated back to 2023 when they rallied from a 35-21 fourth quarter deficit to beat Arkansas 38-35. It was the first SEC win for the Bulldogs since beating Arkansas 7-3 in October of 2023. Saturday: No. 5 Georgia (7-1, 5-1 SEC)   No. 19 Missouri (6-2, 2-2 SEC); Eli Drinkwitz is being linked to head coach openings at LSU, Florida, Arkansas and now Auburn. Saturday: No. 3 Texas A&M (8-0, 5-0 SEC)   No. 11 Oklahoma (7-2, 3-2 SEC): After Tennessee closed to within 26-24 late in the fourth quarter, the Sooners responded with a 2-play touchdown drive for the game-clinching touchdown. Xavier Robinson, who finished the game with 115 yards, ran for 43 to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by QB John Mateer.     No. 7 Ole Miss (8-1, 5-1 SEC): Saturday: In taking down South Carolina, Kewan Lacy ran for 167 yards and a touchdown. With 863 yards and three games to go, Lacy is on track to finish the regular season with more than 1,000 yards, A season ago he was floundering on the bench at Missouri. The Citadel (4-5)   South Carolina (3-6, 1-6 SEC): Shane Beamer fired Mike Shula as his offensive coordinator Sunday. That’s something that should have been done weeks ago. Better yet, Shula should have never been hired. The Gamecocks have the worst offense in the SEC and rank No. 131 nationally. Beamer might need to heed the call of mama, begging him to come home to Virginia Tech.  Saturday:   No. 23 Tennessee (6-3, 3-3 SEC): The loss to Oklahoma all but eliminated the Vols from College Football Playoff consideration. Saturday:   No. 13 Texas (7-2, 4-1 SEC): The Longhorns kept their College Football Playoff hopes alive by holding on to a 34-31 win over Vanderbilt. Texas got 75 rushing yards from Quintrevion Wisner to support Arch Manning, who had perhaps his best game as a starting quarterback, completing 25-33 passes for 328 yards and three touchdowns. Saturday:   No. 3 Texas A&M (8-0, 5-0 SEC): With 17 passing touchdowns and another six rushing TDs, QB Marcel Reed can't be ignored as a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate. Saturday: at No. 19 Missouri (6-2, 2-2 SEC)   No. 15 Vanderbilt (7-2, 3-2): Vanderbilt scored 21 unanswered fourth quarter points and had a chance to tie or win the game with Texas when an onside kick was knocked out of bounds by a Vandy player with 34 seconds left in regulation. Diego Pavia threw for 365 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another. Tight end Eli Stowers caught seven passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns.  Saturday: Auburn (4-5, 1-5 SEC)   CONFERENCE BY CONFERENCE AMERICAN: Memphis (8-1) is the highest ranked team from the Group of Five at No. 22 in the AP poll. The Tigers have rebounded from that loss to UAB with solid victories over South Florida and Rice. North Texas (8-1) handed Navy (7-1) its first loss of the season, effectively eliminating the Midshipmen from playoff contention since they play Army a week after the conference championship game.   ACC: Georgia Tech (8-1) finally ran out of smoke and mirrors, losing for the first time to North Carolina State. That created a logjam at the top of the conference standings between Tech, Virginia (8-1), Pittsburgh (7-2) and Louisville (7-1), all of whom have only one ACC loss. SMU and Duke each have one ACC loss but both have three total losses. Miami went down in flames to SMU. The Hurricanes (7-2) are out of the ACC championship running with two league losses.   BIG TEN: Ohio State (8-0) and Indiana (9-0) remain on a collision course to meet as unbeatens in the Big Ten Championship Game. Even if Ohio State does its annual loss to Michigan (7-2) the Buckeyes are mortal locks to make the playoff. Indiana is playing like it’s the best team in the country. The Hoosiers probably don’t lose in the regular season. Oregon (7-1) is a game behind in the Big Ten standings and is almost a lock to be the Big Ten’s third team in the playoff. Southern Cal (7-2) might sneak in if it can beat Oregon in Eugene in three weeks.   BIG XII: Ideally, the Big XII needs a one-loss Texas Tech (8-1) and unbeaten BYU (8-0) to meet up in the conference championship game. That would likely secure two of the 12 spots in the CFP.   CUSA: It’s a 3-way fight for the top spot in the league between Kennesaw State (6-2), Jacksonville State (5-3) and Western Kentucky (7-2). None of these teams have a shot at getting ranked.   Notre Dame: The Irish (6-2) only have Navy and Pittsburgh standing in the way of making the College Football Playoff.   MAC: Miami (5-3) is the only team in the MAC with an unbeaten record in league play. No chance of making the playoff.   MOUNTAIN WEST: Boise State (6-3) suffered its first conference loss and third overall when the Broncos were upended by Fresno State (6-3). San Diego State (7-1) is unbeaten in league play and a threat to crack the AP poll and perhaps overtake Memphis for the top spot in the Group of Five.   SEC: The SEC has a chance to land as many as five teams in the playoff. Texas A&M (8-0) and Alabama (7-1) are virtual locks. Georgia (7-1) has a very favorable schedule as does Ole Miss (8-1). Texas (7-2) is on the rise but the Longhorns have to play at Georgia and home against the Aggies. Oklahoma (7-2) has to play at Alabama. Beware of Vanderbilt (7-2). The Commodores have Auburn, Kentucky and Tennessee remaining on the schedule. Those are three winnable games.   Sun Belt: James Madison (7-1) is taking no prisoners as it marches toward the conference championship game. The Dukes are the best in the league and on the verge of cracking into the top 25 but good enough to get ranked higher than a team from the American or Mountain West?

(Photo by Chris Spears) JACKSONVILLE – Forget the final score for a moment. If you simply go by points, the Florida Gators lost 24-20 to 5 th -ranked Georgia Saturday at EverBank Stadium. In reality, it wasn’t four points that separated the Gators and the Bulldogs. It was maybe 12 inches.   Twelve inches. Maybe ten inches more on a fourth-and-1 at the Georgia 18 with 8:06 left in the game. A straight handoff from DJ Lagway to Jaden Baugh off the right side. As strong as he is, Baugh was unable to break the grasp of what seemed like half the Georgia defense that was on the field. Florida players thought Baugh had the first down. The linesman on the zebra crew disagreed, but even with a more favorable spot he might have come up an inch or two short. It was that close.   The Gators had a 20-17 lead at the time. A Trey Smack field goal from that range – he had already delivered a 54-yard bomb that gave the Gators the lead with14:52 left in the game – was as close to automatic as it gets. It would have given Florida (3-5, 2-3 SEC) a little more of a cushion, but interim coach Billy Gonzales wanted to deliver a dagger to Georgia’s collective hearts.   “ We had to go for it,” Gonzales said. “If you kick a field goal you're still down. If they go down and score you're still down a point. We will take a look and see where we went wrong, but no second guessing as far as the play that was called.”   Baugh came up about 10 inches short. Another play call might have gotten the distance needed to keep the drive alive, but Billy G gave the ball to his stud, trusted his O-line and didn’t convert. Georgia took over on downs, drove the length of the field and grabbed the lead on a 36-yard Chauncey Bowens run with 4:36 remaining.   Then there was the DJ Lagway throw to J Michael Sturdivant. It was third-and-5, the ball on the Florida 31. Georgia brought the house and chased Lagway out of the pocket. Rolling left he kept going through his progressions. Spotting Sturdivant wide open at the Georgia 20, he tried to square his shoulders to the line of scrimmage and get enough oomph on the ball for a completion that probably would have resulted in a touchdown.   He came up two inches short. Sturdivant put on the brakes, tried to come back to the ball. He dived, stretched out his arms and to probably every Florida fan in the stadium and millions more watching on television, got his hands under the ball for a catch.   The back judge saw it differently, ruling the pass incomplete. Several of the replay angles seemed to support a catch, but the people in the booth saw it differently. No catch.   Was it a catch?   “No,” answered Gonzales, who had a clear view of the play from the sideline.   There was still a chance for a first down, but on fourth-and-five, Lagway’s pass to Tre Wilson was high and away, off target just enough that Georgia’s Ellis Robinson got a hand on the ball to break it up.   Two plays. Twelve inches. The difference between a statement win for the Gators playing their first game with Gonzales in charge following the dismissal of Billy Napier.   Another close call of a loss. Since 2022, which was the start of the Billy Napier era at the University of Florida, there have been far too many close call losses. Florida has played 46 football games (22-24 record) since Napier got a win over Utah in the first game of his tumultuous tenure.   Of those 24 losses, the Gators have been within a touchdown or a field goal of either tying the game or taking the lead in the fourth quarter 15 times. The people who set betting lines in Las Vegas would almost certainly tell you odds are the Gators would have won some of those close calls.   All of them? Probably not, but some of them? Probably. And who knows, with a few of those close calls, Billy Napier is probably still gainfully employed as Florida’s football coach instead of figuring out how quickly he wants to jump back into the fire of being a head coach now that he has a $20 million buyout to cushion the fall.   For defensive end Tyreak Sapp, who spent the day applying the pressure to Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton, this close call loss hurt worse than the others.   “It stings … it stings … it hurts bad,” Sapp said. This is his final year of eligibility so he will never experience a win over Georgia in his collegiate career. He wanted to beat the Bulldogs desperately. “It hurts bad knowing that this is my last time that I’ll ever get to play in this game in this stadium with my brothers. It hurts bad. It hurts a lot.”   Billy Gonzales did the stiff upper lip thing. His voice, his demeanor made it abundantly clear that this hurt down to the core of his being, but there is no time for healing. He has four games to go and no time to dwell on the past. The two bye weeks have come and gone. Florida focus turns immediately to Kentucky, whom the Gators play in Lexington next week. That will be followed by a road trip to Ole Miss, coached by Lane Kiffin, who makes Florida fans salivate at the possibility that he could be the head coach of the Gators next season. The last two games are in Gainesville against Tennessee and Florida State.   Win three of the last four and the Gators could make it to a bowl game. A 6-6 record probably lands the Gators in an exotic locale such as Birmingham or maybe Shreveport, but all things considered, finishing the regular season bowl eligible would be quite an accomplishment in light of the firing of Napier and a staff re-shuffle in its wake.   The staff changes are significant, but overall the circumstances aren’t all that much different than they were last season. When the Gators hit the 5-loss mark in 2024, they had a reversal of fortune in the final three regular season games, which they won to finish 7-5. Then they won the Gasparilla Bowl for an 8-5 record that was the only winning season in Napier’s time on the job.   Napier is history now. The head honcho of this team is Billy Gonzales, who has never been a head coach before. Other than the obvious question of why he chose to go for it on fourth down at the 18 instead of letting Smack make it a 6-point lead, Billy G spent the day making solid decisions.   In the first quarter, for example, with the Gators already trailing 7-0, he had a fourth-and-1 at the Florida 42 on the Gators’ first possession. Fans wanted Gonzales to go for it but instead he sent in Tommy Doman to punt. It turned out to be an excellent decision, however, because Georgia couldn’t move the ball and incurred a false start penalty. When punter Brett Thorson shanked, the Gators got the ball on the Georgia 40.   Lagway wasted no time finding Tre Wilson wide open at the Georgia three. The pass was perfect, Wilson made the grab and backed his way into the end zone.   After Bryce Thornton picked off Stockton on a deflection on Georgia’s ensuing possession, Gonzales had to make a fourth-and-goal decision at the Georgia four. It had been a 28-yard Lagway to Wilson pass that put the Gators in position to go a touchdown ahead, but instead of gambling, Gonzales brought in Smack who nailed the chip shot from 22 yards out.   The Gators got a touchdown in a third quarter they statistically dominated. Florida had a 15-play 79-yard scoring drive that ended on a Jaden Baugh touchdown run. On the 54-yard field goal that sailed through the uprights on the first play of the fourth quarter, the defense gave the Gators good enough field position that Gonzales didn’t have to hesitate sending in Smack to launch the ninth field goal of 50-plus yards of his Florida career.   It was a good effort. A solid effort. Considering the circumstances of a head coach going down and an interim coming in to add principles of verticality to the offense along with another good game from the defense, Gonzales graded well.   He didn’t exactly look at it that way, however.   “Obviously we’re not here for moral victories,” Gonzales said.   He didn’t make any excuses. He didn’t sugar coat anything at all. He talked about how his team was hurting but emphasized that the season isn’t over. In his mind and the mind of the players, there is still plenty to play for.     No matter what happens in the final four games, Gonzales made it a point to emphasize that this team isn’t going to have a slow death experience on the football field.   “ They want to win,” Gonzales said. “This team is not here to play. They want to win. I'm proud of them. I'm proud of them. Again, like I said, we got to go back to work as a staff to put them a better position so we can be successful and walk out of here as a winner. ”

Interim head coach Billy Gonzales brought Florida to the brink of victory against Georgia, but once again the Gators couldn't close the deal. By Carlton Reese GatorBait Media At 4 th -and-1 from the Georgia 18 and leading 20-17 with around 8 minutes to play, the game was on the line for the Florida Gators. Convert and you’re set up to kill more clock and are just 17 yards from the end zone and putting the game away. Fail to convert and you set Georgia up with a scenario they’ve become all too comfortable.   In any other world, with a 3-point lead and half a quarter to play with your opponent at its own 18, confidence would still be pretty high and the analytics would state you’re still in control. Not against Georgia, though. The Bulldogs have played this entire season teasing their opponents into thinking they were on the canvas for good, only to get up and play their best football.   That’s exactly what happened Saturday in Jacksonville. The Florida Gators handed off to Jadan Baugh, but he was stuffed for no gain to give Georgia possession and a new lease on life. Such is the life of the Georgia Bulldogs in 2025, and such is the misfortune of the Florida Gators.   On the ensuing drive, Georgia did what everyone expected: It marched 82 yards when its offense had been manhandled much of the second half. Taking a 24-20 lead with 4:36 to play, about the only thing the Gators could hope for was a favorable replay ruling on its next possession which, of course, went Georgia’s way. Several weeks ago, the Auburn Tigers, which had dominated the Bulldogs before officials made enough bad rulings that led to firings, saw what happens when video evidence seems to matter little, and this time it was Florida’s turn.   On 3 rd -and-4 DJ Lagway’s pass to J. Michael Sturdivant at the Georgia 22 was ruled incomplete, meaning that even though video replay did not show the ball hitting the ground, Georgia escaped a dagger… again. And now, Florida has lost five straight games to Georgia, which is too much suffering as far as I’m concerned.   It was the first game for Florida without Billy Napier, the head coach who never beat Georgia and had trouble beating anybody else. With a new play-caller, Florida seemed to have an energy and optimism normally not afforded an unranked team with a losing record going up against a rival ranked fifth in the country.   There was no Vernell Brown, no Aiden Mizell and not long after the game there was no Dallas Wilson, either. Fortunately for Florida, there was also no Napier. That may have provided some energy, but the result looked familiar – a winnable game that was lost when the offense couldn’t close the deal.   Looking back, it’s two fourth-down conversion failures that have ruined this season for the Gators. The first was down in the parking lot in Miami. Trailing by six midway through the third quarter, the Gators faced 4 th -and-3 inside the Miami 35 and had the Hurricanes on their heels, but instead of attempting a field goal to pull within three, Florida went for it, failed, then saw Miami steal momentum and roll from that point.   It happened again against Georgia and it spoiled the game of Trey Wilson’s life. Asked to carry the load with three of his receiving comrades out with injury, Wilson stepped up and pulled the Gators into the sphere of potential victory. He finished with nine receptions for 121 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown strike from Lagway on Florida’s second possession. As good as that stat line is, it was not as impressive as his leadership and reliability under dark circumstances.   Now that Georgia has beaten Florida, one can close the book on the Gators for 2025 – officially, that is. Holding on to a victory Saturday in Jacksonville portended a spirited end to a season that would most likely end in a bowl game. Now, one must wonder how much is left in the tank for this team. On paper, it seems only Ole Miss is clearly a strong favorite against Florida while everyone else on the schedule (including Tennessee) should probably lose to the Gators. But is Florida going to finish this thing or will the Gators mail it in the way most teams that have little at stake seem to do?   For me, just don’t let Florida State come to Gainesville and steal a win here. Once a win over FSU is notched, then I will close the book on 2025 and hope we win all that offseason nonsense.   Georgia was there for the taking Saturday and certainly did not look to be the superior team on that field. Even without the three star receivers, Florida had the personnel to match up with the Bulldogs, but this has been the story all year. We hoped with a new person calling plays and Napier’s “I hope we win” attitude no longer around, that the Gators could put away Georgia – we knew they would have that chance. Alas, we are sitting here on a Saturday night and a Sunday morning with that sick feeling of wondering why a team with this talent can’t win such a game?   This wasn’t a matter of Florida playing the perfect game and nearly knocking off a Georgia team not at its best; no, this was exactly as we thought – Florida is pretty good and Georgia is not that great. But Georgia seems to make the breaks it needs while Florida surrenders those breaks.   Here we are at 3-5 and hoping these kids decide to play hard the rest of the way. If they play with the same enthusiasm the rest of the way as they did Saturday in Jacksonville, Tennessee and FSU are in big trouble. That’s a big ‘if,’ though.

“What in the wild, wild world of sports is-a going on here?” – Taggart, as played by Slim Pickens in the movie “Blazing Saddles”   Yes, what is going on here? A Thursday night that began quiet and calm turned chaotic in a matter of an hour or so, in its wake leaving LSU without an athletic director and Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin without an interim baseball coach. Both the firing of LSU AD Scott Woodward and UF interim baseball coach Chuck Jeroloman taking the assistant head coaching job at Tennessee will have a direct impact on Stricklin and the future of Florida athletics.   Start with Woodward, who fired football coach Brian Kelly back on Sunday, one day after the Tigers were smoked by Texas A&M, 49-25. Hired in 2021 on a 10-year deal worth $100 million, Kelly was considered a spectacular hire. Kelly was poached from Notre Dame, where he played for the 2012 national championship and was in the final four of the College Football Playoff in 2018. When hired, Kelly declared he could win national championships at LSU, but in his 49-game tenure went 34-15 despite two seasons with the best quarterback (Jayden Daniels, 2023 Heisman Trophy winner) in college football.   From the moment Kelly was fired, LSU became a favorite to hire Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin. Kiffin is also thought to be the top target for Stricklin, who fired Billy Napier a week prior to LSU firing Kelly.   When Kelly was fired it was met with the endorsement of Louisiana governor Jeff Landry. On Wednesday, Landry stated that Woodward would not be in charge of hiring the next LSU football coach. On the “Pat McAfee Show” Thursday,  Landry criticized Woodward for the two most expensive firings in college football history – Jimbo Fisher, fired and paid a $77 million buyout at Texas A&M, and Kelly, whose buyout was $53.333 million.   Woodward is not without success when it comes to hiring new coaches who have won national championships. He hired women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey, baseball coach Jay Johnson and women’s gymnastics coach Jay Clark. He also hired men’s basketball coach Matt McMahon, who is 45-53 in three years without taking LSU to the NCAA Tournament. Woodward made a big deal of hiring McMahon from Murray State. At the same time, with far less fanfare, Stricklin hired Todd Golden, who won the 2025 NCAA title and is 76-33 in three years.   Golden and the Gators start the new season on Monday (vs. Arizona in Las Vegas) ranked No. 3 nationally and considered a serious threat to win back-to-back titles. McMahon and LSU have been picked to finish next to last in the SEC. If he doesn’t make the NCAA Tournament, McMahon is thought to be toast.   Woodward’s firing creates major instability at the top of the LSU athletic program. The criticism of the cost of firing Kelly gives the impression that finding the money it will take to hire Kiffin will be hard to come by for LSU. Through back channels, Kiffin has a reported offer of six years and $13.5 million a year to take the Florida vacancy. Ole Miss is reported to be matching or exceeding the Florida offer. Some speculate that Kiffin could become college football’s first $15 million a year head coach.   At the press conference in which Stricklin made the formal announcement that Napier was fired, he was asked who would be hiring the new head coach. Stricklin replied that he alone would make the final call on the new head man. Ever since then, multiple websites have claimed that Stricklin might be the figurehead but well-heeled boosters and the UAA board of trustees would be hiring the new football coach.   A week ago, Stricklin announced that baseball coach Kevin O’Sullivan was taking an indefinite leave of absence to deal with serious personal problems. Immediately, there was speculation that O’Sullivan, who won the 2017 national championship and took the Gators to the College World Series nine times, would not be back. Jeroloman, the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator, was named the interim head coach.   Thursday evening, just a short time after LSU fired Woodward, it was announced that Tennessee had hired Jeroloman as its new head coach. Tony Vitello, who took the Vols to the 2024 national championship, was hired by the San Francisco Giants as the new manager.   Jeroloman leaving for Tennessee comes at a most inopportune time for Stricklin. Not only does he head an athletic department that doesn’t have a head football coach, but now he doesn’t have a leader for the baseball program. That is two of the three major sports at the University of Florida that don’t have a permanent head coach.   This is potentially a disastrous situation for the Florida athletic department and Stricklin in particular. Other than Golden, Stricklin has not had much success hiring new coaches. He is 0-2 in hiring football coaches. He hired Dan Mullen in 2018 but fired him in season four. In the three previous seasons, Mullen took the Gators to New Years Six bowl games, winning two of them. He took the Gators to the 2020 SEC Championship Game where they nearly knocked off Alabama which went on to win the national title. Mullen was fired in 2021, his only season with a losing record. Mullen was 34-15 as Florida’s head coach. He’s gone on to UNLV where he is 6-1 this season and challenging for the Mountain West championship.   Napier was hired the same year LSU hired Kelly. Napier was one of the hottest names in the coaching carousel, but he left with a 3-4 record in 2025, 22-23 overall.   Stricklin also hired and fired Cam Newbauer as the women’s basketball coach amid allegations that Newbauer was abusive. Kelly Rae Finley was promoted to the head coaching job but in four years she has only made the NCAA Tournament one time and has a 75-60 record. When Becky Burleigh retired as soccer coach after the 2020 season, Tony Amato was hired but fired after one season. Replacement coach Samantha Bohon is 18-32-16 in four seasons. Mary Wise, one of volleyball’s iconic coaches who won 25 SEC championships and 987 matches at Florida, retired and was replaced by Ryan Theis, who is 12-7 and in sixth place in the SEC in his first year on the job.   The pressure is firmly on Stricklin’s shoulders right now. All the money people at Florida are demanding Lane Kiffin as the head football coach. It may take a Godfather offer to lure him to Florida from Ole Miss. Failure to bring Kiffin to Florida will be met with tremendous disdain and may signal the end for Stricklin.   While baseball is not a revenue sport its importance is third only to football and men’s basketball. Stricklin is almost boxed into a corner. Can he afford to wait for O’Sullivan to make a decision about returning as baseball’s head coach? If he waits too long and O’Sullivan doesn’t return, the impact on the baseball program could be nuclear winter.  Stricklin almost certainly has to demand an answer from O’Sullivan. If O’Sullivan gives Stricklin an acceptable timeline for returning, then an interim coach must be hired to lead the Gators, but who? Jeff Cardozo, who is the baseball play-by-play announcer, is a former Gator pitcher and well respected by both current and former UF players. He might be the most logical choice for an interim.   But beyond that? Stricklin has to treat the baseball hire with the same measure of importance as the next football coach. He needs a home run hire for football and there is only one: Lane Kiffin. He also needs a home run for baseball, whether it is the return of O’Sullivan or a new head coach.   This is a less than ideal situation for Scott Stricklin. These next two hires cannot fail if he intends to be Florida’s athletic director long into the future.