Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida coach Will Muschamp said earlier this week there were several possible transfer candidates, and one emerged on Friday. Reserve linebacker Graham Stewart is leaving because he wants to be closer to his home in Connecticut.

"Graham has told me he wanted to leave to get closer to home due to some personal issues," Muschamp said in a statement. "Family always comes first with me, and he needs to be closer to his family. I’m thankful for his contributions to our team and wish him nothing but the best of luck. He will always have my support and backing if he needs any help in the future."

Stewart, who is from Middletown, Conn., played mainly on special teams in 12 games last season. He made just one tackle, but delivered a big play in the Gator Bowl against Ohio State when he returned a blocked punt 15 yards for a touchdown.

The issue of high school athletes becoming academically eligible with the NCAA just got a lot more difficult. Thanks to new standards agreed upon by the NCAA to be implemented in 2016, student athletes will have to not only complete the same core courses, but have 10 of them finished by the start of the student's senior year of high school and all 16 finished within four years. In other words, say goodbye to the practice of enjoying a fifth year of high school.

Also, the minimum GPA will jump to 2.3. If you don't think that's going to make a huge difference, check the numbers.

ESPN.com's Mitch Sherman has the full story: Link

ESPN's college football bloggers go around the country to look at the challenges facing coaches heading into their 2nd seasons. SEC blogger Chris Low takes a look at Florida's Will Muschamp.

McGee: Grades and goals for 10 second-year coaches
They range from Randy Edsall (F) to David Shaw (A), and they all inherited something good or bad that they aren’t entirely responsible for. As year two approaches, and responsibility drifts from inherited to owned, ESPN Insider Ryan McGee sorts out what 2012 must provide. Their names: Edsall, Shaw, Al Golden, Brady Hoke, Dana Holgorsen, Steve Addazio, James Franklin, Will Muschamp, Paul Pasqualoni, Jerry Kill.

Read the story here

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Slumps are as much a part of baseball as curveballs and home runs.

Right now the Florida baseball team is mired in one, and it’s coming at a crucial time: With the Southeastern Conference regular-season championship on the line.

The fifth-ranked Gators (33-12, 12-9 SEC) have struggled offensively in their last six SEC games, hitting just .220 and scoring only 17 runs -- including just two runs in their last 21 innings. It’s as poor a stretch as UF has had this season, and it’s not what coach Kevin O’Sullivan envisioned as the Gators head to sixth-ranked Kentucky (35-9, 14-7) for a three-game series Thursday through Saturday.

“It’s just been very hard for us to score runs,” O’Sullivan said after the Gators lost at McKethan Stadium to Arkansas 3-1 in 10 innings last Sunday, their fourth home loss in their last nine conference games. “Teams go through this, and we’re not immune to it. It’s a difficult time right now but we will get through it, and we’ll hopefully be better because of it.”

Florida has scored more than three runs just once in the last six SEC games and the Gators went 13 consecutive scoreless innings against the Razorbacks. UF scored its only run in a 5-1 loss Saturday in the third inning and didn’t score again until the bottom of the eighth inning in Sunday’s 3-1 loss.

“We just haven’t been able to put it together,” O'Sullivan said.

The Gators better start if they hope to repeat as SEC regular-season champions. Kentucky is tied with No. 3 South Carolina (33-11, 14-7) and No. 4 LSU (35-10, 14-7) for first place in the overall league standings and Florida trails those three teams by two games. If the Gators don’t take at least two-of-three from the Wildcats, they’ll have a hard time keeping pace or catching either of the three teams.

UF, which has gone 10-10 since a 25-3 start, has 11 regular-season games remaining, including nine SEC games (Kentucky, Mississippi State and Auburn).

Alvin Bailey (Seffner, Fla./Armwood), the fifth-rated athlete in the ESPN 150, talks with GatorNation’s Derek Tyson at the Orlando Nike Football Training Camp.

With spring practice over for all 14 SEC schools, there’s still some question about who the starting quarterback will be in the fall at six of those schools.

In some cases, it’s wide open. And then there are a couple of situations where the prohibitive favorite simply needs to finish nailing it down come preseason practice.

Here’s my take on how it will all shake out around the league at the most important position on the field.

FLORIDA

The matchup: The only thing Florida coach Will Muschamp was giving up exiting spring was that the Gators had two quarterbacks he felt like they could win with. Sophomores Jacoby Brissett and Jeff Driskel were both forced into action as true freshmen last season. Both took their lumps, but both improved this spring under first-year coordinator Brent Pease.

The winner is: The guess here is that it comes down to who shows the best leadership qualities this summer and then carries those qualities over to preseason practice. Like the Auburn race, this one is neck-and-neck. We’ll go with Brissett as the starter to open the season, but both quarterbacks will end up playing meaningful snaps this season.

(Read full post)

Vernon Hargreaves (Tampa, Fla./Wharton), the top-rated cornerback and the fourth overall recruit in the ESPN 150 talks with RecruitingNation’s Jamie Newberg at the Orlando Nike Football Training Camp.