Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Lost in Florida's struggle to replace the injured Will Yeguete and accompanying two-game losing streak is the fact that the Gators broke a pretty significant school record on Tuesday night.

Florida went 8-for-23 from 3-point range in a 77-67 loss at Vanderbilt and now has made 301 3-pointers this season, four better than the previous mark of 297 set by the 2006-07 national championship team. The Gators are shooting 39.2 percent from 3-point range, which is currently tied for the best mark in school history -- which also was set by the '06-'07 team.

It's not a surprise that the Gators broke the record, considering they're attempting 25.6 3-pointers per game and lead the nation in 3-pointers per game (10.0). But when teams rely on the 3-pointer that much, things often don't go well when those shots aren't falling -- and the Gators have struggled in Southeastern Conference play when they haven't shot the ball well from long range.

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Crescent City (Crescent City, Fla.) defensive tackle Caleb Brantley took time out after the Orlando SPARQ combine to talk about his performance as well why he committed to the Gators back in January.

Janoris Jenkins spent a year away from SEC ball, but it apparently didn't affect his physical abilities.

The North Alabama cornerback had what ESPN NFL draft analyst Todd McShay said was "the best workout among the corners" during the final day of the NFL combine Tuesday. The former Florida standout, who was dismissed by new Florida coach Will Muschamp days after his second drug-related arrest in three months last spring, ran the sixth-best 40-time (4.46) out of all of the defensive backs and McShay said Jenkins "seemed the most confident, agile, quick-moving corner in drills."

McShay broke down some of the top defensive backs from the final day of the combine and he was very high on Jenkins:

"His feet got up and down quickly in his backpedal, and he stayed compact while pedaling and showed the ability to smoothly flips his hips and run with receivers. He did mistime one jump after turning and running to a ball thrown down the sideline, but, other than that, Jenkins did a nice job locating and playing the ball."

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ESPNU Watch List quarterback and Elite 11 hopeful Kevin Olsen (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) is not your average high school quarterback.

His dad, Chris, is the longtime coach of Wayne Hills and his older brother, Greg, plays tight end for the Carolina Panthers.

Olsen, who holds offers from Florida, Florida State, Georgia and Miami among many other schools, threw for nearly 1,700 yards and 20 touchdowns as a junior, completing more than 60 percent of his passes.

Olsen talks more about his experience of growing up in a football family and about the recruiting process in this Elite 11 update by ESPNHS.

A rivalry is always better when there's heartbreak involved, and there's no better example of that than the Florida-Miami baseball series.

The two teams -- which will meet in Coral Gables, Fla., for a three-game series that begins Friday -- have spent the last 27 years bouncing each other out of the postseason. For a while, the Hurricanes controlled the series, ending the Gators' playoff run eight times from 1984 to 2004. Florida, however, has sent Miami home short of the College World Series in each of the last three seasons.

No. 2 Florida (7-1) has won six games in a row against No. 8 Miami (7-0) in the postseason, outscoring the Hurricanes 51-20 in the process. The Gators beat the Canes in the Gainesville Regional in 2009 and 2011, and in a 2010 Super Regional. Florida has won 11 of its last 12 meetings with Miami dating back to an early-season series in 2009, when the Canes out-scored the Gators 26-8 in a three-game sweep in Coral Gables.

"We've had some recent success against Miami, but this is a year-to-year thing," UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan said after the Gators eliminated Miami in the 2011 postseason. "We just have played well against Miami [lately]. We've been at home for three years in a row [in the postseason], and that's a big difference. ... But by no means do we have this thing figured out."

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Florida running back commit Adam Lane (Winter Haven, Fla./Winter Haven) talks recruiting with GatorNation's Derek Tyson during last Sunday's Nike SPARQ combine in Orlando, Fla.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It sounds like some sort of twisted comparison of sports fan afflictions: Tebowmania vs. Linsanity. Both have run wild here at ESPN this year. In fact, some are calling New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin the Tim Tebow of the NBA. So now that all the talking heads have weighed in (and moved on), here is the definitive look at Tebow and Lin.

ESPN Stats & Info calls Tebow and Lin "Two of a kind" and you can see why in the way they've come through in clutch time.

In the NFL this season, "Tebow Time" was the final nine minutes of the fourth quarter, in which Tebow's total QBR of 85.3 ranked third. In the final nine minutes of the fourth quarter in the NBA this season, Lin ranks fourth in Player Efficiency Rating (min. 85 minutes).

But enough stats. Let's go directly to the sources and hear Lin's and Tebow's thoughts on each other.

Lin on Tebow: "I've drawn actually a lot of inspiration just because he’s such a polarizing figure but I think the things he says in interviews, his approach to the game is just unbelievable and I respect him so much," he said in a radio interview recently. "I actually want to be able to do some of the things that he does in terms of the amount of charity work and the non-profit work, and the way he impacts people off the field. I think that is what is most inspiring to me about him.”

Tebow on Lin: "I really like him. I respect him a whole lot and have had the pleasure of really getting to know him over the last few weeks," he said to ESPN cameras recently. "What a great guy he is. I just wish him the best of luck. How he handles himself and how he carries himself, I think he's a great role model and I'm proud of it."

OK, that's all the "journalism" and direct quotes we've got. We now yield to our commentators, Page 2 wags and you, the readers. Have at it!

The ultimate Lin-Tebow tale of the tape
Tebow hasn't won a game in weeks. He's old news. So the sports world needed a new phenomenon to obsess over. Is Lin the new Tebow? Page 2's DJ Gallo breaks it down.

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Mainland (Daytona Beach, Fla.) linebacker Quinton Powell, a Florida commit, talks about earning a solid 93.06 SPARQ rating at the Orlando NFSC and about picking the Gators.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Former Florida quarterback Danny Wuerffel is one of 76 players and coaches named to the Football Bowl Subdivision ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame.

Wuerffel, who won the 1996 Heisman Trophy and led the Gators to the national championship that season, held four NCAA, 12 Southeastern Conference, and 32 school records when he graduated.

Nine former UF players and coaches are already enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame: Dale Van Sickel, Steve Spurrier, Jack Youngblood, Emmitt Smith, Wilber Marshall, Carlos Alvarez, Charles Bachman, Doug Dickey and Ray Graves.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It's coming. You can almost smell the office copy machine spitting out fresh stacks of blank brackets, ready for your NCAA Tournament predictions. But let's not get carried away with our imaginations, OK? The No. 13 Florida Gators still have a lot of work to do before the postseason. The journey continues, as the Gators (22-7, 10-4 in the SEC) visit the Vanderbilt Commodores (20-9, 9-5) tonight at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN (or you can watch the game right here). Check the bottom of this blog for some factoids from our friends at ESPN Stats & Info.

Bilas Index: Kansas back in top five (Insider)
In this week’s version of ESPN Insider Jay Bilas’ top 68 rankings, the Gators fall to No. 13.

SEC Power Rankings
Andy Katz drops Florida down to No. 3 in the conference and continues to be baffled by the Gators.

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