Florida Gators

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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The Orlando Nike Football SPARQ Combine set an attendance record last Sunday with over 1,400 athletes receiving SPARQ Ratings. Five of Florida's 10 verbal commitments in the budding class of 2013 were on hand. RB Adam Lane, LB Quinton Powell and S Keanu Neal were among the 24 participants named to the All-Combine team. All three are featured in the Orlando SPARQ recap video. Several other prospects with Florida offers also received honors in Orlando and Miami.

Orlando SPARQ All-Combine team | Miami SPARQ All-Combine team

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Florida baseball team (7-1) may still be shaking off the early-season cobwebs, but the Gators remain near the top of the baseball rankings after a 5-0 week that included home wins over Bethune-Cookman, UCF and a sweep of William & Mary.

ESPN / USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll
Florida falls from the top spot to No. 2 in the second poll of the season, garnering 11 first-place votes.

Week 2 Power Rankings
With a series sweep of Texas, Stanford maintained its hot start and held onto to its No. 1 spot

Zunino the best hitter in college baseball? (Insider)
With Georgia Southern star OF Victor Roache possibly out for the season ESPN's MLB draft Insider Jason A. Churchill says "the best college power hitter is easily Florida catcher Mike Zunino." He also notes the strong offensive weekend from Florida SS Nolan Fontana, who normally is noticed for his flashy leather.

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No school has quite matched the junior day success of Florida, but in this episode of RecruitingNation 411, we look at recent recruiting success for Texas, Michigan State and Auburn. We also look into Oklahoma’s plans to match the big recruiting weekends of the Longhorns and Aggies.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- After five months of hoping senior point guard Erving Walker would become Florida's vocal on-court leader, coach Billy Donovan has decided he's going to look somewhere else.

Whether it's sophomore center Patric Young, sophomore guard Scottie Wilbekin, or freshman guard Bradley Beal, Donovan wants one of them -- or a combination of the three -- to become the player who huddles the team in critical situations, keeps them focused when things aren't going well, and ensures that the 13th-ranked Gators (22-7, 10-4 Southeastern Conference) play with a high level of passion and energy. Walker didn't do any of that in Saturday's loss at Georgia.

"Erving is a really good player and he’s done a lot of great things," Donovan said Monday. "He’s a pretty even-keeled guy, but there are sometimes where your team can reflect the personality of the guy in charge, and with him being in charge and when things are not going well for our team, there is sometimes that we need some more fire out of him.

"Especially when you play on the road, it’s hostile, it’s loud, someone has got to get in there and grab each other and say, 'This is what we’re doing,' and, 'Move on to the next play,' and there’s not a lot of that. Erving has always been a kid since I’ve coached him here [who] has always tried to do on the court playing-wise what I’ve asked him to do. He’s always been very compliant, he’s coachable, he’s a great kid, he does all of that stuff. But some of the stuff that could take our team to a different level, I’m not so sure he’s capable or wants to."

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