Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Tuesday's victory over Alabama was a significant one for Florida coach Billy Donovan -- and not only because it snapped a two-game losing streak and helped the Gators remain in second place in the Southeastern Conference.

It was UF's 20th victory of the season, and that extended Donovan's streak of consecutive 20-win seasons to 14. That puts him among some elite company in college basketball history.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, Donovan is one of only eight coaches in NCAA Division I history who have won at least 20 games in 14 or more consecutive seasons. It's an impressive list, headed by Dean Smith, who won at least 20 games for a record 27 consecutive seasons at North Carolina from 1971-1997. Arizona's Lute Olson is second with 20 consecutive seasons of at least 20 victories.

Some other interesting tidbits about the list:

Minnesota's Tubby Smith won at least 20 games in 17 consecutive seasons from 1994-2010 while coaching four teams: Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky and Minnesota.

(Read full post)

All 14 Southeastern Conference football coaches gathered at conference headquarters Thursday and posed for this awesome photo with commissioner Mike Slive. Naturally, this made Page 2 wonder what each coach was thinking when the flash popped. Here's one example:

Will Muschamp, Florida: "Leather casual for the win. You're looking good, Will. You're looking damn good."

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It's that restless time of year for so many Florida fans. You know, the ones who don't really care so much about basketball or baseball as they do football and recruiting. Well, we here at ye olde Worldwide Leader have sympathy and plenty of football stories to sink your teeth into -- like spring football and the NFL draft, and did you hear the one about the British sports book that listed Florida's odds to win the 2012 BCS National Championship ...

Best (and worst) early BCS bets (Insider)
ESPN Insider Will Harris looks at the contenders and pretenders based on a top oddsmakers' favorites. Florida is on the radar, but Harris isn't buying it.

Schlabach: Time for spring football again
The weather might not agree, but it’s springtime for college football. And there are plenty of questions to be answered, like how much will new offensive coordinator Brent Pease help Florida's offense?

Rainey a late-round steal? (Insider)
Steve Muench looks at five running back prospects who could offer good value and become solid contributors in the NFL. He says Florida’s Chris Rainey could help the Buccaneers.

(Read full post)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- A.C. Leonard is the ninth Florida player arrested since coach Will Muschamp took over for Urban Meyer in January 2011. It is by far the most serious of the transgressions committed. Here's a look at the list of arrests:

Janoris Jenkins: Arrested twice for possession of marijuana (Jan. 22, 2011 and April 23, 2011). He was dismissed from the team.

Kedric Johnson: Arrested for possession of marijuana Jan. 27, 2011. Still on the team. Team punishment not announced.

(Read full post)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida has the best team in college baseball. Nearly everyone says so.

The Gators sit atop the Collegiate Baseball, Baseball America and USA Today/ESPN Coaches preseasons polls and had an NCAA-record seven players named preseason All-Americans by Louisville Slugger and Baseball America. Perfect Game tabbed five UF players preseason All-Americans, and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association had five on its list.

UF returns seven position starters and nine pitchers from last year’s team that finished runner-up to national champion South Carolina in the College World Series. The Gators also have 14 players who are projected to be drafted in June -- including seven who could go in the first three rounds.

With all that talent and experience, expectations for the Gators are pretty high in 2012. Just making the College World Series -- something UF has done only seven times in school history -- isn’t even enough. It’s almost national title or bust.

“This isn’t the first time they’ve had expectations. They’ve been through this before, especially last year,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “Hopefully they’ll draw from their experiences last year and be well prepared for it this year. We’ve talked about it. It’s Florida. There’s expectations. We want to be in Omaha every year and compete for a national championships.”

(Read full post)

In this episode of RecruitingNation 411, we focus on the defensive side of the ball in the 2013 recruiting class. Our experts tell you which prospects are primed to be the stars of the class, and which ones have already given a verbal commitment. Specific Florida targets include DBs Nick Washington, Leon McQuay III and Marcell Harris.

Check out the transcript of Wednesday's chat with GatorNation recruiting writer Derek Tyson.

There was lots of talk about the Gators' prospects of adding 2013 running back Kelvin Taylor, the upcoming Florida junior day on Saturday and the 2013 recruiting class in general.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- It was only a matter of time before reality caught up with the Crimson Tide. Alabama held serve in the first half only to be dominated by No. 12 Florida in the final 20 minutes, losing at home 61-52.

Florida was led by forward Patric Young, who finished with 19 points on 9 of 12 shooting.

Trevor Releford and Andrew Steele, who were suspended indefinitely before the Tide’s last game at LSU, returned to the starting lineup on Tuesday. Steele had 11 points and Releford finished with 8 points, 2 assists and 2 steals.

Big men, big advantage

Alabama couldn’t overcome the discrepancy in the paint with forward JaMychal Green still out due to suspension. Carl Engstrom, Nick Jacobs and Moussa Gueye played center-by-committee and the Gators took advantage. Florida’s starting forward, Patric Young, and starting center, Erik Murphy, combined for 33 points and 11 rebounds.

(Read full post)