Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida's recent struggles on the football field can be seen in its dearth of NFL prospects this spring. Just three Gators were invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, Feb. 22-28 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Defensive tackle Jaye Howard will be joined by running backs Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps.

Howard, who is 6-foot-3, 292 pounds and has experience at defensive end and tackle, may be Florida's top prospect.

Rainey, who stands to gain the most with a fast time in the 40-yard dash, recently promised as much. At the Senior Bowl last month, he told ESPN's GatorNation he had been training in Orlando and honing his 40 time.

“My goal is a 4.1, so y’all be looking out for it,” Rainey said.

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LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Some quick initial thoughts after No. 1 Kentucky dismantled No. 7 Florida 78-58 on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena, where UK is now 48-0 under John Calipari:

Overview: Florida is the most talented team Kentucky has played in several weeks, but the Gators were simply outmatched in just about every phase of this one. The Wildcats played stifling defense, holding one of the nation's highest-scoring and best-shooting teams to just 35 percent from the field and 6-of-27 on 3-pointers (the six makes were a season-low). Meanwhile, they got to the rim nearly at will and hit 9-of-15 3s (a season-high 60 percent) themselves to bust the game wide open in the second half. Yep, this is the No. 1 team in the country.

Turning point: After trailing 38-26 at the half, Florida scored two quick buckets to get back within eight points. John Calipari called timeout 58 seconds into the half, and his team responded with a quick 11-0 run to seize momentum by the throat. Marquis Teague and Darius Miller hit 3-pointers during the run, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist capped it with a pretty spin move for a layup and a foul.

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In this episode of RecruitingNation 411, we focus on the offensive side of the ball in the 2013 recruiting class. Our experts tell you which prospects are primed to be the stars of the 2013 class, and which ones have already given a verbal commitment.

Tonight at 10:30 p.m., ET, ESPN2 will air a SportsCenter Special: Face to face with Tim Tebow.

The timing will be excellent for Florida fans who will have recently finished watching the UF men's basketball team take on Kentucky at 7 p.m., ET, on ESPN. The Tebow special may not re-air, so some may want to set their DVRs.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida defensive coordinator Dan Quinn turned down an offer to become the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' defensive coordinator, according to a report in The Gainesville Sun.

Quinn just finished his first season at Florida after spending the previous 10 seasons in the NFL with four teams. He helped the Gators finish in the top 10 nationally in total defense (eighth, 299.5 yards per game), pass defense (seventh, 166.9 yards per game) and third-down defense (second, 27 percent). UF also finished 40th in rush defense (132.7 yards per game).

Nine starters return in 2012.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It appears the ankle tendinitis is finally starting to really affect Florida center Patric Young -- and it couldn't be happening at a worse time.

Young has had back-to-back ineffective games -- including scoring a season-low two points against Vanderbilt last Saturday -- because of conditioning issues due to a lack of practice while nursing the injury. The seventh-ranked Gators need him to snap out of his mini-funk quickly because they face their toughest test of the season on Tuesday night against top-ranked Kentucky and center Anthony Davis.

The 6-foot-10 Davis leads the nation in blocked shots (4.8 per game), and last weekend he recorded his 116th block of the season -- which broke Shaquille O'Neal's SEC freshman record (115).

Young has to be as close to full strength as possible or the Gators (19-4, 7-1 SEC) have no chance of beating the Wildcats (23-1, 9-0) in Rupp Arena for the first time since 2007.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- We start with a look ahead to the 2012 season, but let's not kid ourselves. These Gator-related ESPN links are all about recruiting. There's still a lot to sift through after signing day.

Schlabach: Way-Too-Early Top 25, Take 2
Players have declared for the NFL draft. Recruits have signed their letters of intent. It's time to take a second look at the 2012 top 25. Florida brings up the rear at No. 25.

Top 100 prospects for 2013 (Insider)
RecruitingNation’s early look at the best of the rising senior class. This is an important list for Florida, as there are already three verbal commitments and a whole host of targets who reside in the Sunshine State. Happy hunting!

Schlabach: Colleges line up for 2013's top prospect
Robert Nkemdiche has another year of high school ahead but the defensive end is being compared to Hall of Famers. Every major program in the nation is after him, and Florida is no different. Nkemdiche lists the Gators among his early favorites.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida's Bradley Beal was named the Southeastern Conference's Freshman of the Week on Monday for the fifth time this season.

Beal averaged 16.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in the Gators' victories over South Carolina and Vanderbilt. He notched his fourth double-double against the Gamecocks on Thursday, with 17 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Beal then had 16 points and seven rebounds against the Commodores on Saturday.

The Gators (19-4, 7-1 SEC) play at top-ranked Kentucky (23-1, 9-0) Tuesday night.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Gators have won seven in a row and are looking at a tough challenge to cap a run of three games in six days: No. 1 Kentucky at Rupp Arena in Lexington (Tuesday at 7 p.m., ET, on ESPN or ESPN3). Here are your UF-related links from ESPN.

Rankings: Florida returns to top 10
The Gators move up to No. 7 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll and No. 8 in The Associated Press poll.

Power Rankings: Florida No. 9
Florida moves up two spots this week. Power Rankings says: "This is Kentucky's greatest challenge in the SEC. The Gators love the 3-ball (41 percent). But to knock off the Wildcats, whom they'll play twice over the last month of the SEC slate, they'll need a healthy, aggressive Patric Young (11.4 ppg, 6.7 rpg)."

Bilas Index: Florida rises to No. 8 (Insider)
ESPN Insider Jay Bilas updates the Bilas Index, a ranking of the top 68 college basketball teams in the country. This week, the Kentucky Wildcats retain the No. 1 overall ranking, while the Gators move up to No. 8.

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Now that national signing day is out of the way, we're going to take another look at our SEC power rankings.

You won't see any change really, but we have more confidence in some teams now than we did before:

1. Alabama: The Crimson Tide hauled in the nation's No. 1 recruiting class last week and not only did Nick Saban sign a handful of top-rated players, but he met all of Alabama's major needs with the 2012 class. There are a few freshmen who could make early impacts in Tuscaloosa, including athlete Eddie Williams (Panama City, Fla./Arnold), and wide receivers Chris Black (Jacksonville, Fla./First Coast) and Amari Cooper (Miami, Fla./Miami Northwestern).

2. LSU: The Tigers' class wasn't as highly rated as some recent ones, but Les Miles and his coaches brought in a solid group and there are a few defense players who might see some playing time early. Three starting linebackers need to be replaced and a few freshmen will get their chances. While LSU lost Torshiro Davis ((Shreveport, La./Woodlawn) flipped to Texas, the Tigers brought in ESPNU 150 linebackers Kwon Alexander (Oxford, Ala.) and Ronnie Feist (Edgard, La./West Saint John).

3. Georgia: The Bulldogs needed to get bigger up front and add a couple of playmaking linebackers. Georgia did just that with the handful of athletic defensive linemen signed and grabbed top outside linebacker Josh Harvey-Clemons (Valdosta, Ga./Lowndes), who should thrive in Todd Grantham's 3-4. Georgia's offense could be even better this fall with Keith Marshall (Raleigh, N.C./Millbrook) helping Isaiah Crowell, and the wide receiver depth returning.

4. South Carolina: Talk about underrated. South Carolina didn't make much noise at all on national signing day, but the Gamecocks brought in a very balanced class and have a few players who should contribute early to a team that will yet again compete for the SEC East title. Two freshmen to keep an eye on in 2012 are wide receiver Shaq Roland (Lexington, S.C.) and safety Chaz Elder (College Park, Ga./Benjamin E. Banneker).

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Here's a batch of recent extras and links that have fallen through some very deep cracks (like Super Bowl and signing day).

YOUR DAILY TEBOW
Tebow says NFL a lot like SEC
Tim Tebow says he played with so many NFL-bound players in high school and at Florida that every Sunday felt like facing "LSU or Auburn." This is not news to SEC fans.

Video: Tebow joins The Scott Van Pelt Show on ESPN Radio
On the set in Indianapolis, Tebow tells Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo it's been a surreal year for him on the field and off the field. He talks about dealing with Tebow-mania.

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