The Sunday Blog is a little cranky today because the NCAA won’t allow us to leave our hotels early despite the Florida loss and despite the fact that the power has been out all morning. Death to the NCAA. Greedy is way too soft a word. 1. A perfect example of how poor offense can lead to a run by the other team came against UConn. Casey Prather was on a fast break and tried to lob the ball awkwardly… Read More »
The Sunday Blog comes at you after three hours of sleep, which is about 20 minutes less than someone who was supposed to share a cab with us to the airport. I’m not naming names, Open Mike. 1. Memphis should have a regional every year. Check that, I should get to cover a regional in Memphis every year. You couldn’t have asked for a better situation with the Westin hotel across the street from the arena and a block from… Read More »
The Sunday Blog is more tired than Scottie Wilbekin right now. Long drive home. The good news is I get to drive back to Orlando Tuesday top fly to Memphis. Hey, it’s a tough job watching all this great basketball. 1. You kind of get blinded by the work in these tournaments and spend way less time looking at other news than you do at what you’re covering. Buzz Williams left Marquette for Virginia Tech? Marquette is targeting Ben Howland?… Read More »
In the press room, which is a term you can only use loosely as the SEC Tournament because of all the hanger-ons, Billy Donovan’s dad was looking at the TV where the Selection Show was being broadcast. ‘They didn’t do us any favors, huh?” he said with his ever-present smile. Florida’s bracket for the NCAA Tournament appears to be a tough one on the surface. The Gators face the Albany-Mount St. Mary’s winner in the opener and those two teams… Read More »
The Sunday Blog comes to you from a rainy Atlanta where Round III of Florida-Kentucky will take place. Coincidentally, I watched the last 15 minutes of Rocky III last tonight. 1. Here is one thing I have learned from the SEC Tournament — they still don’t get it. And they’re still calling it. We wondered if the new emphasis on hand-checking would subside as the season wore on. Remember when they decided a few years ago to penalize coaches who… Read More »
The Sunday Blog comes at you a little late because I didn’t know we lost an hour last night. Or did we gain an hour? All I know is I have a headache. Saturday was that much fun. 1. Seriously, it wasn’t enough to beat Kentucky to make history. The Gators had to pummel the Wildcats. They recorded the largest UF win over Kentucky in program history. They teased the Kiddies there in the second half and then pulled away… Read More »
It is as close to a sure thing as possible that Florida’s NCAA Tournament will begin in Orlando on March 20 although we won’t know who they are playing until March 16 and what time the Gators will play until later that night. But it will be a tough and expensive ticket. Florida receives 350 tickets from the NCAA (no matter where the tourney is played) and can ask for another 200, which it will. But out of that 550… Read More »
As we wait for Florida’s game at South Carolina tonight, I thought it would be interesting to look at the SEC teams and how they have fared against the RPI top 100. It’s something the selection committee will definitely look at when deciding which teams make it. As we know, there are only a few teams still on the bubble from the conference. So here you go: 1. Florida 14-2 2. Kentucky 13-7 3. Arkansas 8-8 4. Tennessee 7-9 Missouri… Read More »
The Sunday Blog comes at you after a glorious week that saw Kentucky lose twice in three days. 1. This is going to be fun for the selection committee. It’s not just the bubble, which changes on an hourly basis, but the seeds at the top. One thing they will consider is how the top teams fared away from home and who they beat. With that in mind, close your eyes and pretend you’re on the committee and I am… Read More »
The Sunday Blog is on the road in St. Augustine where I was able to enjoy a Florida basketball game with my Dad and brother Tim. Gosh, neither one of them is a big fan of Marshall Henderson. 1. OK, so this is what I told my Dad Saturday — “I don’t want Florida to be No. 1.” My thinking is that this is a team that doesn’t need any more distractions. So I rooted for Syracuse to win Saturday… Read More »
