Location: Stegeman Coliseum – Athens, GA [Capacity: 10,523]
Time: 4:00 p.m. (EST)

TV: SEC Network
Online Video: ESPN360.com
Live Updates: OGGOA on Twitter

Odds: Florida -1, O/U 138.5

KEEP AN EYE ON…
» The dynamic backcourt of…sophomore point guard Erving Walker and freshman guard Kenny Boynton who are averaging a combined 29.5 points and 7.2 assists per game in conference play this season.
» Speaking of Walker and Boynton…they have hit 56 of the Gators’ 72 treys in SEC play. After struggling the previous two games, the duo combined to shoot 9-for-19 from the field and 4-for-9 from downtown on Tuesday.
» Junior forward Alex Tyus…who is taking control of the front court, has reached double figures in 15 of 19 games and scored 15+ in eight of those.
» Junior F Chandler Parsons…who has scored in double figures in six straight games also has two double-doubles in those matches. He has been helping dish the ball and run the point while averaging 15.8 points and 8.8 rebounds and shooting 55.6 percent.
» Double-digit scoring by Vernon Macklin…the Gators are 13-2 when the redshirt junior transfer center finishes in double figures. He had a career-high 22 points in a win against Ole Miss last Saturday.
» Bulldogs F Trey Thompkins…who leads his team in both scoring (17.8 points per game) and rebounding (8.1 boards per game). He is second in the SEC in scoring.

STREAKS:
» Florida leads the all-time series against Georgia 103-95, winning 12 of the last 13 meetings. The Gators are 20-6 overall against the Bulldogs under Billy Donovan.
» Florida has won nine of its last 11 conference games. Should the Gators win Saturday, it will be their sixth true road win of the season (most since 2005-06). Defeating the Rebels last weekend, they swept the SEC West (6-0) for the first time since 2003 and acquired their most road wins since 2006-07.
» UF is 6-3 in games decided by five points or less compared to 4-6 in such games last season; they are also 5-1 in the last six contests that were that close.
»Florida has shot at least 24 free throws in three-straight games. The Gators are 6-1 when getting to the line at least that many times.
» The Gators have out-rebounded seven of their last ten conference opponents and is 13-2 overall when out-rebounding an opponent in 2010.
» After shooting just 47.8 percent from the charity stripe (22-of-46) over its previous two games, Florida has gone 73-for-91 (80.2 percent) from the line in three contests since.
» Six of the Gators’ eight losses on the season have come from teams with RPIs currently inside the top 28 (five from teams ranked 19 or higher).
» A win last Tuesday gave UF its 12th consecutive 20-win season, good for the longest active streak in the SEC and fifth-longest in the nation.
» Five of Georgia’s nine SEC losses have come by four points or less.
» The Bulldogs have taken impressive wins over then-No. 17 Illinois, Georgia Tech and then-No. 8 Tennessee this season.

Tags: Alex Tyus, Billy Donovan, Erving Walker, Georgia Bulldogs, Kenny Boynton, Mark Fox, Trey Thompkins, Vernon Macklin

1 » Buffalo Bills head coach and former Florida Gators quarterback Chan Gailey, who incidentally hired defensive coordinator George Edwards away from his alma mater, spoke about QB Tim Tebow while at the 2010 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, IN. “Habits are not changed over a short amount of time; habits are changed over long periods of time and many reps,” Gailedy told the Palm Beach Post. “If you’re going to change somebody, it will take time to do that. If he thinks it’s a weakness, and he thinks he needs to work on it, and he thinks he needs to change, that should help him be a stronger player down the line. If he didn’t think it was a wekness and he’s doing it for somebody else, then it’ll make him a weaker player.” Interesting perspective.

VIDEO » Tebow interviewed by Steve Mariucci and Mike Mayock of NFL Network Thurs.

Find out about Knight, UF lacrosse and trouble for Moreno after the jump!
Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: Tebow, Knight, lacrosse, Moreno

Tags: Amanda O’Leary, Brandon Knight, Buffalo Bills, Chan Gailey, combine, Denver Broncos, George Edwards, Georgia Bulldogs, Jeremy Foley, Knowshon Moreno, lacrosse, NFL, Tim Tebow, University of Georgia

1 » Florida Gators football will have new captains for the 2010 season, and they are seniors defensive end Justin Trattou and guard/center Mike Pouncey. Two of only eight true seniors on the team, Trattou and Pouncey may have some company before all is said and done. Their value will likely be unmatched both from a leadership and playing standpoint in 2010, so it is nice to see them receive early recognition.

2 » Mike may be concentrating on the Gators but his brother, center Maurkice Pouncey, is currently in Indianapolis, IN, for the 2010 NFL Scouting Combine. A first-team All-American, first-team All-SEC and Rimington Trophy (top center in the nation) winner, Pouncey is projected as a first-round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft in April. “I’m going to do everything,” Pouncey said of workouts at the combine. “I’ll do it now and have pro day to fall back.” Surprisingly, he never thought about playing center until Florida needed one two years ago. “I wanted to do whatever the [Gators] needed, and the team needed a center,” he told The Ledger. “It has worked out for the best.”

Check out two BITS on Florida Gators basketball after the break!
Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: Caps, Pounceys, Donovan, Macklin

Tags: Billy Donova, combine, Draft, Justin Trattou, Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Pouncey, NFL, Rimington Trophy, Urban Meyer, Vernon Macklin

From time to time, OGGOA will come across a plethora of news and notes that we wish to share with our readers. In those instances, we present a special post: Gator Bites. Enjoy.

» Arguably the greatest player in the history of Florida Gators baseball, free agent Brad Wilkerson has signed a minor-league contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. He was a member of the 2010 UF Hall of Fame class, a part of the 1996 and 1998 College World Series teams, a two-time All-American, three-time All-SEC selection and the 1998 Collegiate Player of the Year. Wilkerson holds career records at Florida for batting average, RBIs, slugging percentage and walks. He played for four MLB teams from 2001-08 and won a gold medal with Team USA baseball at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

There are seven more Gator Bites for you to check out…after the jump!
Continue Reading » Gator Bites for Wednesday, February 24

Tags: Allie Will, Ashanée Dickerson, baseball, Billy Donovan, Brad Wilkerson, Brittany Dashiell, Central District Invitational, Deanna Allen, Florida State Seminoles, Freshman Gymnast of the Week, golf, Gymnast of the Week, gymnastics, Isabelle Lendl, La Salle Explorers, lacrosse, Marika Lendl, Marissa King, Marrit Boonstra, MLB, Pensacola Junior College, Philadelphia Phillies, Ray Shipman, Sam Wyche, SEC, tennis, Tyler Murphy

A 27-6 run including three consecutive treys by slumping sophomore point guard Erving Walker led the Florida Gators (20-8, 9-4 SEC) to a 75-62 rout of the No. 19/17 Tennessee Volunteers (20-7, 8-5 SEC) Tuesday night at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, FL. The Gators, who earned their 12th-straight 20-win season with the victory, snapped a six-game losing streak against the Volunteers by taking their first win in the series since Feb. 3, 2007.

Walker, who was mired in a 5-for-26 (1-for-11 from downtown) slump over the last three games, shot 50 percent on the evening and scored a trifecta of three-pointers in under two minutes in the second half. He and junior forward Chandler Parsons each finished with a team-high 19 points, though Parsons added eight rebounds. Redshirt junior transfer center Vernon Macklin achieved a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 10 boards, while freshman guard Kenny Boynton added 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting.

“We just moved another step closer to where we want to get to,” Walker said. “Definitely a big resume win. They were a ranked team, good RPI, a good team, big conference win, take sole possession of third. We can’t ask for a bigger win right now than this one.”

Read the rest of OGGOA’s Gators vs. Volunteers game story after the jump!
Continue Reading » Gators rout No. 19/17 Volunteers 75-62 in O’Dome

Tags: Alex Tyus, Billy Donovan, Bobby Maze, Cameron Tatum, Chandler Parsons, Erving Walker, Jeff Hathaway, Kenny Boynton, Mike Slive, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, O'Connell Center, Scotty Hopson, SEC, selection committee, University of Connecticut, Vernon Macklin, Wayne Chism

1 » At the start of the 2009-10 Florida Gators basketball season, the team was led by the triumvirate of sophomore point guard Erving Walker, freshman guard Kenny Boynton and junior forward Alex Tyus. As the season has worn on, junior F Chandler Parsons and redshirt junior transfer center Vernon Macklin have taken over and led the Gators to victory through their efforts in the frontcourt. Speaking with the big man, Florida Today determined that Parsons has had a big hand in Macklin’s emergence. “[Parsons’] pause button is kind of broken on his remote control, so we’ve got to use my room,” said Macklin about going over game tape. “So we hit pause and rewind a lot. We watch a lot of break down plays, how a team boxes out or what guy doesn’t box out, we watch a lot of things like that. […] We watch a lot and we talk about a lot of plays like during practice and during walk-thrus. We talk about a lot of things together, we’re close friends off the court so we talk a lot about basketball.”

2 » Brand new Gators defensive coordinator Teryl Austin is still finding his way around Gainesville, FL, but he wanted to set one thing straight as some compare his temperament to that of the guy he is replacing, Louisville Cardinals head coach Charlie Strong. “He has been a great defensive coordinator,” Austin. “But I’ve got to find my own way. I think the big thing is you come in and be you. I can’t be anybody different. If I tried, it would show. The coaches would know, the players would know. I’m just me. Everywhere I’ve been, that seems to have worked well for me. I’m going to continue to do that — be me. A lot of things we’ll probably kind of mesh with what was done here before. We’re not going to overhaul it. Charlie had a great defense in place, a great scheme. To change just to change is not always good.”

Tags: Alex Tyus, Chandler Parsons, Charlie Strong, Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, Louisville Cardinals, Teryl Austin, Vernon Macklin

Location: Stephen C. O’Connell Center – Gainesville, FL [Capacity: 12,000]
Time: 9:00 p.m. (EST)

TV: ESPN / ESPNHD
Online Video: ESPN360.com
Live Updates: OGGOA on Twitter

Odds: Florida -2.5, O/U 136.5

KEEP AN EYE ON…
» The (recently less than) dynamic backcourt of…sophomore point guard Erving Walker and freshman guard Kenny Boynton who are averaging 29.3 points and 7.2 assists per game in conference play this season.
» Speaking of Walker and Boynton…they have hit 52 of the Gators’ 67 treys in SEC play. However, the duo has struggled from the field in its last three games, combining to shoot 12-for-54 from the field and 4-for-26 from downtown.
» Junior forward Alex Tyus…who is taking control of the front court, has reached double figures in 15 of 18 games and scored 15+ in eight of those.
» Junior F Chandler Parsons…who has scored in double figures in five straight games also has two double-doubles in those matches. He has been helping dish the ball and run the point while averaging 15.2 points and 9.0 rebounds and shooting 52.9 percent.
» Double-digit scoring by Vernon Macklin…the Gators are 12-2 when the redshirt junior transfer center finishes in double figures. He had a career-high 22 points in a big win against Ole Miss on Saturday.
» Volunteers center Wayne Chism…who leads his team in scoring and rebounding with 13.1 points per game and 7.2 boardseach contest. Chism has also posted a team-high 39 blocked shots this season.

STREAKS:
» Tennessee leads the all-time series against Florida 69-48, holding a six-game winning streak and having been victorious in 11 of the last 14 meetings. The Gators are 12-15 overall against the Volunteers under Billy Donovan.
» Florida is 12-3 at home in 2009-10 and 81-11 in the O’Dome since 2005.
» UF is 6-3 in games decided by five points or less compared to 4-6 in such games last season; they are also 5-1 in the last six contests that were that close.
» The Gators have out-rebounded seven of their last nine conference opponents and is 12-2 overall when out-rebounding an opponent in 2010.
» After shooting just 47.8 percent from the charity stripe (22-of-46) over its previous two games, Florida has gone 57-for-67 (85.1 percent) from the line in two contests since.
» Six of the Gators’ eight losses on the season have come from teams with RPIs currently inside the top 28 (five from teams ranked 19 or higher).
» Defeating the Rebels on Saturday, the Gators swept the SEC West (6-0) for the first time since 2003 and acquired their most road wins since 2006-07.
» A win Tuesday would give UF its 12th consecutive 20-win season, good for the longest active streak in the SEC.
» Tennessee has defeated then-No. 1 Kansas and Memphis so far this season.
» The Volunteers force 17.4 turnovers per game while holding opponents to 29.9 percent from beyond the arc.

Tags: Alex Tyus, Billy Donovan, Bruce Pearl, Chandler Parsons, Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, SEC, Tennessee Volunteers, Vernon Macklin, Wayne Chism

In the midst of a stretch where they will play three games in only a six-day span, Florida Gators basketball was back in the gym Monday practicing for their contest Tuesday at home against the No. 19/17 Tennessee Volunteers on ESPN at 9 p.m. Head coach Billy Donovan spoke with the media about a number of topics regarding his team.
Continue Reading » Donovan speaks on team after back-to-back wins

Tags: Billy Donovan, Brian Williams, Chandler Parsons, Dan Werner, J.P. Prince, Kenny Boynton, Melvin Goins, Tennessee Volunteers, Vernon Macklin