Updated on May 3 at 10:30 a.m.

Florida Gators basketball’s 2013-14 non-conference schedule is taking shape after information was released this week about opponents for the upcoming season.

It has been confirmed that Florida will take on Kansas for the first time since 2006 as part of the inaugural SEC-Big 12 Challenge. KU will travel to Gainesville, FL on Dec. 10, 2013 for what is sure to be a fantastic showdown.

According to CBSSports.com’s Jeff Goodman, UF will also face Memphis at the 2013 Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY on Dec. 17.

The UF website announced on Friday that the Gators will play a road game at Connecticut on Dec. 2. It is the first time the teams have squared off since 1994.

It has long been known that Florida will finish off a home-and-home series with a road game at Wisconsin, host Florida State and Richmond, participate in the 2013 Orange Bowl Basketball Classic (Sunrise, FL) against an unsigned opponent, and take part in a five-team round robin called the Global Sports Challenge that includes Arkansas Little-Rock, Middle Tennessee State, North Florida and Southern.

Below is the non-conference schedule as of press time:

Nov. 8 vs. North Florida
TBA at Wisconsin
Nov. 16 vs. Arkansas Little-Rock
Nov. 18 vs. Southern
Nov. 21 vs. Middle Tennessee State
Nov 25 at Jacksonville
Nov. 29 vs. Florida State
Dec. 2 at UConn
Dec. 10 vs. Kansas
Dec. 17 vs. Memphis (New York, NY)
Dec. 21 vs. TBA (Sunrise, FL)
Dec. 29 vs. Savannah State
Jan. 4 vs. Richmond

Florida will be adding additional games to its non-conference schedule in the near future, so stay tuned for updates.

By Andrew Olson – OGGOA Contributor

The Southeastern Conference and ESPN jointly announced on Thursday the creation of the multi-platform SEC Network, which is set to launch on Aug. 6, 2014 as part of a 20-year media rights extension between the conference and World Wide Leader in Sports that will take relationship through 2034.

Termed the “longest agreement in all of sports” by ESPN president John Skipper, the deal not only locks up the SEC with ESPN as its primary rights holder but also ensures that 1,000 league games will be aired each year including 450 live on television. The other 550 contests will be distributed digitally across a variety of platforms.

“The SEC Network will provide an unparalleled fan experience of top quality SEC content presented across the television network and its accompanying digital platforms,” SEC commissioner Mike Slive said. “We will increase exposure of SEC athletics programs at all 14 member institutions, as we showcase the incredible student-athletes in our league. The agreement for a network streamlines and completes an overall media rights package that will continue the SEC’s leadership for the foreseeable future.”

College football, the only sport with all 14 schools’ coaches in attendance on Thursday, will obviously be featured prominently on the new channel. The SEC Network will televise 45 league football games each year, including three every Saturday of the 13-week season. CBS will continue to have first pick of each week’s SEC football games but will no longer have exclusivity to air an SEC game in the middle of the afternoon.

Continue Reading » SEC, ESPN officially announce SEC Network

1 » After having just player receive an individual honor in 2012, Florida Gators lacrosse swept the positional awards and took home a major coaching honor from the American Lacrosse Conference in 2013. Seniors Kitty Cullen (Offensive Player of the Year), Sam Farrell (Defensive Player of the Year), Brittany Dashiell (Midfielder of the Year) and Mikey Meagher (Goalie of the Year) each won the individual awards while head coach Amanda O’Leary was named Coach of the Year. Florida also saw five players – the aforementioned plus sophomore Shannon Gilroy named to the All-ALC First Team – with senior Ashley Bruns and senior Emily Dohony earning Second Team honors. Next up for the Gators is the 2013 ALC Tournament, which starts for Florida in the semifinals on Friday at 4 p.m.

2 » No. 1 Gators women’s tennis (22-2) was named the top overall seed in the 2013 NCAA Tournament and will host first- and second-round action in Gainesville, FL from May 11-12 as it looks to advance to the NCAA Round of 16. Florida opens up against Marist College (11-7) in the first round and will face the winner of No. 22 Georgia Tech (14-9) vs. No. 37 Yale (17-3). This will be the 15th consecutive year that UF is hosting the opening rounds of the tournament. Also announced this week were the three women’s tennis players who have earned the opportunity to compete for the 2013 NCAA Singles Championship; competition begins at the conclusion of the team tournament. Senior Lauren Embree (No. 1 overall seed), junior Alex Cercone and junior Sofie Oyen will all play in the 64-player draw with Embree and Oyen also teaming up for the 32-team 2013 NCAA Doubles Championship tournament.

Read two more Florida Gators news BITS…after the break!
Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: lacrosse, tennis, Moss, Sloan

The 2013 NFL Draft is now in the books, and Florida Gators fans saw eight players – one shy of the school record in a seven-round draft – get selected from Thursday-Saturday. Safety Josh Evans, Florida’s leading tackler in 2012, patiently waited for his name to be called and eventually saw his dream come true late on Saturday when he was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the No. 169 overall pick, the first of the sixth round of the draft. Below is Evans’s final entry as his Path to the Draft has finally come to a close. OGGOA thanks him for keeping his fans up-to-date on his experiences over the last four months in this exclusive blog.

The whole draft process was pretty crazy. It really is unlike anything else I have experienced or will probably experience again in my life. Though I knew I would not be drafted during the first round on Thursday, there were indications that I could go during the second day on Friday.

Personally, I thought I would be going anywhere from the third or fourth round on down. The Dallas Cowboys had actually called me twice on Thursday – in the morning and at night – and told me they were looking to pick a safety on Friday or first thing on Saturday. They wound up taking somebody else [J.J. Wilcox - No. 80 overall], so I just stayed humble and hungry and waited for that phone call from another team.

When I did not get selected on Friday, it was not a major concern. I wondered what was going on and how things would play out, but I kept my faith in God and figured that something good would happen. No matter what, I was going to make the most of whatever opportunity a team decided to give me.

During the fifth round, the Buffalo Bills called me and told me that they were interested. When they didn’t select me, the next team I heard from was the Jacksonville Jaguars, which called me about a minute before they drafted me.

As I wrote here last time, the Jaguars spoke with me and my agent three times over the last week, so I knew they were interested…but I did not know I would end up there.

When they called, they asked if I was “ready to be a Jacksonville Jaguar.” I said, “Absolutely,” and then my name popped up on the TV a minute later and then my family and everyone around me got excited.

Continue Reading » Josh Evans – Path to 2013 NFL Draft: Jacksonville

Florida Gators guard Braxton Ogbueze informed the team that he had decided to transfer and was granted his release from the school on Wedesday.

Gators head coach Billy Donovan announced in a press release that Ogbueze, who averaged 4.7 minutes per game during his true freshman season last year, will no longer with the program going forward.

“Braxton has been a hard worker with a great attitude, and we wish him nothing but the best as he moves on,” Donovan said.

“I’ve appreciated the opportunity here at Florida and have learned a lot that will help me in the future,” Ogbueze said in the same release.

The player’s family had been murmuring about a transfer when Ogbueze failed to see significant court time during the 2012-13 season. With UF adding Rutgers transfer guard Eli Carter to the fold on Tuesday, Ogbueze obviously felt that he would have a better chance to succeed elsewhere.

A four-star prospect in 2012 and the No. 78 overall recruit in the country according to Rivals, Ogbueze originally chose Florida over Baylor. He committed on March 9, 2011.

The Gators now have an open scholarship for the 2013-14 season though it is unlikely to be filled over the summer. Carter will file a waiver with the NCAA to skip his redshirt transfer season and be eligible to play immediately for Florida.

Ogbueze is the second true Gators transfer (Walter Pitchford) since Florida lost four members of its 2008 recruiting class (Allan Chaney, Kenny Kadji, Ray Shipman, Eloy Vargas). Cody Larson gave up basketball before the 2012-13 season and Nimrod Tishman, after joining UF for the 2009-10 campaign, moved back to Israel.

1 » Now that former Florida Gators quarterback is officially a free agent after being waived by the New York Jets (and then going through the waiver wire unclaimed), he has the opportunity to choose where he wants to play next should teams offer him the chance. Unfortunately for Tebow, many of teams have already decided that he is not in their plans. Pro Football Talk has done a good job piecing together comments from interviews with direct information they have uncovered. Here is a list of teams that (at least as of press time) have internally said “no” to Tebow or made those comments public in one form or another: Chicago, Jacksonville, Minnesota, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa Bay, New York Jets (obviously), Denver (obviously). That lists consists of less than one-third of the NFL’s 32 franchises.

2 » Two teams that have at least in some way commented on Tebow did not completely rule him out. Detroit general manager Martin Mayhew, while a guest on 97.1 The Ticket, addressed the situation. “I feel good about our quarterbacks right now,” he began. “We’ve got four on our roster and we typically go with four. But I’m the kind of guy who never says never. Miami refused comment altogether. “Our decision-making process regarding player personnel is confidential and we don’t discuss it publicly,” long-time Dolphins spokesman Harvey Greene told PFT.

Read three more news BITS on Tebow…after the break!
Continue Reading » SIX Tebow BITS: NFL, CFL, Ryan, Testaverde

Updated: Friday, May 10 at 3:00 p.m.

For the second time in the last four offeasons, Florida Gators basketball has added a transfer from the Rutgers Scarlet Knights as guard Eli Carter on Tuesday announced his intent to continue his career in Gainesville, FL.

“Proud to announce that I will be continuing my career at the University of Florida !! #Gators,” he tweeted at approximately 2 p.m.

Once former Rutgers head coach Mike Rice was fired for physically and emotionally bullying his players, a number of Scarlet Knights informed the school that they would be transferring. Carter (Paterson, NJ), a former three-star prospect and the No. 114 recruit in the nation as ranked by Rivals in 2011, first narrowed his options down to Florida and Maryland before deciding to pull the trigger for the Gators on Tuesday.

After Florida assistant Rashon Burno – who like Carter and Mike Rosario attended St. Anthony’s High School in New Jersey under head coach Bob Hurley – reached out to the player in early April, Gators head coach Billy Donovan flew up north to meet with Carter and his family in their home on April 22.

Donovan convinced him to visit Florida and he obliged, spending time in Gainesville on Sunday and Monday. While in town, Carter told the Gators he would be attending Florida but made his intentions officially known to the public on Tuesday.

“Eli is a great addition to our team, and we’re pleased he’s a Gator now,” Donovan said in a school release on May 10. “I’m excited to get down to Florida, and I can’t wait to start gelling with the team and the coaches,” Carter added.

Continue Reading » Rutgers transfer Eli Carter commits to Florida

By Andrew Olson – OGGOA Contributor

No. 19 Florida Gators baseball (25-20, 12-9 SEC) has continued its upward momentum, going 6-2 (with two series victories) since it swept South Carolina in mid-April. Over the last two weeks, Florida has gone 3-1 both at home and on the road.

Following a big three-game sweep over a Southeastern Conference powerhouse like No. 15 USC, many teams might suffer a letdown game against a non-conference foe on the road…but not the Gators. Florida had plenty of motivation to pick up a revenge victory in Fort Myers, FL against the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles after having been swept by FGCU in Gainesville, FL back in February.

Sophomore left-handed pitcher Bobby Poyner tossed 5.1 innings, a career-high, allowing only one run in UF’s 5-3 victory on April 16 before sophomore closer Johnny Magliozzi got the job done with a five-out save. Sophomore catcher Taylor Gushue (2/4, 2 RBI, R, BB) smacked a double to help fuel a three-run seventh inning. Redshirt senior first baseman Vickash Ramjit (2/4, RBI) and sophomore outfielder Justin Shafer (2/5, R) also contributed to the hit parade.

Junior right-hander Jonathon Crawford overcame a rough beginning to his Friday start on April 19 to earn his third win in an 8-6 victory over the Missouri Tigers. Crawford allowed four hits in a four-run first but settled down for the next 4.2 innings and left the game with a 6-4 lead. The Gators’ offense was not done, however, scoring two more runs on four hits to spot the relievers four runs. Magliozzi picked up another five-out save, securing a much-needed series-opening win on the road for Florida.

Continue Reading » Florida baseball continues rise; 6-2 in last eight