1 » After suffering their first loss of the season against No. 6/3 Florida State in the inaugural Florida Four tournament, the No. 5/6 Florida Gators traveled to Coral Gables, FL, for a three-game series against the No. 16/11 Miami Hurricanes. OGGOA will wrap-up the series on Sunday, but on Friday, the Gators (6-1) took down the Hurricanes (6-2) 7-1 in the series’ first game. Sophomore starter Alex Pantelidois (3-0) held Miami hitless into the fifth inning and registered a career-high eight strikeouts. Fellow sophomore Nick Mardone earned his first career save by striking out seven over 3.1 innings without giving up a hit or run. Three Gators acquired two RBI in the contest.

Five more BITS including a softball doubleheader, gymnastics triangular meet and SEC openers for men’s and women’s tennis…after the break!
Continue Reading » SIX BITS Baseball, softball, gymnastics, tennis win

Tags: Alex Pantelidois, Alexandre Lacroix, Allie Will, Antoine Benneteau, Arkansas Razorbacks, Ashanée Dickerson, Ball State Cardinal, baseball, DeMarini Invitational, Ensley Gammel, Francesca Enea, gymnastics, Lauren Embree, Marissa King, Marrit Boonstra, Miami Hurricanes, Nick Mardone, North Carolina Tar Heels, O'Connell Center, Pacific Tigers, SEC, softball, Stanford Cardinal, Stephanie Brombacher, Tegan Gerhart, tennis

1 » No. 3 Florida Gators women’s track and field won the 2010 Southeastern Conference Indoor Championship Sunday, its first since the 2004 season. Scoring 110 total points, the team was led by junior Charlotte Browning and senior Shara Proctor, who were named co-winners of the Cliff Harper Trophy for the SEC’s high-points scorer. The men’s team finished second at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, AR, as the home team Arkansas Razorbacks beat them out for the men’s crown 123-119. Both the women’s and men’s teams also captured numerous individual SEC titles over the weekend.

2 » No. 3/11 Gators softball (12-1) swept the Northwestern State Lady Demons (8-5) 15-0, 5-0 and 10-1 over the weekend at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, FL. Sophomore outfielder Michelle Moultrie powered Florida’s offense by going 5-8 (.625) with a double, triple, home run and six RBI, while junior OF Kelsey Bruder joined her with similar 5-8 performance for four runs, two homers, six RBI and 11 total bases. Junior pitcher Stephanie Brombacher (10-1) won each game of the series, striking out a combined 13 and only allowing three walks.

Read four more BITS on gymnastics, lacrosse, men’s tennis and Senior Day…
Continue Reading » SIX BITS: SEC titles, softball sweep, gymnastics

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Alexandre Lacroix, Antoine Benneteau, Arkansas Razorbacks, Ashanée Dickerson, Auburn Tigers, Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum, Brittany Dashiell, Charlotte Browning, Cliff Harper Trophy, field, gymnastics, Illinois Illini, Jennifer George, Jennifer Mossor, Kelsey Bruder, lacrosse, Linder Stadium, Lonnika Thompson, Michelle Moultrie, North Carolina Tar Heels, Northwestern State Lady Demons, Pressly Stadium, Randal Tyson Track Center, Ring Tennis Complex, SEC, SEC Championship, Senior Day, Shara Proctor, Sharielle Smith, softball, Steffi Sorensen, Stephanie Brombacher, Susan Yenser, tennis, track, women's basketball

1 » Florida Gators basketball fans may have noticed that freshman forward/center Erik Murphy’s minutes have diminished over the last few games. After a pretty awful performance against the Arkansas Razorbacks to games ago, Murphy only received two minutes of playing time against the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday. Head coach Billy Donovan denied claims that Murphy’s injury was hindering his performance or affecting his minutes. “I’ve got total confidence in Erik,” Donovan said. “He’s a freshman, he’s going to be a very, very good player. You know I think this is great opportunity for him to rebound as a player to understand that you know the last two games, maybe he didn’t play a great game against Arkansas and didn’t get a chance to play in the second half against South Carolina. But we still need him and he can still make a really positive impact on our team.”

2 » Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated wonders where former hoops dynasties like Florida, the North Carolina Tar Heels and the UCLA Bruins have gone in his latest column. He then goes on to make many of the same points that OGGOA has in the past about the Gators’ recent struggles in recovering from the departure of the Oh-Fours.

Tags: Arkansas Razorbacks, Billy Donovan, Erik Murphy, North Carolina Tar Heels, Oh-Fours, South Carolina Gamecocks, UCLA Bruins

Never one to shy away from doubters and skeptics, former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow has a prime opportunity to increase his value to NFL brass during practices this week for the 2010 Under Armour Senior Bowl in Mobile, AL. It is a challenge he is neither taking lightly nor backing down from. Head coach Urban Meyer is confident that Tebow will face the NFL challenge head-on and be immensely successful but still provided some words of advice.

“Coach Meyer called me last night and he said, ‘Promise me one thing: Just be you and you’ll be fine,’” Tebow told reporters Sunday during a pre-Senior Bowl press conference. “I’m just going to be me. I’m going to be excited, I’m going to be passionate, I’m going to have fun. I’m going to love playing the game out there, just like I always have. Hopefully the coaching staffs and the owners and general managers will just like me.”

It is hard to imagine anyone not liking Tebow, as a football player, that is. One of the most prolific and arguably the best player in the history of college football, Tebow’s accomplishments seem to have fallen by the wayside in recent weeks while some of his attributes like throwing motion, arm speed and footwork have been picked on.

Find out what Tebow thinks of his many critics (and more) after the jump!
Continue Reading » Tebow excited to prove himself at Senior Bowl

Tags: Arkansas Razorbacks, David Lee, Heisman Trophy, Miami Dolphins, National Championship, NFL, Senior Bowl, Tim Tebow, Under Armour, Urban Meyer, Wildcat, WildHog

Sophomore point guard Erving Walker turned in a career-high 27 points to lead the Florida Gators (13-5, 2-2 SEC) over the Arkansas Razorbacks (8-10, 1-2 SEC) 71-66 on the road at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, AR. Walker began the game by hitting his first five shots (four from downtown) and finished 7-of-12 (5-of-6) on the night.

Junior forward Alex Tyus started 0-for-5 but finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds for the eighth double-double of his career. Tyus hit the boards hard in the second half, as did fellow junior F Chandler Parsons who left with 11 rebounds but only six points on 1-of-8 shooting after initially going 0-for-7. Razorbacks’ guard Courtney Fortson completed a double-double of his own with 14 points and 11 assists, while G Rotnei Clarke led Arkansas with 17 points shooting 5-of-8 from beyond the arc.

The Gators started the game 2-of-12 from the field and 0-for-3 from downtown until Walker made a three to tie it up at 11. He finished the half with 15 points while the rest of the team was only 4-of-25 from the field and 0-for-6 from three for 11 total points. Walker continued his dominance in the second half with an opening trey, a shot that gave him Florida’s last 10 points on both sides of the break.

A 10-2 run by the Razorbacks would tie the game, and a three-point play by Fortson gave Arkansas the lead back for the first time in the second half. Clarke would go on to score 11-straight points for the Razorbacks including a three that put Arkansas back up 56-55 with 6:40 remaining. However, the Gators countered with a 9-0 run, would eventually take a game-high nine-point lead and were able to hold on from there.

Freshman G Kenny Boynton contributed 13 points but was only 1-of-7 from beyond the arc. Senior F Dan Werner and freshman F Erik Murphy were a combined 0-for-7 from the field; Werner was ineffective throughout the contest while Murphy was tentative in the paint and missed a number of easy layups and put-backs.

Florida was able to out-rebound Arkansas 42-29. The Gators only shot 35.5 percent from the field compared to 44.2 percent by the home team, but made 21-of-26 free throws against Arkansas’ 12-of-17 from the charity stripe.

The Gators return home to face the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN.
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The Florida women’s basketball team (10-9, 3-3 SEC) lost 82-58 on the road in Tuscaloosa, AL, to the Alabama Crimson Tide (9-10, 1-5 SEC) at the Coleman Coliseum. The Crimson Tide were previously winless in conference play before absolutely throttling the Gators Thursday night. Florida’s 24-point loss was their worst this season. Tierney Jenkins led Alabama with a double-double on 28 points and 12 rebounds while Celiscia Farmer and Ericka Russell added 19 and 18 points, respectively. Senior forward Sharielle Smith was the Gators’ most productive player with nine points and nine rebounds.

Photo Credit: Associated Press

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Alex Tyus, Arkansas Razorbacks, Bud Walton Arena, Celiscia Farmer, Chandler Parsons, Coleman Coliseum, Courtney Fortson, Dan Werner, Ericka Russell, Erik Murphy, Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, Rotnei Clarke, Sharielle Smith, Tierney Jenkins, women's basketball

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1 » Florida Gators basketball (11-5, 0-2 SEC) is looking to rebound from losing five of its last eight games as it takes on the LSU Tigers (9-7, 0-2 SEC) Saturday at 8 p.m. at home in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. The game will air live on FSN. Both teams are winless in Southeastern Conference action this season, and the Gators have not defeated the Tigers since March 11, 2006. Florida trails the all-time series 60-37.

2 » Two things must happen for the Gators to get back to prominence, the team must regain its swagger and redshirt junior center Vernon Macklin needs to stay out of foul trouble. If this was not obvious enough from watching the team play its last two games, both The Gainesville Sun and The Florida Times-Union are happy to break it down for you. “He’s just got to be smarter with what plays he puts himself into and what plays he doesn’t,” head coach Billy Donovan said. The Florida coach also expanded on some of the team’s recent difficulties to the Miami Herald’s Joseph Goodman. “The loss of eight really, really good players over the last three years has probably been more of an impact on us,” Donovan said. “I think our team would look a little bit different with Nick out there right now; our team last year would have looked a little bit different even with Maurice out there.” Even so, Donovan is not opposed to bringing in one-and-done players in the future to give the team enough talent to make the March Madness run it so desperately has been waiting for since back-to-back National Championships. Donovan is also trying to give the team a much-needed wake-up call.

Four BITS on gymnastics, Tim Tebow and other Gators sports after the jump!
Continue Reading » SIX BITS: LSU, Macklin, gym, NCAA honors, Tebow

Tags: Arkansas Razorbacks, Billy Donovan, Deb Richard, diving, Focus on the Family, golf, gymnastics, LSU Tigers, March Madness, NCAA Honors Celebration, NCAA Silver Anniversary Award, NCAA Top VIII Award, O'Connell Center, Oklahoma Sooners, Pam Tebow, SEC, Super Bowl, swimming, tennis, Tim Tebow, track & field, Vernon Macklin

With the shock of the resignation of Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer still ringing through the ears of Gator Nation, one of the major questions arising is a simple one: “Who will replace him?” OGGOA has complied a list of the most likely and most rumored candidates that could replace Meyer:

Check out the full list of potential replacements after the jump!!!
Continue Reading » Who will replace Urban Meyer as head coach?

Tags: Arkansas Razorbacks, Bob Stoops, Bobby Petrino, Boise State Broncos, Bowling Green Falcons, Bronco Mendenhall, BYU Cougars, Charlie Strong, Chicago Bears, CHris Petersen, Dallas Cowboys, Dan Mullen, Denver Broncos, Gary Patterson, Houston Cougars, Jeremy Foley, Kevin Sumlin, Kyle Whittingham, Louisville Cardinals, Mike Shanahan, Mississippi State Bulldogs, NFL, Oklahoma Sooners, TCU Horned Frogs, Urban Meyer, Utah Utes, Washington Redskins