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

Location: Thompson-Boiling Arena – Knoxville, TN [Capacity: 21,000]
Time: 1:00 p.m. (EST)

TV: CBS/CBSHD
Online: CBSSports.com

Odds: Tennessee -8, O/U 141

KEEP AN EYE ON…
-The dynamic backcourt of…sophomore point guard Erving Walker and freshman guard Kenny Boynton who are averaging 37.2 points (almost half of the team’s 75.3 total points) and 8.7 assists per game in SEC play this season.
- Speaking of Walker and Boynton…they have hit 39 of the Gators’ 45 treys in SEC play, and Walker is shooting 62.2 percent (23-of-37) from downtown in conference action.
- Junior forward Alex Tyus…who is dominating the front court, averaging 14.9 points and 7.5 rebounds over the last 11 contests. He has hit double figures in 11 straight games and scored 15+ in six of those ten.
- Double-digit scoring by Vernon Macklin…Florida is 10-1 when the redshirt junior transfer center does so.
- Buzzer-beaters from Chandler Parsons…the junior forward has hit two game-winning three-pointers in January. He is also averaging 10.6 points and 6.5 boards per contest.
- Senior center Wayne Chism…who leads the Volunteers in rebounding (6.9) and blocks (1.4). He also accounts for a solid 11.8 points per game.
- Sophomore guard Scotty Hopson…who is tops on Tennessee in scoring with 13.8 points per game.

STREAKS:
- Tennessee leads the all-time series 68-48, winning 10 of the last 13 meetings.
- Last season, the Volunteers swept the series; they have won the last five meetings against the Gators (since 2007).
- Florida has not won in Knoxville since 2005, and head coach Billy Donovan is 12-14 against Tennessee.
- The Gators are on a four-game winning streak, their longest in SEC play since 2007.
- Allowing 95 and 89 points to its first to SEC opponents, the Gators have held teams to 62.8 points per game during their four-game winning streak. Florida is 10-1 this season when holding opponents to 60 points or less and 120-2 all-time under Donovan.
- The Gators are out-rebounding their opponents by 5.2 boards during their four-game winning streak.
- Tennessee defeated then-No. 1 Kansas earlier in the season and also has a quality win over rival Memphis.
- As a team, the Volunteers are forcing 19.1 turnovers per game, averaging 78.7 points per game and hitting 47.1 percent from the floor.

Read OGGOA’s Gators vs. No. 14 Volunteers preview after the jump!
Continue Reading » Florida Gators vs. No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers

Tags: Adam Allen, Alex Tyus, Billy Donovan, Brian Williams, Bruce Pearl, Cameron Tatum, Chandler Parsons, Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, Kenny Kadji, Melvin Goins, Ray Shipman, Scotty Hopson, Tennessee Volunteers, Tyler Smith, Wayne Chism

1 » Surprising news out of Washington Friday afternoon had the Seattle Seahawks firing head coach Jim Mora after only one year on the job. Chris Mortensen of ESPN has followed up that report with a more startling one: USC Trojans head coach Pete Carroll is the team’s target and a deal is “expected to happen.” Carroll’s Trojans recently experienced their worst season under his leadership since his first, when the team went 6-6 in 2001. Carroll would like bring some staff if he is hired by the Seahawks.

Florida Gators impact: Florida was competing with USC predominantly for five-star defensive end Ronald Powell (Moreno Valley, CA). Powell was already expected to commit to the Gators, but Carroll leaving the program (should it happen) would make Powell’s decision even easier. Other five-star recruits who could take an extra look at Florida if this move occurs include: OT Senatrel Henderson (St. Paul, MN), DE Jackson Jeffcoat (Plano, TX) and DE Owamagbe Odighizuwa (Portland OR), etc.

2 » Tennessee Volunteers head basketball coach Bruce Pearl has dismissed senior forward Tyler Smith from the team, just one week after he and three teammates (guard Cameron Tatum, center Brian Williams and point guard Melvin Goins) were arrested on misdemeanor gun and drug charges. The remaining three players remain indefinitely suspended, and the No. 16/15 Volunteers will be without them on Sunday when they take on the No. 1/1 Kansas Jayhawks.

Tags: Brian Williams, Bruce Pearl, Cameron Tatum, Jackson Jeffcoat, Jim Mora, Melvin Goins, Owamagbe Odighizuwa, Pete Carroll, Ronald Powell, Seattle Seahawks, Senatrel Henderson, Tennessee Volunteers, Tyler Smith, USC Trojans

1 » Redshirt freshman wide receiver Andre Debose was supposed to play a big role in the Florida Gators offense this past season. However, after injuring his hamstring while running the track and undergoing season-ending surgery, Debose received his medical redshirt and has been rehabbing ever since. According to Jeremy Fowler of the Orlando Sentinel, Debose is running in the pool and his rehab is coming along quite well. “I’m happy with my results so far,” he said. “They’ve been positive.”

2 » Fowler also spoke with Nicki Meyer, head coach Urban Meyer’s 19-year-old daughter, about her father’s health and future. Nicki spoke in-depth about the Christmas conversation her father had about stepping down as well as what the family hopes to accomplish with his time off. “I just want my dad to be healthy,” Nicki said. “I want his heart to be OK. I want his anxiety level to go low. I want him to enjoy [coaching] again like he used to. The fact that he’s going to pull himself together again, that means so much to me. He needs to learn not to put everything on himself all the time. It’s a loss, he would take it as himself. He’d say, ‘That’s my fault.’ If a player gets in trouble, he thinks, ‘That’s my fault.’ We don’t want him to completely close the door on coaching, because that’s what he loves. We know he’s good at it, obviously. He’s so young. If he can come back and get healthy and start coaching again, we want him to do it. We want him to stay healthy. He needs to be around football, and we know that.”

3 » Now that the 2009 season is over, Meyer will be meeting with his coaching staff to work on a few issues before taking his official leave of absence for (at least) the summer. Among the issues will be replacing defensive coordinator Charlie Strong (probably cornerbacks coach Vance Bedford, too) and finishing up recruiting before National Signing Day in a month’s time. “I’m going to do everything I can to keep this train going in the right direction,” Meyer said. “That will all be discussed in the next few days.”

4 » Catching up on a story that OGGOA purposely skipped over during the week, Tennessee Volunteers senior forward Tyler Smith, junior center Brian Williams, junior point guard Melvin Goins and sophomore guard Cameron Tatum are all facing misdemeanor drug, gun and alcohol charges after being stopped on Friday by Knoxville, TN, police for speeding. Head coach Bruce Pearl has suspended all four players indefinitely and has said that dismissal is an option depending on what information is revealed about the incident. “This is tough,” Pearl said. “This is so hard because we’ve worked so hard to try to do the right things.”

Tags: Andre Debose, Brian Williams, Bruce Pearl, Cameron Tatum, Charlie Strong, Melvin Goins, National Signing Day, Nicki Meyer, Tennessee Volunteers, Tyler Smith, Urban Meyer, Vance Bedford