1 » After a huge upset win over the No. 17 Tennessee Volunteers last Tuesday, the Florida Gators looked to be squarely in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. A few days later, the Gators found themselves back on the bubble falling to the Georgia Bulldogs on the road. ESPN’s Mark Schlabach looks at what happened and what the team needs to do from this point forward.

2 » Four former Florida golfers were at the top of the leaderboard going into the final round of the PGA’s Waste Management Phoenix Open on Sunday. Mark Calcavecchia, Matt Every, Camilo Villegas and Chris Couch were all in the hunt for the tournament title, but each wound up falling short in the end. Couch finished T4 (-13), Villegas was T8 (-11) with Every and Calcavecchia shot a final-day 74 to fall to T43 (-7).

Four more BITS on Brantley, Brown, tennis and baseball…after the break!
Continue Reading » SIX BITS: NCAA bubble, PGA, Brantley, Brown

Tags: Allie Will, baseball, Camilo Villegas, Central Florida Knights, Chris Couch, Duke Blue Devils, Freshman of the Week, Georgia Bulldogs, golf, Hudson Randal, John Brantley, Lauren Embree, Linder Stadium, Mack Brown, Mark Calcavecchia, Marrit Boonstra, Matt Every, Mike Pouncey, NCAA Tournament, PGA, Ring Tennis Complex, SEC, Tennessee Volunteers, tennis, Trey Burton

1 » In case you missed the game or just wish to see it again, check out Florida Gators junior forward Chandler Parsons with a ridiculous one-handed alley-oop dunk against the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday. Parsons’ play was so impressive that it was named by ESPN as one of the top plays of the month!

2 » Here is a video OGGOA forgot to post from Friday featuring New York Knicks forward/center David Lee driving for a game-winner against the Washington Wizards.

Tags: Chandler Parsons, David Lee, Georgia Bulldogs, New York Knicks

Down 15 at halftime, a win looked nearly impossible for the Florida Gators on the road against the Georgia Bulldogs at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, GA. After a few major runs, Florida found themselves down only two with the ball in their hands and 13.3 seconds remaining on the clock. A botched final play devastated Gator Nation as the Gators (20-9, 9-5 SEC) fell 78-76 to the hometown Bulldogs (13-14, 5-9 SEC).

Florida started hot from beyond the arc, going 5-for-7 to start the game. However, they were unable to hit anything from inside the three-point line, with the team’s first field goal in nine attempts coming on a layup by junior forward Chandler Parsons at the 12:19 mark in the first half. Georgia exploded on a 14-0 run to go up 29-17 before the Gators responded with an 8-0 run of their own to bring the deficit down to four. It took a half-ending 14-2 run by the Bulldogs to put them up a game-high 45-30 going into the locker rooms.

Read the rest of OGGOA’s Florida at Georgia game story after the break!
Continue Reading » Florida fights back, falls to Georgia 78-76 on road

Tags: Alex Tyus, Billy Donovan, Chandler Parsons, Dan Werner, Erving Walker, Gator Nation, Georgia Bulldogs, Kenny Boynton, NCAA Tournament, Stegeman Coliseum, Trey Tompkins, Vernon Macklin

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 » Led by a strong effort from seniors guard Steffi Sorensen and forward Sharielle Smith, the Florida Gators women’s basketball team (14-13, 7-7 SEC) achieved a 64-57 upset over the No. 20 Georgia Bulldogs (20-7, 7-7 SEC) in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on Sunday. Sorensen and Smith combined for 31 points and 14 rebounds as the Gators earned their first victory against a ranked opponent in more than a year.

2 » No. 7 men’s tennis (7-2) continued its terrific play this season, taking down the South Florida Bulls (3-5) 6-1 on Sunday at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex. The No. 10-ranked doubles duo of redshirt senior Antoine Benneteau and junior Alexandre Lacroix won its 20th match of 2009-10 with an 8-2 victory. Lacroix, ranked No. 17 as a singles competitor, took down No. 91 Jamal Adderley, 6-2, 6-4 for his 11th win against a ranked opponent this season.

3 » Chicago White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski is one of the most famous Gators fans in professional sports. From attending games to razzing teammates who are fans of opposing teams, Pierzynski is not shy about his Florida pride. That includes wearing orange and blue shoes around MLB camp last week, according to the Chicago Tribune.

4 » The Gators want three-star tight end Michael McFarland (Tampa, FL) to gain weight. His high school basketball team? Not so much. “They want me to put 10 to 15 pounds of solid muscle on before I get there,” McFarland told the St. Petersburg Times. “I want to start [working out] so bad.” McFarland, at 6’6” 240 lbs., is his team’s starting center and has two weeks to go before he can begin Florida’s workout routines.

Extra BIT » High school junior Lindsey Cooper, the younger sister of former Gators wide receiver Riley Cooper, recently made unofficial visits to Florida and Florida State as she decides where to attend college on a soccer scholarship. A standout at Clearwater Central Catholic High School, Cooper hopes to sprint for a university’s track and field team as well.

Tags: A.J. Pierzynski, Alexandre Lacroix, Antoine Benneteau, Chicago White Sox, Georgia Bulldogs, Jamal Adderley, Linder Stadium, Lindsey Cooper, Michael McFarland, MLB, O'Connell Center, Riley Cooper, Ring Tennis Complex, Sharielle Smith, South Florida Bulls, Steffi Sorensen, tennis, women's basketball

Competing for four days in the Gabrielsen Natatorium at the University of Georgia, the No. 6 Florida Gators men’s and No. 7 women’s swimming and diving teams each finished in second place at the 2010 Southeastern Conference Championships. On the men’s side, the Auburn Tigers took first place by only 19 points (784-765), while the Georgia Bulldogs finished ahead of the Florida women by a larger margin (824.5-698).

Men’s coach Gregg Troy and women’s coach Donnie Craine led the Gators’ efforts all season long, bringing home recognition for themselves while assisting numerous student-athletes in reaching accolades of their own. The men’s and women’s teams combined for 14 SEC Championship titles (six and eight, respectively), two SEC records and six school records. Florida also earned 18 NCAA automatic qualifying marks/times.

2010 Florida SEC Awards
SEC Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year – Gregg Troy
SEC Women’s Diving Coach of the Year – Donnie Craine
SEC Men’s Swimmer of the Year – Conor Dwyer
SEC Women’s Swimmer of the Year – Gemma Spofforth
SEC Women’s Diver of the Year – Kara Salamone
Commissioner’s Trophy, High Point Award (Men’s) – Conor Dwyer, Shaune Fraser
Commissioner’s Trophy, High Point Award (Women’s) – Gemma Spofforth

Check out Florida’s numerous new SEC titles, SEC records, school records, NCAA qualifiers and more after the break!
Continue Reading » Swimming finishes second at SEC Championships

Tags: Auburn Tigers, Brett Fraser, Coach of the Year, Commissioner's Trophy, Conor Dwyer, Diver of the Year, diving, Donnie Craine, Gabrielsen Natatorium, Gemma Spofforth, Georgia Bulldogs, Gregg Troy, High Point Award, Jemma Lowe, Kara Salamone, Marco Loughran, NCAA, Roberto Gomez, Sarah Bateman, Sebastien Rousseau, SEC Championship, Shara Stafford, Shaune Fraser, Stephanie Napier, Swimmer of the Year, swimming, Teresa Crippen, University of Georgia