SIX BITS: Nelson, Cunningham, softball, lax, UK

1 » On Feb. 1, OGGOA reported that former Florida Gators safety Reggie Nelson could be cut by the Jacksonville Jaguars if he does not show significant improvement by the time training camp concludes. Nelson owned up to ESPN about his issues in 2009 and has figured out why they occurred. “I had mistakes last year, I did,” he said. “I’ve watched film since I’ve been here in February and I can own up and say, ‘Yes, I did blow some coverages. Yes, I did miss tackles.’ That’s something I’ve looked at. I have to correct them. You’ve got to look at it: I played safety, corner, nickel, so many different positions. Most players would be like, ‘Oh, no, I’m not doing that, y’all drafted me for this.’ That’s not me, I want to win. I took that challenge, I played corner, I played nickel. I am a competitive guy. […] They made their decision and I’ve got to live with it.” Nelson also said he will not do the same thing in 2010 – if it is up to him. “The way things happened last year, I don’t think I’d do it,” he said. “I will not do it. I tried that last year. It didn’t work. I don’t think it was fair to me. I would not go back. You live and you lean. It’s their decision, regardless. The only thing I can do is show up and play football.”

2 » The New England Patriots want former Florida defensive end Jermaine Cunningham to replace recently released outside linebacker Adalius Thomas – this much is known. How he will progress in the transition remains to be seen, but head coach Bill Belichick is just as confident as Cunningham is in himself. “It’s all football. I’m a football player,” Cunningham said. “I’m going to study the playbooks and just do whatever it takes to get better, and keep on getting better. […] I’m a hard worker and fundamental technician. […] Left or right, just get to the ball.” For what its worth, Cunningham has also taken to giving a name to the influx of former Gators with the Patriots – “Gator Nation North,” he calls it.

Four more BITS on softball, lacrosse, baseball and Kentucky basketball posting the lowest average GPA in the SEC…after the break!

3 » A planned three-game weekend series ended up one-day doubleheader with No. 5/6 Florida softball (37-7, 17-4 SEC) sweeping the Mississippi State Bulldogs (26-26, 7-17 SEC) 8-0 and 9-1 on Saturday afternoon at MSU Softball Field in Starkville, MS. Starting pitchers junior Stephanie Brombacher (25-5) and freshman Ensley Gammel (11-2) won the respective contests; Brombacher tossed a shutout, while Gammel tied a career-high with nine strikeouts.

4 » Completing their inaugural regular season, Gators lacrosse (9-7, 1-4 ALC) fell 19-5 to the five-time defending National Champion No. 2 Northwestern Wildcats (15-2, 5-0 ALC) Sunday afternoon at Lakeside Field in Evanston, IL. Freshman attacker Janine Hillier scored two goals, while freshman goalkeeper Cara Canington grabbed a career-high 11 saves in the net. Florida (No. 6 seed) will now compete in its first ALC Tournament with action beginning on Thursday when they take on No. 3-seed Johns Hopkins in opening round action.

5 » In a story that should not come as a surprise to any college basketball fan, head coach John Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats posted a Southeastern Conference-low 2.025 GPA for the Fall 2009 semester. The lowest GPA the program has achieved in the last seven-and-a-half years, it was almost a full point below the Gators’ SEC-high 2.96 GPA. “I was disappointed,” Kentucky president Lee T. Todd, Jr. told the Lexington Herald-Leader. “It’s not something we’re happy with, I’ll tell you that,” senior associate athletic director in charge of student services Sandy Bell added. “And we’ll be working on it to get it up. We certainly anticipate that going up in the spring [semester].” Only two players on the Wildcats had GPAs above 3.0 with four at 2.0 or below. Two freshman on the team posted 1.667 and 1.765 GPAs, respectively.

6 » Florida freshman shortstop Nolan Fontana has been invited to the 2010 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Trials, according to the University of Florida. He will be competing for a spot on the 22-man roster that will be selected after tryouts occur from July 5-11 at the National Training Complex in Cary, NC.