TWO BITS: Bailey and Anthony, SEC schedules

1 » Four-star wide receiver singee Alvin Bailey (Seffner, FL) may not be on campus yet, but he is still receiving Florida Gators-caliber training this offseason. Bailey has been working with former Florida pass catcher Reidel Anthony (career totals of 2,274 yards and 26 touchdowns) over the last year to improve his game and get ready for the next level. The Gainesville Sun caught up with Bailey and Anthony recently to see how the arrangement is working out. “It’s great to have a mentor like Reidel to put me in the receiver mentality,” he said. “He has a lot to teach me and there’s so much stuff he knows that I don’t. I’m just taking it all in.” Anthony, who compared Bailey to a young Ike Hilliard because of his size and athleticism, is equally excited for the opportunity to play the role of teacher. “He’s really enjoying what we’re doing with him,” he said. “He’s soaking it up. He takes everything in and he’s willing to learn. He will go out and do whatever we ask him to do.” Bailey should be enrolled at Florida in June and will join the football team for summer practices.

2 » The Southeastern Conference Spring Meetings are currently taking place in Destin, FL, and as usual the annual event is being dominated by one topic in particular. This year, the focus is on the SEC’s schedule and whether the league will (a) adopt a nine-game conference schedule, (b) move to a 6-2 format instead of the current 6-1-1 format, or (c) keep the status quo in either or both areas. While a nine-game league slate is unlikely to be approved at this time (as is a switch to a 6-2 format with two opposite-division games rotating each year), the latter has been a more notable topic as it pertains to the Gators. LSU head coach Les Miles continues to pine for the change to 6-2, passionately explaining that he has to play Florida every year while Alabama (for example) gets an easier annual opponent in Tennessee.

Despite Miles’s continued protests, votes will likely be cast to keep the permanent rivalries (if a vote is even held in the first place) with UF still unfazed about facing LSU on a yearly basis. “We’re fine with it,” Gators athletic director Jeremy Foley told CBSSports.com. “I understand where Les Miles is coming [from] and I appreciate LSU’s point of view. But we think it’s a great game for us and a great game for college football. Yeah, it’s a tough game but we’ve got a lot of tough games in the SEC.”