Pat Dooley’s Back Nine: 9-3 Record Gets Florida In College Football Playoff

The Back Nine comes at you after a great weekend that led right into the peak of Talking Season – SEC Media Days.

10. There will be a lot of talking, too, with 16 different coaches and 48 different players on hand at the Dallas Omni Hotel (if you ever get there, the Omni has one of the best sports bars I’ve enjoyed). Here is how I think the media will pick the order of finish – Georgia, Texas, Missouri, Alabama, Tennessee. Florida, which takes center stage Wednesday, will be picked eighth or so, but I wish it would even be lower, because this team is looking for chips to rally around.

11. You know, one thing that will be discussed out there this week will be the new playoff system, which is going to be the buzz come October. First, we have to see how many teams eliminate themselves before the end of September. Hopefully, Florida is not one of them. I’ve said this before that the Gators can and likely will make the playoffs with a 9-3 record, because even if the Gators lost at Texas, at FSU and to Georgia (for example’s sake) they would have beaten Miami, Kentucky, Texas A&M, LSU, Ole Miss and Tennessee in Knoxville. Switch any of those out and 9-3 is still 9-3 with the No. 1 strength of schedule.

12. Certainly, one thing we were looking forward to here was the Major League Baseball Draft and we were certainly happy to see Jac Caglianone picked sixth by Kansas City. Now, the Royals have to figure out what to do with him. They want to give him a chance to do both like Shohei Ohtani and I can’t imagine why you would not. Cags is ready to start his next chapter, but I am going to want to go back and re-read the one from his time at Florida multiple times.

13. Because as popular as many former Gators were (like Brad Wilkerson, Mike Zunino, Matt LaPorta, Brady Singer), nobody has approached his level of popularity in Florida baseball. It was nearing Timmy Tebow levels and they are just going to fall in love with him in KC.

14. The best thing about the draft was that college players I had heard of made up almost all of the first half of the picks. Let me ask this question – is that because college coaching has been so much better or is this more about the portal and NIL giving the best players more opportunities and squashing the high school hopes and dreams? I’m sure we will answer those questions on The Tailgate today.

15. By the way, that is 14 first-round picks for Kevin O’Sullivan and three years in a row with at least one. It will be interesting to see where the other Gators go today and Tuesday.

16. I missed the end of the Scottish Open, because they kept showing three swings and then seven commercials. So, I went and played instead. And I missed a great ending with Robert McIntyre getting a huge break on 16 and taking advantage of it. Poor Adam Scott. Can’t win for losing. And why can’t Rory McIlroy finish?

17. These questions and more will be answered this weekend at the British Open. It’s the final major of the year and I will be one of those people who gets up early to watch it. In the old days, we would have a final round British Open party, but that was when I wore a younger man’s clothes. I am picking Collin Morikawa to win this week and Rory to be in the hunt but fade at the end.

18. I actually hit some balls at Turkey Creek this weekend and I never practice. I also worked on this playlist:

• Little Steven turned me onto this group on his Underground Garage (and, by the way, the Disciple documentary about Van Zandt is a must-watch). “Jungle” by the Cocktail Slippers.
• “The Year I Was Born” by Jesse Malin.

• And for an old one, “The Girl With No Name” by The Byrds.

WRUF.com sports columnist Pat Dooley can be heard on “The Tailgate” along with Jeff Cardozo from 4-6 p.m. Monday-Friday on 98.1-FM/AM-850 WRUF.