Pat Dooley’s Back Nine: Florida Needs To Be Wary Of SEC-Winless South Carolina

The Back Nine comes at you with a little bit of a meat hangover after being one of the judges at a ribs contest at Sweat Meats in High Springs. I know you are supposed to take one bite of each rib, but they were so good I couldn’t help myself.

10. So, I need to get to the gym. It was a wonderful time out there as they were raising funds for The Amanda Ranch. Billy Hinson, a former member of the Great Wall on Florida’s 1984 team, is the director of the haven in New Mexico for people who have been through a terrible loss and it’s always great talking to him and all of the people who also had a chili contest (yes, I did sample them all). And we beat the rain home just in time to see the Gators roll over Texas late and see all of the NFL games.

11. And I will start with those NFL games, because I could not be happier for Dan Quinn. You lose a 28-3 Super Bowl lead and you’re branded for life. Instead, Quinn has had that brand removed and has the Washington Commanders – 4-13 a year ago – one win away from the Super Bowl. There are four things you have to have to be successful in the NFL – a good owner, a good general manager, a good coach and a good quarterback. The Commanders now have all four and it has been a long time.

12. Which means Dallas is on the clock with the longest streak of not playing in an NFC title game. Hee-hee. I have to say I was pretty happy with all of the results, because two snow games Sunday were cool and close games all around.

13. Back to Gator basketball, I was a little nervous when Florida started 1-for-10 Saturday and it was a struggle to get it going. But in the second half the Gators shot 58 percent from the field and finished on a 23-6 run. That’s what we were looking to see Tuesday, but it never came. And Missouri may just be better than we thought (now up to 24^th in the NET Rankings). As much as we talked about the SEC cannibalizing itself during conference play the way the league did in football, it’s different in basketball because once you establish your non-conference resume, you really have to tank to make a lot of negative movement.

14. Or you could just lose every game. So far, South Carolina (10-8, 0-5 SEC) has done that as last year’s great story has become this year’s flop. The Gators (16-2, 3-2) play at Columbia on Wednesday night. There are only four Power 4 teams without a conference win and as good as the SEC has been, the league has two of them. Arkansas, coached by John Calipari, is the other one. Miami, which isn’t even trying any more, and Colorado are the other two Power 4 teams.

15. Florida set its spring football game for April 12 and I didn’t have to look it up. Yes, that is Moving Day at The Masters. With expanded TV coverage this year. Sigh. Hey, the tournament doesn’t start until the back nine on Sunday, right? I will say that this could be a spring game with an incredible crowd, because of the positive finish and new faces coming in.

16. Another break-even weekend for Dr. Football on The NFL Picks, but it’s better than losing. In my pretend world, there is no vigorish. On to the conference finals:

• The Eaglets opened as a 6.5-point favorite, but it has already seen some money come in on the Commanders, so it dropped a point. I think the home team covers unless Jalen Hurts is still banged up. But the betting window does not allow for contingencies.
• The Chiefs are a mere 1.5-point favorites against the Bills and I think this is finally the year all of you haters get your moment in the sun and the Bills win outright. Of course, I also thought this was the year Lamar Jackson got over the hump and then he has two turnovers and Mark Andrews drops that ball. Arrgghh!

17. I really enjoyed watching the gymnastics meet at LSU on Friday night after attending the Urban Meyer festivities at Spurrier’s. Florida lost by a tenth of a point and that is kind of the pattern in those meets between the two dynamic programs. The margin is always razor thin. It’s going to be a fun season.

18. OK, so maybe you didn’t like my top-10 groups, but maybe you will like this latest playlist:

• “Heavy Metal Drummer” by Wilco.
• “Slip Away” by Perfume Genius.
• And for an old one, “Wear Your Love Like Heaven” by Donovan.

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.