Pat Dooley’s Back Nine: Florida Athletics Shows Out On Weekend

The Back Nine comes at you after a big weekend for Gators sports and a happy Valentine’s Day … for me anyway.

10. It was pretty spectacular this weekend with so much going on. Sometimes I don’t know how the UAA handles a weekend with baseball, softball, lacrosse, basketball, women’s basketball, golf, gymnastics and tennis all happening. It would have been nice for the Parking Enforcement not to hand out parking tickets Saturday for people desperate to find a spot, but because I had free baseball tickets I broke even. Actually no, because we had a few Head Beer Coach refreshments. Anyway, if you like sports, this weekend was a smorgasbord. If you don’t, the weather until Sunday was perfect for any activity.

11. Let’s start with all of the emotions of basketball Saturday night with the return of Micah Handlogten and Florida earlier in the day finding out that the COMMITTEE has the Gators as the fourth No. 1 seed. That’s a ranking that matters … and yet it still does not because we have a long way to go. But the big story of Saturday night was Handlogten’s return (not to mention Alijah Martin’s). In almost 20 minutes, the big guy had two points, four rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks. Dang, dude, that’s not a bad line for a guy who was supposed to redshirt this year.

 12. Not only did Florida win with a huge second half, but any Gator who watched Auburn beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa was saying to himself or herself, “How did we blow out Auburn in Auburn?” Well, because these Gators are really good, deep and connected, playing for the team and the coach, and one of the top teams in the nation. The way Thomas Haugh and Denzel Aberdeen are performing, it will be interesting when we get to All-SEC time because there are about 20 players in this league who deserve to make one of the teams.

13. I know that Joe Lunardi at one point this weekend had 14 teams getting into the tournament, but I am keeping my over/under line at 11.5. We’re not far away from making that a Leonardo’s Quick Pick on Another Dooley Noted Podcast, but I digress. Oklahoma comes in here Tuesday night badly needing a big win. The Sooners are 45 in KenPom and 52 in the NET. Georgia has a 39 NET, but the end of the schedule is rough. Texas rallied for a big win Saturday night to possibly be the 10^thteam in, but there are only 37 at-large spots available and the non-SEC Tournament champs will take up at least nine. It will be interesting, and the SEC Tournament in Nashville is going to be a bear.

14. Let us move along to baseball and the Gator pitching was awesome this weekend (31 strikeouts). I went to two games and the atmosphere was great. I’m not sure how good Air Force is, but the best thing I saw Friday night was the cadets lining up and saluting during the national anthem. That, and Brody Donay hitting .700 with three homers. The midweeks are here with a game in Jax on Tuesday and a home game against FAMU on Wednesday.

15. Florida’s final softball game in its own tournament did not go well when two errors helped Duke to an 8-1 win. Duke is really good, a top-15 team, but Florida was plowing through teams like they were not there before this stop sign. Still, the mighty Gators are at 13-1 and have a game at UNF on Wednesday before heading to Tempe, Ariz., for another tournament. Taylor Schumaker, a freshman from California, is hitting .475 with eight homers already.

16. After having a real bad beam performance in a loss at Arkansas last week, the Florida gymnastics team turned to its leader and Leanne Wong came through with a perfect 10. Sloan Blakely also had a 10 on floor and the Gators handled Auburn easily. Next up, a road trip to No. 1 Oklahoma on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. Friday. Memo to self: that won’t be easy.

17. A tip of the visor to the Gator golf team for winning the Gator Invitational in a tight battle against Oklahoma State and the weather. Ian Gilligan made an all-world par at 18 to make a playoff and then won it in the rain. “We’ve got a really good team,” UF coach J.C. Deacon said. “I’ve been doing this long enough now to know what a good team looks like. We just hadn’t put all five guys playing well at the same time together.”

18. Despite the inclement weather Sunday, I did sneak in nine holes this weekend and this was a big part of my playlist:

• “Give It Time” by Goose.
• “See You Through My Eyes” by The Head and the Heart.
• And for an old one, a beauty by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers from Hard Promises – “Letting You Go.” Yep, another one from my guy.

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.