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The Back Nine comes at you with Final Four Fever and the only cure for it is more cowbell. I’m sure they can be found in San Antonio.
10. There are always heroes in the NCAA Tournament and while Cooper Flagg may be the most famous player still playing, I’m good with the guys Florida has. My gosh, whatever you take from these Gators, they figure out a way to get it done. You take Walter Clayton Jr. away and someone else comes through and then Walt throws you the daggers late. You play physically and the Gators outscore you from the line by 18 points. You send them to the West Coast and they have a plan for “grounding” and sightseeing instead of complaining about jet lag. This team has been simply amazing this season and I feel privileged to have watched the Gator Boys play.
11. When Robbie Andreu mentioned on Another Dooley Noted Podcast that Clayton is in the argument for the best player in Florida history, I told him to pump the brakes. Let’s see what happens in San Francisco, I said. Now, I’m willing to put him ahead of Neal Walk, Al Horford, Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem. In the seven straight tournament games (including the SEC Tourney) that Florida has won, Clayton has 151 points and 25 assists. I like to talk about the clutch gene and the great thing is that Walt isn’t the only person to have it on this team.
12. Now, the Gators get ready for a familiar foe in Auburn. Johni Broome has almost a full week to get his elbow fixed and it is going to be a battle. We all know what happened in the regular season and it has little to do with right now. Remember Auburn lost three of its last four games before the Big Dance and coach Bruce Pearl appeared to be dismissive when a reporter asked him about it in Nashville. He knew this team was built for a long run in the tournament. Florida is a 2.5-point favorite while Duke is favored by 4.5 against Houston, as the No. 1 seeds battle in the Final Four for only the second time in history.
13. So, to nobody’s surprise, coach Kevin Willard dumped on Maryland and took the Villanova job. He was public about the lack of NIL opportunities for his team, so he took his ball and went home. Don’t hate on these kids holding schools hostage for better deals when the head of the snake will do it without hesitation.
14. Well, the good news is that Florida finally won an SEC baseball game. The bad news is that the Gators could have easily won two of three, but the pitching continues to be an issue. The team ERA is now at a softball-like 5.71. This league will chew up freshmen and spit them out the window like used tobacco. The best thing about the weekend was that Liam Peterson was able to go and – while he didn’t pitch particularly well – he ate up some innings.
15. Speaking of comebacks, it was great to see Keagan Rothrock back in the circle for the Gators. She was out more than a month because of a relapse of compartment syndrome, which is a very painful ailment that causes increased pressure within the muscles. Rothrock was excellent on Saturday, as the Gators swept Auburn on the Plains. Next up for the ladies, who are 33-5 this season, is a road trip to that school out west and then a home series with Arkansas. By the way, the once-proud War Eagles are 0-12 in the SEC this season and have a catcher who has the yips and can’t throw the ball back to the pitcher.
16. Josh Liendo put on a show at the NCAA Championships winning the 100 free and 100 fly and also being part of a winning relay team. Florida ended up finishing fourth, another top-5 finish for coach Anthony Nesty.
17. And let us not forget that the ladies are still playing basketball. Kelly Rae Finley’s team takes on Minnesota today at 5 p.m. in the WBIT semifinals and you have to think the extra practices and games are going to help this young team. It’s also cool that they are playing in Hinkle Fieldhouse where they filmed Hoosiers.
18. I finally was able to play a little golf this weekend, which meant I had to have a great playlist:
- “Bang Bang Bang” by Sports Team.
- “Laredo” by Leon Bridges.
- And for an old one, “Stupid Girl” By Garbage. Hey, it is 30 years old.
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.
