Gators Back in the Top 10 of Both Polls

The University of Florida men’s basketball team is ranked in top-10 of the most recent AP Poll and USA Today’s Coaches Poll following victories against Georgia and LSU. The team is ranked ninth in the coaches’ poll for the third-consecutive week and moved up one spot from last week to No. 10 in the AP Poll.

The Gators will take on the two newest members of the SEC, Texas A&M and No. 17/16 Missouri, this week. UF will travel to College Station, Texas on Thursday, January 17, before they host nationally-ranked Missouri on Saturday, January 19 in the O’Connell Center.                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Associated Press Poll
Rank	Team	Record	Points
1	Louisville (36)	15-1	1,591
2	Indiana (13)	15-1	1,527
3	Duke (14)	15-1	1,501
4	Kansas (1)	14-1	1,416
5	Michigan (1)	16-1	1,415
6	Syracuse	16-1	1,284
7	Arizona	15-1	1,205
8	Gonzaga	16-1	1,141
9	Minnesota	15-2	1,041
10	Florida	12-2	1,019
11	Ohio State	13-3	939
12	Creighton	16-1	896
13	Butler	14-2	855
14	North Carolina St.	14-2	836
15	San Diego State	14-2	704
16	Kansas State	13-2	670
17	Missouri	12-3	598
18	Michigan State	14-3	426
19	New Mexico	15-2	368
20	Notre Dame	14-2	295
21	Oregon	14-2	238
22	VCU	14-3	212
23	Illinois	14-4	199
24	UCLA	14-3	185
25	Marquette	12-3	177

USA Today Coaches’ Poll
Rank	Team	Record	Points
1	Louisville (18)	15-1	753
2	Indiana (6)	15-1	718
3	Duke (7)	15-1	707
4	Kansas	14-1	680
5	Michigan	16-1	678
6	Syracuse	16-1	619
7	Arizona	15-1	574
8	Gonzaga	16-1	552
9	Florida	12-2	526
10	Creighton	16-1	489
11	Ohio State	13-3	436
12	Minnesota	15-2	433
13	Butler	14-2	370
14	San Diego State	14-2	366
15	North Carolina St.	14-2	321
16	Missouri	12-3	298
17	Michigan State	14-3	286
18	Kansas State	13-2	243
19	VCU	14-3	178
20	Notre Dame	14-2	155
21	New Mexico	15-2	147
22	Illinois	14-4	125
23	UNLV	14-3	109
24	Cincinnati	14-3	80
25	UCLA	14-3	38

Gators Blitz LSU to Move to 2-0 in SEC Play

The Florida Gators improved to 2-0 in SEC play with a convincing 74-52 over LSU at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center Saturday afternoon.

Kenny Boynton scored 20 points to lead the Gators (12-2, 2-0) and moved past former teammate Erving Walker and Udonis Haslem into third place on UF's all-time scoring list.

Patric Young had 14 points and 7 rebounds, Erik Murphy added 12 points and Will Yeguette 10 points and 13 rebounds for his third career double-double, as the Gators defeat LSU (9-4, 0-2) for the fourth straight year.

The win sets up an intriguing week ahead with SEC newcomers Texas A&M (who defeated Kentucky at Rupp Arena Saturday) and Missouri. Florida travels to College Station on Thursday night before hosting No. 10 Missouri on Saturday afternoon at the O'Connell Center in a possible top-10 showdown.

Florida drops SEC debut at LSU

The No. 3 Florida gymnastics team (1-1, 0-1 SEC) dropped its 2013 Southeastern Conference season opener Friday at No. 8 LSU (2-0, 1-0 SEC) in front of a Pete Maravich Assembly Center crowd of 4,074. The Gators turned in the same total as last week, 196.575, but LSU outscored them with a 196.875 to take the first win over the Gators in the last 10 meetings. Friday’s meet is the start of nine consecutive dual meets for Florida versus teams ranked in the nation’s preseason top 25.

Tonight’s meet will air tape-delayed on SUN Sports Jan. 19 at 5 p.m.

Going into the final rotation, the Gators held a 0.25 edge over the Tigers, but knew they needed a strong final rotation on balance beam to hold the lead as the Tigers were finishing on their top event. Last week in their season opener, the Tigers turned in the nation’s high event total of 49.525 on the floor exercise. Misses by freshman Bridget Sloan and senior All-American Marissa King forced Florida to count a fall toward its final beam total of 48.775. The Tigers didn’t go as big as last week on floor, posting a 49.325 Friday, but it gave them the final winning three-tenths margin.

The Gators last counted a fall in their beam total at the 2011 NCAA Championships.

Sophomore Kytra Hunter, making her first all-around appearance of the season, won that event title at 39.675. The total was just off her collegiate-best of 39.725 set when she claimed the 2012 NCAA all-around crown. For the evening, Hunter collected two other event titles. In her first vault performance of the season, Hunter used a team season-high 9.95 for the win. Hunter also is the defending NCAA vault champion and is the only Gator to win two NCAA event titles in a single season. She also matched her collegiate-best on the uneven bars at 9.90 for the second consecutive week to share that event crown with LSU’s Sarie Morrison.

Hunter quickly put off her individual performance, pointing to the team’s obvious learning opportunity from tonight’s performance.

“This has put a bad taste in our mouths and this is not the way we wanted to start our season,” Hunter said. “But it is a stepping stone and it needs to be a step that we learn from as we look toward the end of the season.”

“The team is definitely going to learn that no matter what is going on, we have to keep pushing. And no matter if we have a fall, bobble or anything, it is a little thing,” she continued. “We can fix it and it not the end of the world.”

Junior All-American Mackenzie Caquatto used a near flawless set to claim the balance beam title with a team-season high 9.95. Hunter was second on beam at 9.90.

The evening’s floor exercise crown went to LSU’s Lloiminica Hall at 9.95. Hunter was second at 9.925.

There is much to gain from this loss, Florida head coach Rhonda Faehn said

“Obviously tonight will be a very positive learning experience. Coming here, we knew that LSU is a talented team and against any team in the SEC, especially on the road, you really have to hit if you expect to walk away with a win. For us to finish up with two falls on beam - that isn’t going to get it done. 

“There were some definite high points at this competition and at the same time, there were things that were eye-opening moments for quite a few of the athletes. They need to learn from this and take this as a step to go back into the gym and make a few adjustments here and there and just get better from it.

“There were some excellent things like Macko’s (Mackenzie Caquatto) beam which was incredible. And Kytra (Hunter) was incredible everywhere. Overall we made mistakes that I think were from holding back and that’s what bothers me. I would rather have them make mistakes by going too hard and being aggressive.”

Other Gators with top three finishes Friday included senior All-American Ashanée Dickerson, who shared second on vault at 9.90. Junior All-American Alaina Johnson and Sloan shared third on bars at 9.85.

Bonds Leads Four Gators in Double-Figure Scoring in Win at Mississippi State, 61-55

Junior Jaterra Bonds (Gainesville, Fla.) scored 17 points and the Gator’s post players stepped up and helped Florida earn a 61-55 victory against Mississippi State at Humphrey Coliseum on Thursday evening.

Redshirt-sophomore Kayla Lewis (Decatur, Ga.) scored 12 points with nine rebounds, freshman Sydney Moss (Union, Ky) scored 10 points with nine boards and junior center Vicky McIntyre (Omaha, Neb.) contributed 10 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots for the Gators who earned their first Southeastern Conference road victory of the year.

It was a tight ballgame throughout with Florida’s largest lead of the contest was nine points twice, as the Bulldogs quickly answered both times.

With the Gators (13-4, 2-1 SEC) holding a 51-42 lead with 8:30 remaining, MSU ripped off a 10-0 run behind a pair of three-pointers from Kendra Grant, who finished with a game-high 23 points, and took a 52-51 lead with 4:30 remaining.

Bonds answered 25 seconds later with a driving layup through traffic and started a game-ending 10-3 run that included six points from the free throw line.

Throughout the game Florida would score on more consecutive possessions, however, the Gators had several of those from the free throw line and came away with one point.

MSU entered the game with a tendency of sending its opponent to the free throw line, with their previous two foes making a combined 75 trips.

Thursday’s game continued that trend, as Florida attempted 39 shots from the charity stripe and made 25, with eight different Gators finding their way to the line paced by Bonds, who converted 8-of-10.

“We had to play some great minutes down the stretch,” UF head coach Amanda Butler said. “We didn’t play a lot of great minutes early in the ballgame but down the stretch I thought we played our best basketball, very much the way we finished against LSU (on Sunday). I’m really proud of our composure and being able to close it out, especially on someone else’s floor with a couple of players on their team that were having fantastic nights.”

With Florida leading 57-55, Bonds was fouled with 57.8 seconds remaining, but came up with blood on her arm and needed to be subbed out. Freshman January Miller came in a made the first and missed the second, but Moss grabbed her eighth rebound of the game and the Gators maintained possession.

Moss dished to Carlie Needles, who was immediately fouled. Needles converted one of two and Florida held a 60-55 lead with 51.8 seconds remaining.

MSU missed its shot on its next offensive possession and Moss came away with the board, where she again found Needles, who hit one of two and the Gators held the 61-55 edge with 27 seconds left.

The Bulldogs (8-8, 0-3 SEC) were able to get off just one shot in the final seconds that went awry.

Florida committed 19 turnovers that MSU converted into 22 points, but held a commanding 47-30 rebounding advantage in the game.

McIntyre scored the first points of the second half and gave Florida a 32-25 lead and similar to the start of the game, the teams traded scores, with MSU within four points before the Gators scored four straight and took a 38-30 advantage.

It was the third double-figure scoring game of McIntyre’s Gator career, while Bonds tallied her 11^th of the season and 39^th of her career. Moss recorded her ninth double-figure scoring game and Lewis notched her eighth this year.

The Gators used their sixth different starting lineup of the year, having to replace All-American Jennifer George, who suffered a shoulder injury against LSU on Sunday. George, UF’s leading scorer and rebounder, played a limited role on Thursday.

Florida’s other post players rallied for George, who did play in spurts, as Kayla Lewis stepped up with seven points and four rebounds in the first half, Vicky McIntyre added four points and Christin Mercer chipped in three points and two rebounds.

Neither team shot the ball well to begin the game, as Florida made just one of its first four, but better than MSU’s 1-of-6 effort.

McIntyre, who got her second start of the year, scored the first field goal of the game before Bonds added two free throws. The teams traded scores for the next few minutes when both teams continued to struggle with their respective shots.

McIntyre’s second bucket of the game sparked a 7-0 run, as Lewis scored five straight points and Florida held an early 14-5 lead.

“I was really proud of the way Vicky played,” Butler praised. “She was a difference-maker tonight. She knew she had to be and really stepped up and made the plays we expected her to make. Those blocks were huge. Her rebounds were huge. It was a really, really good all-around game for Mac and a great confidence builder for her going forward.”

Mississippi State came right back with a 13-3 march and tied the score at 18-all with 6:31 remaining.

Mercer completed her fourth three-point play of the season during the run, as the Lady Bulldogs began to find their stroke.

During a four-minute span after Florida took an 18-13 lead, MSU hit 4-of-8 field goals and forced three of the Gator’s 11 first-half turnovers.

Bonds converted a pair of free throws, followed by one from Sydney Moss and another bucket from Lewis and Florida took a 23-18 lead with 5:13 remaining in the period.

MSU came right back with the next five points, getting the tying bucket off an inbounds play.

Florida then turned up its defensive pressure, as Moss collected a steal and dribble the length of the court for a layin. Bonds followed with nearly an identical sequence, before Needles drilled a three-pointer from the top of the arc and gave the Gators a 30-23 lead with 1:41 remaining.

MSU’s Carnecia Williams ended the scoring in the first half and Florida took the 30-25 lead entering the locker room.

The Gators return to the court on Sunday, Jan. 13, when they play host to No. 9 Tennessee in the O’Connell Center, where tip-off is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.

Gators dominate Georgia

Florida made a strong opening statement in its Southeastern Conference opener against Georgia.

Mike Rosario led four Florida scorers in double-figures with 19 points, lifting the No. 11 Gators (11-2) to a 77-44 win over Georgia (6-8) at the O'Connell Center.

Erik Murphy, playing through a broken rib, added 11 points off the bench for Florida. Patric Young scored 11 points and Casey Prather, making his first start of the season, had 10 points and 7 rebounds.

Prather scored UF's first six points during an 11-0 run to start the game. Florida led 28-15 at halftime and extended its lead to more than 30 in the second half. Even walk-on Jacob Kurtz got into the act, scoring five points in the closing minutes.

With the win, the Gators improved to 12-5 in Southeastern Conference openers under Billy Donovan.

Gymnastics opens up SEC schedule against No. 8 LSU

The third-ranked Florida gymnastics team opens its 2013 Southeastern Conference schedule with a dual meet against No. 8 LSU Friday night in Baton Rouge.

UF (1-0), the 2012 NCAA runner-up and SEC Champion, opened its regular season with an easy 196.575-190.550 win over visiting Ball State Friday in the O'Connell Center, but should get a good early-season test from the Tigers.

“Friday night's competition was really wonderful,” head coach Rhonda Faehn said. “It was our first meet back in the O-Dome, and we had so many new faces, especially with our freshmen getting out there and getting to see what it's like to compete in the O'Connell Center but also just to compete in collegiate gymnastics.

“We were able to evaluate film footage Sunday, and we definitely achieved what we were looking to for the first meet. We're excited to head to LSU this weekend.”

Gator fans got their first look at heralded freshman Bridget Sloan, the 2009 World all-around champion, Friday and she did not disappoint. In her first event, Sloan tied for the vault title with senior Ashanee Dickerson, each with a 9.925, then she added a pair of 9.8s on the uneven bars and balance beam before turning cheerleader for Florida's final rotation, the floor exercise.

Florida ranked No. 9 in final AP Poll

The Florida football team ended its season ranked in the top-ten.

The final AP poll released early Tuesday morning has the Gators (11-2) sitting at No. 9.

Alabama (13-1) was voted national champion by The Associated Press for the ninth time, more than any other program in college football, after routing Notre Dame 42-14 on Monday night.

Notre Dame, No. 1 coming into the BCS championship, dropped to No. 4.

The Tide entered the title game with as many AP titles as the Fighting Irish, and emphatically broke the tie for first. It's Alabama's second straight title and third in four years. The only other team to win three AP titles in four seasons was Notre Dame from 1946-49.

Oregon (12-1) finished second, and undefeated Ohio State (12-0), banned from the postseason because of NCAA sanctions was third. Georgia and Texas A&M tied for fifth.

AP Top-25 Poll

Record Pts Pv

1. Alabama (59) 13-1 1,475 2

2. Oregon 12-1 1,358 5

3. Ohio St. 12-0 1,302 3

4. Notre Dame 12-1 1,288 1

5. Georgia 12-2 1,230 6

5. Texas A&M 11-2 1,230 10

7. Stanford 12-2 1,169 8

8. South Carolina 11-2 1,038 11

9. Florida 11-2 933 4

10. Florida St. 12-2 922 13

11. Clemson 11-2 889 14

12. Kansas St. 11-2 871 7

13. Louisville 11-2 781 22

14. LSU 10-3 756 9

15. Oklahoma 10-3 615 12

16. Utah St. 11-2 456 18

17. Northwestern 10-3 443 21

18. Boise St. 11-2 419 20

19. Texas 9-4 358 NR

20. Oregon St. 9-4 303 15

21. San Jose St. 11-2 243 24

22. N. Illinois 12-2 227 16

23. Vanderbilt 9-4 180 NR

24. Michigan 8-5 147 19

25. Nebraska 10-4 119 23

Forward Murphy has broken rib

Starting Florida forward Erik Murphy has a fractured rib, according to Gatorzone.com, and is doubtful for Wednesday night's SEC opener against Georgia.

Murphy could be out for several weeks. How soon he returns will depend on how he tolerates the pain, UF coach Billy Donovan said Monday.

Murphy, a senior and the team's second-leading scorer (12.1 points a game), underwent x-rays Monday after sitting out Sunday's victory at Yale. Donovan said it could be four to six weeks before Murphy completely heals.

“(When he returns) is up to him and how he feels,” Donovan said. “Erik's a tough kid. I had two broken ribs in college and it was probably a good four to six weeks before I was actually pain free.”

Donovan said Murphy injured his ribs in the Air Force game on Dec. 29, but was fine in practice last week until he took another shot on the ribs in Wednesday's workout. He did not play in Sunday's 79-58 victory at Yale

“He came back on Friday and tried to practice and couldn't go,” Donovan said. “We tried to put him in shoot-around (before Sunday's game) and he did a little bit, but he was still challenged physically.

Bama bashes Notre Dame 42-14 in BCS title game

MIAMI GARDENS — The championship was locked up by halftime. By the time the confetti landed, Alabama was already looking ahead to the next one.

 

Alabama head coach Nick Saban is dunked with Gatorade in the final seconds of the BCS National Championship college football game against Notre Dame on Monday in Miami. Alabama won 42-14. (The Associated Press)

That's the way it is for the latest dynasty in Tuscaloosa.

Win a title. Move on.

Quieting the Irish on the very first drive, Eddie Lacy, AJ McCarron and the No. 2 Crimson Tide rolled top-ranked Notre Dame 42-14 for the BCS championship Monday night, locking up a second straight national title and third in four years with another laugher of a title game.

The Bear would've been especially proud of this one — Nick Saban and the Tide romping to the second-biggest rout of the BCS era that began in 1999.

Now, back to work.

"The process is ongoing," said Saban, still tightlipped as ever and showing little emotion after the fourth national title of his coaching career. "We're going to enjoy it for 24 hours or so."

The Crimson Tide (13-1) wrapped up its ninth Associated Press national title, breaking a tie with Notre Dame for the most by any school and gaining a measure of redemption for a bitter loss to the Irish almost four decades ago: the epic 1973 Sugar Bowl in which Ara Parseghian's team edged Bear Bryant's powerhouse 24-23.

Bryant won five AP titles during his brilliant career. The way things are going, Saban might just chase him down.

Lacy, the game's offensive MVP, ran for one touchdown and caught a pass for another in the final minute of the opening half. He spun away from the vaunted Notre Dame defense not once, but twice, to cap a 28-0 blitz before the bands even got on the field.

"They just did what Alabama does," moaned Manti Te'o, Notre Dame's star linebacker and Heisman Trophy finalist.

Lacy finished with 140 yards on 20 carries, coming up with two of his best performances in the two biggest games of the year. He rushed for a career-high 181 yards in a thrilling victory over Georgia in the SEC title game, and was nearly as dominant against the Irish (12-1). McCarron wasn't too shabby, either, completing 20 of 28 passes for four touchdowns and 264 yards, adding another dazzling effort on top of being MVP in last year's title game.

You could almost hear television sets around the country flipping to other channels, a hugely anticipated matchup between two of the nation's most storied programs reduced to nothing more than the second straight BCS blowout for the Crimson Tide.

And, it would seem, they're not content yet.

"We're going for it next year again," said offensive tackle Cyrus Kouandijo, only a sophomore but already the owner of two rings. "And again. And again. And again. I love to win. That's why I came here."

While Saban insisted he was "happy as hell" and "has never been prouder of a group of young men," it was hard to tell. He was already talking about reporting to the office Wednesday and getting started on next season.

"One of these days, when I'm sitting on the side of the hill watching the stream go by, I'll probably figure it out even more," Saban said. "But what about next year's team? You've got to think about that, too."

Alabama scored 69 straight points against its title game opponents, going back to getting the final 13 against Texas in 2010, followed by a stifling 21-0 victory over LSU for last year's crown, then scoring the first 35 points on Notre Dame. Saban's team made the Irish look like a squad that would be hard-pressed to finish in the middle of the pack in the mighty Southeastern Conference, which has now won seven straight national championships.

Saban, the diminutive man with the perpetual scowl, has guided Alabama to the top spot in the rankings three times since arriving in Tuscaloosa in 2007, and if he's serious about finishing his career with the job he has, there seems no reason he can't win a few more before he's done with "The Process."

Already, Saban is the first coach in the BCS era to win national titles at different schools, capturing his first at LSU during the 2003 season. Now, he's the first coach with back-to-back BCS titles, and given the youthfulness of his team, Alabama figures to go into next season as a heavy favorite.

In an interesting twist, Saban's fourth title came in the stadium where he had the only stumble of his coaching career, a two-year tenure with the NFL's Miami Dolphins that ended ugly, with the coach insisting he wasn't planning to leave — then bolting for Alabama just two weeks later. His tactics may have been underhanded, but it's hard to argue with the call he made.

Before a record Sun Life Stadium crowd of 80,120 that definitely included more green than crimson, Lacy ran right through Te'o and the Irish on a 20-yard touchdown run before the game was 3 minutes old, capping an 82-yard drive that was longest of the season given up by the Fighting Irish.

It would only get worse. Alabama marched right down the field on its second possession, this one a 10-play, 61-yard pounding that finished with McCarron completely faking out the defense and lofting a 3-yard touchdown pass to Michael Williams, standing all alone in the back of the end zone.

On the first play of the second quarter, T.J. Yeldon powered over from the 1 to make it 21-0, the finish to another impressive drive — this one covering 80 yards — that included two long completions by McCarron. First, he went to Kevin Norwood on a 25-yard gain. Then, he hooked up with freshman Amari Cooper for a 27-yard gain to the Notre Dame 6.

By that point, it was clear to everyone that Notre Dame's hopes of winning its first national championship since 1988 were all done. But Alabama just poured it on.

"We've got to get physically stronger, continue close the gap there," said Brian Kelly, the Irish's third-year coach. "Just overall, we need to see what it looks like. Our guys clearly know what it looks like now — a championship football team. That's back-to-back national champions. That's what it looks like. That's what you measure yourself against there. It's pretty clear across the board what we have to do."

Lacy's 11-yard touchdown reception with 31 seconds left in the half left the Irish fans shaking the heads in disbelief, while the Alabama faithful broke out that familiar "SEC! SEC! SEC!"

Alabama made it 35-0 on McCarron's second TD pass of the night, a 34-yarder to Cooper without a Notre Dame defender in sight.

The Irish finally scored late in the third quarter, a 2-yard run by Everett Golson that served no other purpose except to end Alabama's remarkable scoreless streak in the BCS title games, which stretched to 108 minute and 7 seconds — the equivalent of nearly two full games — before the Notre Dame quarterback fought his way into the end zone.

The only BCS title game that was more of a blowout was USC's 55-19 victory over Oklahoma in the 2005 Orange Bowl, a title that was later vacated because of NCAA violations.

About the only time Alabama stumbled was when McCarron had a miscommunication with his All-American center, Barrett Jones, in the closing seconds. The fiery McCarron shouted at Jones, who just shoved him away. But as the seconds ticked off, they were right on the same page, hugging Saban and celebrating another title.

Notre Dame went from unranked in the preseason to the top spot in the rankings by the end of the regular season, winning two games in overtime and three other times by seven points or less. But that long-awaited championship will have to wait at least one more year.

Golson completed his first season as the starter by going 21 of 36 for 270 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. But he got no help from the running game, which was held to 32 yards — 170 below its season average.

Kelly had vowed this was only beginning, insisting the bar has been raised in South Bend no matter what the outcome.

"We made incredible strides to get to this point," he said. "Now it's pretty clear what we've got to do to get over the top."