Tim Tebow’s white jersey was plastered with red paint from the FSU end zones.
His face bloody.
His uniform soaked.
He didn’t care.
Following Florida’s win over Florida State on Saturday night, Tebow was jumping and waving his arms, soaking in the praise — and the rain — from the Gators fans who made the trip from Gainesville.
The Gators thrashed the No. 20 ranked Seminoles 45-15 at a wet Doak S. Campbell Stadium.
But the rain didn’t stop Tebow.
The SEC Championship game isn’t on the minds of the Florida Gators football team this weekend.
At least it shouldn’t be.
The meeting with No. 1 Alabama still is a week away.
The No. 4 ranked Gators biggest game of the season thus far comes tomorrow — a short trip down Interstate 10 in Tallahassee against No. 23 ranked Florida State.
Without a win, the Gators still have shot to win the SEC but their national title picture would be cracked.
Florida is in the finals.
Just not the final game.
The No. 18 Gators fell to Syracuse 89-83 on Monday night in the semifinals of the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.
The loss puts them in the consolation championship tonight against Washington at 7:45 p.m. The game is on ESPNU.
The Gators first loss of the season came to the Orange despite a career-high 24 points from sophomore forward Alex Tyus and 19 points from sophomore Nick Calathas.
Florida trailed by three at half but Syracuse used an early second-half run to take a 56-44 lead.
Gators’ freshman Erving Walker was able to cut the Syracuse lead to 83-79 after hitting a 3-pointer with 1:22 to play. But Florida was unable to get any closer despite four straight missed free throws by the Orange.
Walker was the third player in double-digit scoring for the Gators, finishing with 13 points.
His number aren’t as gaudy.
But his team’s record has improved.
And although the Heisman Trophy seems unlikely for junior quarterback Tim Tebow, other honors still will be heading his way.
he beginning of the season has began much like the past seven seasons.
Two games.
Two wins.
But it was the three, not the two that helped fuel the Florida Gators on Sunday afternoon in Gainsville.
The No. 19 ranked Gators had little trouble handing Bradley a 81-58 loss behind 17 points each from junior forward Dan Werner and senior guard Walter Hodge.
Werner an Hodge combined for 9-of-15 shooting from beyond the arc.
The Gators outscored the Braves 23-7 in the final 6:43 of the first half that started with a Hodge 3-pointer and ended with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Nick Calathes.
Bradley opened the second half on a 10-1 run to cut the Gator’s lead to eight.
Calathes finished with with 13 points.
As a team, the Gators finished 14-of-32 from three-point range.
Florida returns to action Thursday against Utah at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. The game will be broadcast live by Sun Sports.
WIth the BCS standings set to be released later today, Florida most likely will see little change in their position. The rankings left Florida at No. 4 in a tie with Oklahoma. But even with three teams still ahead, the Gators need just two of those teams to lose. Urban Meyer and Co. can take care of one of those teams in early December — Alabama.
So how do the Gators reach the BCS National Title game this year?
Well, its simple really.
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Florida basketball opens Friday night in the O’Dome against Toledo. Toledo, last year, finished 11-19 in the MAC (Mid-American Conference). This is a big reason they have a new coach this year, former Notre Dame assistant Gene Cross. One Rockets player to watch for in particular is senior swing man Tyrone Kent. He ranked in the top 10 of D1 players with 2.6 steals/game last year, including five games in which he got at least five steals. Five steals! Most are predicting Toledo to finish around 2nd in the West division of the MAC, which means they are decent. However, most think the MAC will get only one team to the Big Dance (Kent St.) The Gators should have no trouble with a team of this level.
The Gators face the rare 2-day turnaround when they host Bradley on Sunday afternoon. Bradley plays in the MVC (Missouri Valley Conference), a mid-major conference that is always a threat to land multiple bids for the NCAA tournament. Bradley isn’t on most people’s preseason brackets, but is certainly capable of making a case for a bid, come March. Last year, Bradley claimed wins over Virginia, Iowa, and Cincinnati. The 3-point line was an emphasis for the Braves, so it will be interesting to see if that effects them in the early going (the 3-point line was moved further back this season by the NCAA.) The Gators will face an early test in defending the perimeter against a good shooting mid-major team, particularly junior Andrew Warren and sophomore Sam Maniscalco. The quick turnaround will also be a challenge for the young Gators, as they only have one day to practice after for this game after their opening night date with Toledo. Still, a Gator win should be expected; if they are really to be a threat in the SEC and in March madness, they must be able to win home games against teams of this level.
Revenge is best served cold, especially when the Gators and Dawgs battle it out for the SEC East.
November 1st is finally here, and those who have grown up wearing the orange and blue or the red and black know that the hype has probably never been this high. Coming up on the most anticipated weekend in the Cocktail Party’s history, the Florida/Georgia rivalry has now elevated to its peak.
Both teams come into this contest ranked in the top ten looking to take a trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship. If this year will be anything like last year’s border clash, we’re in for quite a performance.
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