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Take a look at how the week of March 21 through March 27 lines up for the Florida Gators.
The men’s and women’s basketball teams saw their seasons come to an end this weekend with losses in the National Invitation Tournament and the NCAA Tournament, respectively, but Florida athletics will still continue on. Highlighted by an SEC Championship title earned by the gymnastics team to go with its regular-season conference crown, there is still plenty for the Gator Nation to get excited about as the spring season continues to unfurl.
Over the coming week, ten sports programs will compete for the glory of the Orange and Blue, including the men’s swimming and diving team, which is heading to the NCAA Championships starting on Wednesday. The track and field team will also be busy, splitting in half to take part in two outdoor tournaments also starting in the middle of the week.
The baseball, softball, volleyball and lacrosse teams continue their seasons, while the men’s and women’s tennis teams engage in dual meets, and the men’s and women’s golf teams see some tournament action as well. Here’s a look below at how the week of March 21 through March 27 lines up for the Florida Gators.
The Gators received even fewer votes in the coaches poll this time around.
Florida dropped out of the USA TODAY Sports Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll last week after a rough few games that saw the team lose to previously winless Texas Southern and a Maryland team with an interim head coach. With finals week in full swing, the Gators had this week off before returning to action against South Florida.
Though UF beat the Bulls 66-55, it wasn’t a particularly impressive performance in a Quadrant 4 game, and it wasn’t enough to get Florida back into the top 25. In fact, the team received just two votes this time around, much fewer than the 17 it received last week.
The rest of the SEC didn’t fare particularly well in this week’s update, either. Alabama fell outside of the top 10 after a loss to Memphis and now ranks No. 11, followed by Auburn at No. 12. LSU is up to No. 16, while Kentucky rises to No. 18 after a win over North Carolina in blowout fashion. No. 19 Tennessee rounds out the rankings, dropping one spot from the latest update, and Arkansas dropped out after losses to Oklahoma and Hofstra.
After an 11-day stretch where the team lost three of four games, UF has a lot of work to do to get back in the top 25. Luckily (or perhaps unluckily) the SEC schedule presents a lot of opportunities for big, resume-boosting wins. But if Florida continues to slip up in big games, it could be a long couple of months.
Here are the full rankings for this week.
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Change |
| 1 | Baylor | 10-0 | 800 | – |
| 2 | Duke | 10-1 | 754 | – |
| 3 | Purdue | 10-1 | 689 | +1 |
| 4 | Gonzaga | 9-2 | 673 | – |
| 4 | Arizona | 11-0 | 673 | +2 |
| 6 | UCLA | 9-1 | 670 | -3 |
| 7 | Kansas | 9-1 | 639 | – |
| 8 | Iowa State | 11-0 | 501 | +3 |
| 9 | USC | 12-0 | 480 | – |
| 10 | Michigan State | 9-2 | 446 | +2 |
| 11 | Alabama | 9-2 | 422 | -3 |
| 12 | Auburn | 10-1 | 412 | +2 |
| 13 | Ohio St | 8-2 | 400 | +2 |
| 14 | Houston | 10-2 | 398 | -1 |
| 15 | Seton Hall | 9-1 | 383 | +1 |
| 16 | LSU | 11-0 | 254 | +4 |
| 17 | Texas | 8-2 | 243 | – |
| 18 | Kentucky | 8-2 | 217 | +3 |
| 19 | Tennessee | 8-2 | 215 | -1 |
| 20 | Xavier | 11-1 | 204 | +5 |
| 21 | Colorado St | 10-0 | 203 | +2 |
| 22 | Villanova | 7-4 | 158 | -12 |
| 23 | Providence | 11-1 | 149 | +4 |
| 24 | Wisconsin | 9-2 | 129 | +2 |
| 25 | Texas Tech | 8-2 | 89 | -1 |
No. 19 Arkansas; No. 22 Connecticut.
Arkansas 36; Connecticut 34; Illinois 24; West Virginia 23; Oklahoma 21; Loyola-Chicago 16; Minnesota 15; San Francisco 12; Wake Forest 9; Saint Mary’s 3; Florida 2; Brigham Young 2; Michigan 1; Indiana 1.
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Pat Dooley does his run-down of the latest Gators football news in a delayed Monday Brunch feature.
Now that the regular season is over, Pat Dooley will be presenting his Florida football opinions on a regular basis every Sunday morning in a continuation of his Sunday Hash feature. However, things did not go exactly as planned this week.
A day late and hopefully not $12 million short, the Sunday Hash comes to you as Monday Brunch this time around. Here’s a dive into the latest news on the Orange and Blue.
UF ranks No. 15 in the BPI after Oklahoma loss
Florida’s men’s basketball team suffered its first setback this season on Wednesday night, falling on the road to a good Oklahoma team 74-67. In spite of that slipup, the Gators still sit at 6-1 on the young season. With the only remaining Quadrant 1 game in non-conference play coming against a Maryland team that has parted ways with head coach Mark Turgeon, taking a one-loss record heading into SEC play is a very strong possibility.
In spite of that loss, UF ranks No. 15 in the latest Basketball Power Index from ESPN, the fourth-highest ranked SEC team behind No. 6 Kentucky, No. 9 Tennessee and No. 11 LSU. The Gators have just the No. 111 strength of schedule, but their strength of record ranks No. 26.
Florida gets back in action on Monday night with Texas Southern coming to town, and North Florida is up after that on Wednesday night before the team travels to play the Terrapins in Brooklyn next Sunday.
The Gators saw an interruption to their momentum, but they still have the chance to have the best record in non-conference play during coach Mike White‘s tenure.
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Take a look at where Florida basketball landed in the latest Coaches Poll.
Florida basketball is off to a fantastic start to the 2021-22 season. The Gators are 6-0, snapped their seven-game losing streak against rival Florida State and took down the Ohio State Buckeyes on a buzzer-beater to win the Fort Myers Tip-Off on Wednesday night.
After a hot start for a team that didn’t begin the year with high expectations, UF is quickly rising in the polls. In the latest update to the USA TODAY Sports Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll, the Gators saw a 12-spot rise from No. 24 all the way up to No. 12. This is the highest Florida has been ranked in the Coaches Poll since the preseason poll to begin the 2019-20 season, in which it ranked No. 6.
The Gators are now the third-highest ranked team in the SEC, behind No. 9 Arkansas and No. 10 Kentucky. UF ranks ahead of No. 15 Tennessee, No. 16 Alabama (who fell seven spots after a loss to Rick Pitino’s Iona team), and No. 21 Auburn. LSU isn’t ranked, but it was the third-highest vote recipient of teams outside the top 25.
Florida coach Mike White is off to perhaps his best start with the Gators, and though the next game is a difficult one on the road against Oklahoma, this team could enter conference play with a lot of momentum (and potentially, an undefeated record).
Here’s the full top 25 in the Coaches Poll this week.
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Change |
| 1 | Duke | 7-0 | 761 (16) | +5 |
| 2 | Purdue | 6-0 | 742 (10) | +2 |
| 3 | Gonzaga | 6-1 | 706 | -2 |
| 4 | Baylor | 7-0 | 693 (2) | +1 |
| 5 | UCLA | 6-1 | 627 | -3 |
| 6 | Villanova | 4-2 | 563 | +1 |
| 7 | Kansas | 5-1 | 524 | -4 |
| 8 | Texas | 4-1 | 500 | – |
| 9 | Arkansas | 6-0 | 473 | +3 |
| 10 | Kentucky | 5-1 | 436 | +3 |
| 11 | Arizona | 6-0 | 431 | +8 |
| 12 | Florida | 6-0 | 425 | +12 |
| 13 | BYU | 6-0 | 399 | +5 |
| 14 | Houston | 5-1 | 321 | -3 |
| 15 | Tennessee | 4-1 | 304 | +2 |
| 16 | Alabama | 6-1 | 231 | -7 |
| 17 | Connecticut | 6-1 | 222 | +4 |
| 18 | USC | 6-0 | 205 | +7 |
| 19 | Memphis | 5-1 | 184 | -9 |
| 20 | Auburn | 5-1 | 145 | +2 |
| 21 | Wisconsin | 5-1 | 140 | – |
| 22 | Michigan State | 5-2 | 138 | +7 |
| 23 | Iowa State | 6-0 | 134 | – |
| 24 | Michigan | 4-2 | 123 | -11 |
| 25 | St. Bonaventure | 5-1 | 96 | -9 |
No. 15 Illinois; No. 20 Seton Hall; No. 23 Oregon.
Seton Hall 86; Texas Tech 68; Louisiana State 66; Illinois 65; Ohio St. 43; Marquette 42; Colorado St. 38; Indiana 29; Iowa 28; Xavier 25; Florida State 22; Utah St. 13; Providence 11; West Virginia 5; San Francisco 5; Saint Louis 3; Oklahoma State 3.
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Here’s a look at how Florida’s Southeastern Conference peers fared in the Coaches Poll this week.
It was a fairly chalky week in the SEC, aside from the strange game that took place in Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday evening. In the first Iron Bowl game to ever go to overtime, Auburn led 10-0 over No. 2 Alabama for most of the game, but the Crimson Tide stormed back to tie it on a touchdown with less than a minute left.
The game eventually went to quadruple overtime, bringing the new college football overtime rules into play. Alabama eventually held on for a 24-22 win with a walk-off two-point conversion.
The only other semi-surprising result was Florida’s slight upset over Florida State in interim coach Greg Knox’s first game. The victory gave the Gators bowl eligibility, though they’re not even close to cracking the top 25 in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll.
With Georgia’s 45-0 shutout against Georgia Tech and ‘Bama’s win over the Tigers, the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide held on to the No. 1 and 2 spots, respectively. Meanwhile, Ole Miss held on to its No. 8 spot after a win in the Egg Bowl against Mississippi State despite some movement above the Rebels.
Kentucky blew out Louisville 52-21, and that moved the Wildcats up three spots from No. 25 to No. 22. They’re directly followed by Texas A&M, whose three-point loss to LSU on Saturday night dropped the Aggies to 8-4 and down nine spots to No. 23. Finally, Arkansas is back in the top 25 after a convincing 31-17 win over Missouri. The Razorbacks received the most votes last week, and they’re back in at No. 25 this week.
Mississippi State, whose 10-point loss to Ole Miss dropped it to 7-5 on the season, received two votes, the fewest of any vote-getting team.
We’ll have a No. 1 vs. No. 2 battle in Atlanta next Saturday between Georgia and Alabama for the SEC Championship, and that game could have a significant ripple effect on the potential playoff field. Here’s how things stand in the rest of the poll.
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Change |
| 1 | Georgia | 12-0 | 1,550 (62) | – |
| 2 | Alabama | 11-1 | 1,440 | – |
| 3 | Michigan | 11-1 | 1,408 | +3 |
| 4 | Cincinnati | 12-0 | 1,399 | – |
| 5 | Oklahoma State | 11-1 | 1,285 | +2 |
| 6 | Notre Dame | 11-1 | 1,250 | -1 |
| 7 | Ohio State | 10-2 | 1,133 | -4 |
| 8 | Ole Miss | 10-2 | 1,097 | – |
| 9 | Baylor | 10-2 | 1,046 | +1 |
| 10 | Oregon | 10-2 | 932 | +1 |
| 11 | Oklahoma | 10-2 | 851 | -2 |
| 12 | Iowa | 10-2 | 845 | – |
| 13 | Michigan State | 10-2 | 840 | – |
| 14 | BYU | 9-3 | 741 | +1 |
| 15 | Pittsburgh | 10-2 | 640 | +2 |
| 16 | Houston | 11-1 | 607 | – |
| 17 | Utah | 9-3 | 596 | +2 |
| 18 | Wake Forest | 10-2 | 531 | +3 |
| 19 | San Diego State | 11-1 | 396 | +3 |
| 20 | NC State | 9-3 | 334 | +4 |
| 21 | UL-Lafayette | 11-1 | 268 | +2 |
| 22 | Kentucky | 9-3 | 226 | +3 |
| 23 | Texas A&M | 8-4 | 202 | -9 |
| 24 | Clemson | 9-3 | 170 | +3 |
| 25 | Arkansas | 8-4 | 128 | +1 |
No. 18 Wisconsin; No. 20 Texas-San Antonio.
Wisconsin 100; Texas-San Antonio 36; Appalachian State 30; Air Force 16; Minnesota 13; Purdue 11; Utah State 8; Coastal Carolina 8; Penn State 5; UCLA 3; Fresno State 3; Mississippi State 2.
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SP+ thinks Florida will extend its winning streak over the Seminoles to three.
Florida has bowl eligibility on the line on Saturday when it welcomes rival Florida State into the Swamp looking to extend its winning streak in the rivalry to three. The two teams didn’t meet last year, and the two wins in that streak came under coach Dan Mullen.
Mullen was fired after Saturday’s loss to Missouri, but interim coach Greg Knox will look to get his team a win over its rival and earn one more game as the head man.
ESPN’s SP+ rankings from Bill Connelly think Florida will get it done. It sees the team winning 32-25. That would also cover a three-point spread.
Earlier in the season, this game didn’t look like it would provide much of a challenge. But this is a Florida State team that is quickly improving. It’s 5-2 since a loss to FCS Jacksonville State, and its offense is getting a lot better behind the play of quarterback Jordan Travis and the run game.
It’s a bit surprising that the Gators are favorites in this game at all, but it goes to show that Vegas still sees a talent differential between these two teams. But that differential hasn’t helped much in recent weeks, and we’ll see if Florida puts forth a stronger performance in a rivalry game.
Here are the full SP+ predictions for the week.
🍴🍗 WEEK 13 SP+ PICKS 🥧🍻
Ole Miss 31, MSU 29
Iowa 23, Neb 22
Cincy 36, ECU 19
Wash 28, Wazzu 27
UGA 44, GT 11
Ohio St 32, Mich 26
Bama 35, Auburn 22
Oregon 36, OSU 27
PSU 26, Mich St 23
Wisc 27, Minn 19
A&M 33, LSU 19
Clemson 33, SC 16
OSU 28, OU 27
ND 40, Stanford 16 pic.twitter.com/Z30cYUQdqn— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) November 24, 2021
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The Gators Wire staff is split right down the middle on the outcome of this game. Here’s what we had to say.
It has been a very difficult year for Florida football fans as they saw its team sink to unexpected lows that resulted in the dismissal of Dan Mullen and two of his coaching staff. Sure, many foresaw a rebuilding year but nobody expected this dumpster fire of a season.
I feel like I have said this before. Because I have… several times already.
The last item on the regular-season schedule is the annual rivalry game with the Florida State Seminoles, which takes place on the hallowed grounds of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium this year. Once upon a time, this game was the gateway to a national championship but times have certainly changed. The two schools have fallen far, now in 2021 playing a game that decides who gets to even appear in a bowl game and who stays home.
So how will things pan out against the Gators’ perennial rivals? Here is what the Gators Wire staff predicts to go down this weekend. Spoiler alert: we are completely split on the issue.
Pat Dooley takes a look at the many faces of the interim head coach carousel dating back to the 1980s.
What would a modern-day Florida-FSU game be without interim coaches?
It would have been a smoother transition if Dan Mullen didn’t punt his love for loyalty and stuck with his seniors for one more game. But this is the Mullenade that is being served for the final regular-season game and possibly the last game of 2021 period.
Both teams need wins to be bowl eligible and FSU has seen this before. The difference is that the Seminoles have won five of their last seven games after an 0-4 start while Florida has lost four of its last five.
The Gators have the interim coach this time around – the third interim from the two schools in the last five meetings and a fourth was close with Jimbo Fisher leaving after the Florida game in 2017 – although I’m not sure what a game between a pair of 5-6 teams will do for anyone’s resume.
Rather than give you the often-recited history of the Florida-FSU series, we thought we’d remember the long list of Florida interim coaches through the years:
