Grab a Snickers, Urban Meyer.
Take time to find a suitable place for your Heisman Trophy, Timmy Tebow.
Oh, and if you're lucky, go on a growth spurt, Joe Haden and Markihe Anderson.
So, the football season is over and the UF men's basketball team is heading into Southeastern Conference play acting like an NIT team.
What to do then, Gators fans? Here are some story lines that are worth following this spring, even if the two-time champion hoops squad fails to have any postseason significance.
• Is new baseball coach Kevin O'Sullivan more like Carolyn Peck or Billy Donovan?
There's no doubting that UF athletics director Jeremy Foley is the Tebow of college athletic directors, but even Foley has had his slipups (see Peck and Ron Zook). After the firing of the popular Pat McMahon, O'Sullivan inherits a team that lost slugger Matt LaPorta, top ace Bryan Augenstein and catcher Cody Neer. Good luck, coach. In other words, this is going to take time. The Gators still have talent, and a quick turnaround is conceivable, but expecting more championship celebrations on University Avenue is too much. O'Sullivan was a good hire, but so was Peck at the time.
• The I-don't-believe-what-I'm-saying theory, but is the women's basketball team not completely horrible?
Listen, the Gators are a bubble team at best, but if their name is even in the national picture come NCAA Tournament time, that's serious progress. UF hasn't proven much yet, but the Gators are winners of seven straight and if they had had a streak like that last season Peck may still be here. Going into conference play last season UF was 6-9, this season it's 11-4.
• Did you know there's still a title contender here?
If you thought Joakim Noah was crazy, I suggest you go watch this gymnastics squad. Imagine Noah on a sugar rush, and that gives you an idea of what this team's warm-ups look like. They're just as talented as the '04s were, too. UF's the No. 2 preseason team and should've won it all last year. This year that "should've" will be taken out. And they just added UCLA transfer Maranda Smith, a two-time junior Olympic champion.
• How do you respond to the best season in school history?
That's what softball coach Tim Walton is about to find out. Last season, Walton proved that he was the right hire three years ago and took the Gators within one game of the College World Series. UF lost slugger Melissa Zick and senior pitcher Stacey Stevens, but they still have little do-it-all dynamo Kim Waleszonia (who is generously listed at 5-foot-4 in the UF media guide) and emerging pitching sensation and hackey-sack whiz Stacey Nelson. The SEC is as tough in softball as it is in football, and the Gators are still a half-step below the elite. But that gap is closing, and - depending on how much it closes - this team could make a serious national run.
Quick hits:
In case you just want to see a beatdown by a UF squad, go check out a women's tennis match. They dominate nearly every season. The men aren't too shabby, either. … Put the women's swim team senior class in that same category. I covered these ladies their freshman years, and they were already beating high-level swimmers. I imagine you'll be hearing Caroline Burckle's name at the Olympics this summer. UF's senior class has five All-Americans. … Ever heard of Ryan Lochte? You know, one of the best swimmers in the world who is still training in Gainesville for the Olympics? Well, freshman Matt Norton might be even better in a few years. Oh, and he was coached by Lochte's dad in high school. … Talking about great athletes, junior golfer Billy Horschel is one of the best around. … The women's golf team was a title contender, until Sandra Gal left. That's like taking Tebow from the Gators.
