GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) – I would probably guess most of you watching want to hear about Gator Softball or Gator Baseball…Understandably so, but I’m going to wait just a bit, just to let the dust settle on the seasons that were. More to come.
Let’s talk about a sport that will be cranking up soon…College football, specifically, Gator Football. I’ve already been asked on various radio appearances about this year’s team and about what game on the schedule is the most important…To me, it is game number one against Miami. I get it, Florida beat Utah, a nationally ranked team to start the season and it didn’t do much for the team in the long run, but this is different. It’s an in state rival. It’s against a team that is in the same boat as you are…With a beleaguered coach who is trying to keep his job and win over a skeptical fan base. And if Florida loses that game at home, the calls for firings and a bad season and a bleak future will be heard from the Panhandle to the Keys. That’s why this game is so important.
I’ve been accused of being an optimist before but I can see this team winning more than five or six games, maybe like seven or eight. That might not be enough to satisfy some fans, but it should allow Napier to keep his job and then hopefully build from there. Fans just want to see improvement, see a better defense, see a better offensive line and not see the special teams blunders and failures to line up in the proper places that has plagued this program since Napier arrived. This is his oldest team, with the most experience, and now we’ll see if that translates to more wins.
When softball, baseball and track end their respective seasons, it will mean the end of the PAC-12 Conference. Sad the way a conference with a long history just seemed to vanish overnight. The original Pacific Coast Conference formed in 1915, changed to the Pacific Eight in the 60′s and became the PAC-10 when Arizona and Arizona State were admitted in the 70′s. The PAC-12 became a reality when Colorado and Utah joined in 2011. But soon, it will only be a memory. Old rivalries will go away and new ones will form with the teams that have moved on to other leagues. But it’s just another example of the ever changing landscape of college sports that sometimes comes with a heavy price.
Finally, another NCAA settlement has taken place after it settled the house lawsuit that will allow athletes to become immediately eligible no matter how many times they transfer. In addition, the NCAA must now grant an extra year of eligibility to any athlete previously deemed ineligible under the transfer eligibility rule since the 2019/20 academic year. The athletes still must remain academically eligible for this to happen. What does this mean? Remember when Florida played Utah and they had Cam Rising as their quarterback? Under this rule, because he had to sit out under the old transfer rules and because of injuries, he could come back to Utah for an eighth season in 2025 should he choose to do so with this new settlement. How crazy is that? If you like change, you’re loving the athletic world we’re living in now! I’m Steve Russell, that’s the Russell Report!
RELATED: Russell Report: The landscape of the NCAA has changed with its $2.8 billion lawsuit settlement
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