The Florida Gators started the 1996 season as a preseason Top 10 team – they had one of the most talented teams in the country, but were coming off an embarrassing loss to Nebraska in the 1995 National Championship Game. The Gators trounced through the SEC and finished up 8-0, with wins over #2 Tennessee, #12 LSU, #16 Auburn. The finished the regular season 10-1 (a loss coming to #2 FSU).

The Gators lost a lot of big-time contributors after the 2009 season: Tim Tebow, Brandon Spikes, Riley Cooper, Luis Murphy, Brandon Stamper, Carlos Dunlap, Maurkice Pouncey, Aaron Hernandez, Jermaine Cunningham … they’re all gone. The Gators have a ton of new players, but one thing they aren’t missing is respect. All of the top college football magazines have the Florida Gators in the Top 10. A year ago the Gators were the consensus #1 in every single poll… with a new QB at the helm and concerns of Urban Meyer’s health it feels pretty good to be Top 10.

Gang, July’s just around the corner – that means a brief hiatus from Gator sports until the start of fall football practice. The Gators’ 2009-2010 sports season officially ended last Saturday with our heartbreaking loss to that team out west in the College World Series in spite of a last-ditch effort to rally back, but there’s still some news to be had regarding UF sports – primarily in football recruiting. Urban Meyer’s recent football camp in Gainesville has brought a couple more verbals into the Class of 2011, …

The Florida Gators currently have 16 Redshirt Freshman on the roster. These are guys who were in their first year at Florida in 2009, but either did not play enough or were injured and qualified for a redshirt. This means the 2009 season did not count as a year of eligibility for them. Of the 16 redshirt freshman on the roster, there are five key guys we need to keep an eye on.

Typing away at the laptop…….
For those pining for some Gator news in the offseason, there was no shortage of such this past weekend. First off, HUGE congrats to one of my favorite current Gators, Jeff Demps, for his 100-meter men’s outdoor track title as well as for his being part of the winning men’s 4×100 relay team (kudos to Chris Rainey as well for being a part of that same quartet). Kudos to Mariam Kevkhishvili for winning the women’s shot put title at the NCAA outdoor meet, …