Florida Gators Bait & Bits: #GatorMadness, Albany-Florida Ties, Spring Practice Times, SEC Honors, and #FLax Rebounds

Mar 16, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Florida Gators players react after defeating the Kentucky Wildcats in the championship game for the SEC college basketball tournament at Georgia Dome. Florida defeated Kentucky 61-60. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to Bait & Bits, a series on Hail Florida Hail that will feature one “bait” about an opposing school and some bits about the Gators. Have any links that you want on Bait & Bits? Tweet it at us @HailFloridaHail or @BrettKaplan13 or email it to us at BrettKaplanHFH@gmail.com.

Bait

16-seed Albany Great Danes. Florida and Albany have played only once before, but it was in tournament format. The Gators and Great Danes squared off in the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic in 2005. Florida won 83-64 and Corey Brewer was the Regional MVP. Check out the full recap here. (GatorZone)

Bits

Family Matter in Second Round of Tournament. Props to the GatorZone men’s basketball crew. They found this out:

That being said, I think AJ will still be rooting for Florida.

Florida Gators Tournament Profile. Our friends at Busting Brackets profiled all 68 Division I Men’s Basketball Championship teams. Here’s the one on the Florida Gators. (Cam Newton, Busting Brackets)

Billy D Thinks Colleges Take All the Risk with One-and-Dones. I tend to agree with him. You’re giving someone an option for a four-year degree and the moment they sign, you think they have every intention of staying all four years. Attrition by the draft means someone needs to fill that vacant roster spot. And sometimes you could be left short. There’s probably a reason why there have only been two one-and-dones under Billy D (Donnell Harvey and Bradley Beal). Anywho, check out this article for more of Donovan’s explanation. (Andrew Melnick, FanSided)

Open Spring Practice Times Released. Well, at least three of them are. Wednesday (today) will start at 3:35 pm, Friday, March 21 will begin at 4:15 pm, and Saturday March 22’s practice will start at 12:10. There are autograph sessions for fans, starting with the wide receivers and tight ends Wednesday, running backs and linebackers Friday, and quarterbacks, defensive backs, and specialists Saturday. (GatorZone)

FLax Rebounds to Beat Dartmouth. Florida (9-2) came back after dropping their weekend game at Syracuse to beat Dartmouth, 14-7. Shannon Gilroy continues her assault on the scoring records, notching six goals and causing a career-high four turnovers. This is the fifth time this season she has scored at least 5 goals in a game. Mary-Sean Wilcox also stopped a career best 80% of shots for a .800 save percentage. Florida has another tough road game Saturday against the 20th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. (GatorZone)

Jaterra Bonds Named to AP All-SEC Team. Jaterra Bonds, after her strong senior season, was named to the AP ALL-SEC Second Team. Bonds leads the Gators with 15.6 ppg, 4.3 apg, free throw attempts (198) and makes (163), while shooting 44.9% from the floor and averaging 1.4 steals. Bonds led Florida to a 19-12 record, including a regular season sweep over a ranked Kentucky team. She’s hoping to lead them deep in the NCAA Tournament as an 11-seed when they play the 6th-seed Dayton Flyers Sunday at 3pm in University Park, PA. (SEC Digital Network)

Bridget Sloan Named SEC Gymnast of the Week. Sophomore Bridget Sloan became the second straight Gator to win the SEC Gymnast of the Week honor. Alaina Johnson won the award last week after she scored Florida’s top All-Around score of the season. Sloan followed up Johnson’s performance with a 39.825 in the All-Around, which tied Johnson’s score. Sloan held a key part in Florida vaulting to the number one spot atop the collegiate rankings. (GatorZone)

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