Florida Gators

When Urban Meyer was coaching at the University of Florida, the Gators showed no interest in Archbishop Wood standout Colin Thompson. That changed when Will Muschamp replaced Meyer and brought in Charlie Weis, formerly the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs, to run a pro-style attack and hired others with NFL coaching experience. "It was definitely a factor in my decision," said Thompson, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound tight end who committed to Florida on Thursday in a news conference at Wood.

Freshman Matt Walsh found new ways to shine for the No. 8 Florida Gators. The Germantown Academy product had 20 points, nine assists, six rebounds and five steals to lift Florida (2-0) over visiting Eastern Illinois last night in the Preseason NIT. After his latest success, he conceded that passing wasn't really his forte in high school. "But now that I've got guys to pass to, they make it easy," said Walsh, who scored 26 in his debut Tuesday against Louisiana Tech. The Gators will travel to New York to face Stanford on Wednesday in the semifinals.

Former Germantown Academy star Matt Walsh scored 26 points, including consecutive three-pointers that sparked a stunning 21-2 run, leading the Florida Gators to a 70-53 rout of fourth-ranked Kentucky yesterday in Atlanta and their first Southeastern Conference Tournament championship. Florida (23-7) beat the Wildcats (25-5) for the second time in 8 days, effectively knocking them out of contention for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Gators also defied history, winning their first tournament title on their 40th try against the team that has defined success in this event.

Free-agent centerfielder Willy Taveras agreed to a two-year contract yesterday with the Cincinnati Reds. Financial terms of the deal weren't immediately known. Taveras spent two seasons in Colorado but became a free agent this month when the Rockies were unable to trade him at the winter meetings. In 2008, Taveras hit .251 and led the big leagues with 68 steals and a .907 stolen-base percentage. Pro basketball Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng could miss up to a week with a sprained left ankle suffered Friday night at Miami.

It was Taurean Green's turn to lead the Florida Gators. The sophomore guard almost doubled his career high with 23 points, and Florida beat No. 19 Wake Forest, 77-72, last night in the semifinals of the 2K Sports College Hoop Classic. The Gators (3-0) advanced to tonight's championship game against No. 16 Syracuse. Green, whose previous best was 13 points as a freshman against Providence, hit a three-pointer in the 8-1 run that gave Florida a 72-62 lead with 2:06 to play.

Top offensive line prospect Jonathan Colon was apparently so torn between the Florida Gators and Miami Hurricanes that he decided to sign with both schools. The 6-7, 300-pound youngster's indecision had both schools claiming Colon as theirs yesterday. Colon, a tackle from Miami Central, announced Wednesday that he had signed a national letter of intent with the Gators. But Colon also signed hours earlier with Miami, Hurricanes coach Butch Davis said. Because the Hurricanes were first, Davis said, the Gators are out of luck.

NEW ORLEANS - Alex Tyus is like most of these Florida Gators - good at a lot of things, but lacking one dominant skill. On the biggest stage of his career, though, the senior's impact was obvious. Tyus had 19 points and 17 rebounds as Florida beat BYU, 83-74, in overtime last night, chasing a bloodied Jimmer Fredette and the Cougars out of the NCAA Tournament. Now the Gators will be playing for a spot in the Final Four for the first time since 2007 - ascending back into the nation's elite after a hiatus from the spotlight following back-to-back national championships in 2006 and '07. "It's been so rewarding for me to see them make the journey they've made to this point now," coach Billy Donovan said.

When Temple football coach Bobby Wallace and athletic director Bill Bradshaw paid a get-to-know-you visit to Mayor Street yesterday morning, they presented him with a Temple hat and a T-shirt that had the word Coach stenciled on it. "I told him he could wear it and coach the team on Saturday," said Wallace, who was meeting the mayor, a Temple alumnus, for the first time. For the record, Street did not accept the offer. And who could blame him? Street's mandate to fix all the problems in the city is nothing when compared with the challenge that Wallace faces Saturday.

In a game that had all the drama of an actual Super Bowl, Nebraska last night flicked aside the Florida Gators, 62-24, to claim the national championship and its place alongside the great dynasties of college football. Florida coach Steve Spurrier, the latest of this game's offensive geniuses, a man whose Gators had never scored less than four touchdowns in going undefeated in the regular season, could only stand there at Sun Devil Stadium and shake his head and pick at his nails.

A replay of last season's national title game - the same teams, playing roughly the same way - has the Florida Gators on the verge of a more historic repeat. Tomorrow night, the Gators will face Ohio State in the NCAA championship game at the Georgia Dome. Florida got there by stifling UCLA, 76-66, last night just as the Gators had done last year when they won the school's first men's basketball national title. Now, the Gators will try to become only the second school in the last 33 years to repeat, joining Duke, which did it in 1992.

Free advice to Temple University. Put this quote on a billboard: "He's got the best leadership qualities of any coach we have on the team. He can inspire, motivate, and drive people like not many people I've been around. "   - Tim Tebow on Steve Addazio Tebow said those words about Temple's head coach after the pair had been part of two Florida Gators national championship teams, Tebow as quarterback and Addazio as an assistant coach. Now that it's Tim Tebow Week in America as Tebow's Denver Broncos visit the New England Patriots at 8 p.m. Saturday in the AFC divisional round, Addazio is the obvious local witness.

When Urban Meyer was coaching at the University of Florida, the Gators showed no interest in Archbishop Wood standout Colin Thompson. That changed when Will Muschamp replaced Meyer and brought in Charlie Weis, formerly the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs, to run a pro-style attack and hired others with NFL coaching experience. "It was definitely a factor in my decision," said Thompson, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound tight end who committed to Florida on Thursday in a news conference at Wood.

NEW ORLEANS - Alex Tyus is like most of these Florida Gators - good at a lot of things, but lacking one dominant skill. On the biggest stage of his career, though, the senior's impact was obvious. Tyus had 19 points and 17 rebounds as Florida beat BYU, 83-74, in overtime last night, chasing a bloodied Jimmer Fredette and the Cougars out of the NCAA Tournament. Now the Gators will be playing for a spot in the Final Four for the first time since 2007 - ascending back into the nation's elite after a hiatus from the spotlight following back-to-back national championships in 2006 and '07. "It's been so rewarding for me to see them make the journey they've made to this point now," coach Billy Donovan said.

What you'll be exposed to at Lincoln Financial Field today isn't just the start of another chapter of Michael Vick's career. It's also the future of the NFL. Vick isn't going to be running the Wildcat offense that you saw last week against the New Orleans Saints or Monday night when the Miami Dolphins controlled the ball for more than 45 minutes before losing to Indianapolis. "When Michael Vick is at quarterback, I don't think it's the Wildcat," said former NFL coach Jon Gruden, who now works as an analyst for ESPN's Monday Night Football.

Free-agent centerfielder Willy Taveras agreed to a two-year contract yesterday with the Cincinnati Reds. Financial terms of the deal weren't immediately known. Taveras spent two seasons in Colorado but became a free agent this month when the Rockies were unable to trade him at the winter meetings. In 2008, Taveras hit .251 and led the big leagues with 68 steals and a .907 stolen-base percentage. Pro basketball Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng could miss up to a week with a sprained left ankle suffered Friday night at Miami.

Etan Thomas was recovering from open heart surgery yesterday, and the doctor who performed the operation didn't rule out the possibility of the Washington Wizards center returning to play in the NBA this season. Dr. Hartzell Schaff, a cardiovascular surgeon at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said most patients recover from the operation in 4 to 8 weeks, but the physical nature of basketball will require a longer rehabilitation for Thomas. The biggest hurdle will be the healing of Thomas' sternum, which had to be broken in order to perform the surgery.

When it was time to win a national basketball title, the Florida Gators didn't much care about coaching rumors or who was turning professional - or even which school had the best player last night at the Georgia Dome. Fireworks went off inside the Dome as the Final Four again filled with celebratory Gators noise. Using the same five starters they won it all with last season, the Gators took out Ohio State, 84-75. Again, they did it with defense. Until the last minute, no Buckeyes guard even made a three-pointer.

A replay of last season's national title game - the same teams, playing roughly the same way - has the Florida Gators on the verge of a more historic repeat. Tomorrow night, the Gators will face Ohio State in the NCAA championship game at the Georgia Dome. Florida got there by stifling UCLA, 76-66, last night just as the Gators had done last year when they won the school's first men's basketball national title. Now, the Gators will try to become only the second school in the last 33 years to repeat, joining Duke, which did it in 1992.

Joakim Noah wasn't concerned that fifth-ranked Florida won again despite not playing particularly well. "We have a lot of young guys and it takes a little time . . . It's a process," Noah said, trying to put yesterday's 72-57 victory over host Florida A & M in perspective. "You don't want your team playing your best basketball in November or December. At the end of the day, it's what's going on in March. That's what really matters. " Lee Humphrey scored 15 points, and Walter Hodge and Taurean Green had 11 apiece to help coach Billy Donovan tie Norm Sloan as Florida's career victory leader.

Just out of their locker room, huddled up, about to hit the RCA Dome court after halftime, Florida Gators players had one spoken thought: Our time. Afterward, George Mason's players talked about being part of the history of their sport, that any time anyone now talks about the Final Four, "you have to talk about us. " But this is part of that history: The best defense trumps the best story. Tomorrow night's NCAA final will be just a basketball game, and probably not a pretty one. The Gators earned their way with a 73-58 victory, treating Cinderella the same as they had Villanova and the rest.