Ongoing UF Softball Commentary

First Game: OSU, 9:30 pm EDT on Thursday

 

The 2025 SEC race is going to be a cluster. There will be 15 teams and you only play 8 of them. How do you come up with a real champion when you are playing against only half the field. There is no way each team will have a fair and balanced schedule. To win it might be a case of who you don't play rather than who you do play. Why they don't get rid of a bunch of the meaningless pre-conference games and let the SEC teams battle it out is beyond me.

 

I count four. Texas and Oklahoma will never compete in the Big 12 again. As far as I'm concerned, they are now SEC teams.

 

Florida and Bama in OKC. The more things change the more they remain the same.

 

Our home SEC schedule is TX, OK, AR and AL per CTW.

 

Jesus. We get the gauntlet.

 

100% off topic but.....Bill Walton died of cancer at 71. He was one heck of a piece of work. Nobody else quite like him both in talent and unbounded enthusiasm for life.

 

This is a long post, but I gotta get this off my chest.

The polls had us ranked so low at the start of the year -- #18. With no returning pitchers and trying to rely on two freshman, the polls were not wrong. Things looked a bit bleak.

CTW took this group and molded them into a cohesive team that is much better than the sum of its parts. A real *team* where everyone causes everyone else to play better. And he kept everyone happy, seemingly one of the most together groups we've had. CTW scheduled puff teams to start -- which people ridiculed because it hurt our SOS -- but he knew what he was doing to build a cohesive team.

The team completely overachieved -- relying on freshman pitchers: 2nd in the SEC, win SEC tournament, and advance to WCWS.

Somehow Karen Weekly is SEC Coach of the Year? Preseason polls had Tennessee ranked #2. She has the pitching duo of Karlyn Pickens and Payton Gottshall, along with one of the SEC's top offenses. Exactly how much coaching does it take when you have that much talent already baked in?

Yet, Tennessee gets bounced in the first round of the SEC tournament, then loses to #13 Alabama in Super Regionals. Hope Weekly made a good coaching decision and booked refundable airfare to OKC.

Bottom line: CTW was robbed.

If we don't win another game, this was one heck of a coaching performance to get this group where it is now. Win or lose from here on out, this has been an amazing season to witness.

 

Of course we do, the SEC bites.

 

Not claiming them yet lol.

 

They want games that will get tv ratings. Don’t think it’s much more than that.

 

It’s about broader appeal. Alabama Florida Oklahoma Texas are the four big names nationally.
But the schedules are rotating, so if we pay this coming year to help get the conference realignment off the ground, we will benefit the following year.

 

Preaching to the choir ,why not move to 60 games to allow more in confrence games and again,drop some cupcake games,not going to hurt in the long run we saw every sec team make the field of 64 this year.