Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin speaks to the Gators after their win at Mississippi State. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Carter's Corner: Stricklin says no ducking UCF, Meyer to Retire, McElwain Back, Tall Volleyball, More Gators Tidbits
Monday, December 3, 2018 | General, Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Shortly after the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl announced Sunday the matchup between Florida and Michigan, Gators Athletic Director Scott Stricklin's Twitter feed lit up.
Two primary camps wanted their voice heard.
First, there were those Florida fans not overly excited by a third meeting against the Wolverines over the past 38 games. That's the same number of times Florida has played its SEC East rivals during that span.
However, those detractors paled in comparison to #UCFTwitter. Evidently still in the throes of missing out on the College Football Playoff for the second consecutive year despite an undefeated regular season, Knights fans turned their frustration toward Stricklin.
One tweet led to more tweets, and soon Stricklin, one of the most active and engaging ADs on social media, responded to multiple comments from those who believe the Gators purposely avoided facing UCF in the Peach Bowl thanks to Stricklin's influence as one of 13 members on the College Football Playoff committee.
The barrage and innuendo continued on social media.
On Monday, Stricklin spoke with Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi, a longtime chronicler of the Gators and Knights, about the lack of a Florida-UCF matchup in the Peach Bowl.
"We would have loved to have played UCF in a bowl game," Stricklin said. "I think it would have been an exciting matchup and created a lot of interest, but we also think our game with Michigan is an exciting matchup, too."
Click here to read the column in its entirety with Stricklin's comments.
It's that time of year when coaches are on the move and there is a lot of crossover in college sports. A look at some items of interest to Florida Gators fans:
-- Big news Tuesday morning as former Gators head coach Urban Meyer, who is in his seventh season at Ohio State, is retiring after the Rose Bowl.
-- Urban Meyer to step down writes Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports.
-- Former Gators head coach Jim McElwain was introduced as the new head coach at Central Michigan on Monday and Evan Petzold of The Detroit News writes about McElwain's career reboot.
-- McElwain was asked specifically for his side of the story on the end of his UF tenure:
-- Michigan's Peach Bowl draw isn't ideal but it'll have to do writes Nick Baumgardner of The Detroit Free-Press.
-- The UF volleyball team's height -- the Gators feature three of the 10 players 6-foot-6 or taller on top 25 teams -- is a big factor in the NCAA Tournament writes Pat Borzi of ESPNW.com.
-- Florida's women's basketball team broke into the win column by beating Texas Tech on Sunday writes Dylan Rudolph of The Independent Florida Alligator.
-- UF men's basketball assistant coach Darris Nichols will be back in familiar territory -- and facing a familiar foe -- when the Gators play West Virginia at Madison Square Garden writes Justin Jackson for The Dominion (W.Va.) Post.
-- Former Gators standout Joakim Noah has reportedly signed a one-year deal with the Memphis Grizzlies via NBA.com.
Two primary camps wanted their voice heard.
First, there were those Florida fans not overly excited by a third meeting against the Wolverines over the past 38 games. That's the same number of times Florida has played its SEC East rivals during that span.
However, those detractors paled in comparison to #UCFTwitter. Evidently still in the throes of missing out on the College Football Playoff for the second consecutive year despite an undefeated regular season, Knights fans turned their frustration toward Stricklin.
Hey @ScottStricklin what was the back room convo like to keep your team as far away from losing to @UCF_Football as possible?
— Ian Wiggins (@ian_wiggins1) December 2, 2018
One tweet led to more tweets, and soon Stricklin, one of the most active and engaging ADs on social media, responded to multiple comments from those who believe the Gators purposely avoided facing UCF in the Peach Bowl thanks to Stricklin's influence as one of 13 members on the College Football Playoff committee.
The barrage and innuendo continued on social media.
Either they didn't want to put UCF in the Peach in back to back years or somebody (cough cough) didn't think UCF beating Florida would be a great look https://t.co/MWUwUz4osZ
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) December 2, 2018
On Monday, Stricklin spoke with Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi, a longtime chronicler of the Gators and Knights, about the lack of a Florida-UCF matchup in the Peach Bowl.
#Gators AD @ScottStricklin wants to make it clear: UF did not duck #UCF in the #PeachBowl. My blog after conversation with Stricklin: https://t.co/fri8ZICgqs pic.twitter.com/4hTz4VNmsM
— Mike Bianchi (@BianchiWrites) December 3, 2018
"We would have loved to have played UCF in a bowl game," Stricklin said. "I think it would have been an exciting matchup and created a lot of interest, but we also think our game with Michigan is an exciting matchup, too."
Click here to read the column in its entirety with Stricklin's comments.
It's that time of year when coaches are on the move and there is a lot of crossover in college sports. A look at some items of interest to Florida Gators fans:
-- Big news Tuesday morning as former Gators head coach Urban Meyer, who is in his seventh season at Ohio State, is retiring after the Rose Bowl.
A live stream of the 2 p.m. press conference announcing Coach Meyer's retirement and introduction of Coach Day as head coach will be available on https://t.co/He7w8aQLnY pic.twitter.com/d4F4MEBMLJ
— Ohio State Buckeyes (@OhioStAthletics) December 4, 2018
-- Urban Meyer to step down writes Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports.
-- Former Gators head coach Jim McElwain was introduced as the new head coach at Central Michigan on Monday and Evan Petzold of The Detroit News writes about McElwain's career reboot.
-- McElwain was asked specifically for his side of the story on the end of his UF tenure:
Central Michigan coach Jim McElwain on situation at the end of his tenure at Florida:
— Evan Petzold (@EvanPetzold) December 3, 2018
"It was a bad situation." pic.twitter.com/DW23z1JdGw
-- Michigan's Peach Bowl draw isn't ideal but it'll have to do writes Nick Baumgardner of The Detroit Free-Press.
-- The UF volleyball team's height -- the Gators feature three of the 10 players 6-foot-6 or taller on top 25 teams -- is a big factor in the NCAA Tournament writes Pat Borzi of ESPNW.com.
-- Florida's women's basketball team broke into the win column by beating Texas Tech on Sunday writes Dylan Rudolph of The Independent Florida Alligator.
-- UF men's basketball assistant coach Darris Nichols will be back in familiar territory -- and facing a familiar foe -- when the Gators play West Virginia at Madison Square Garden writes Justin Jackson for The Dominion (W.Va.) Post.
-- Former Gators standout Joakim Noah has reportedly signed a one-year deal with the Memphis Grizzlies via NBA.com.
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