Podcast: Previewing Florida Gators vs. Vanderbilt

GatorCountry brings you a new podcast as we start to preview Florida’s game against Vanderbilt on Saturday at noon.

Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre breakdown the keys for the Gators against Vanderbilt on Saturday and what the Gators need to do to stay focus.

Andrew and Nick also talk about Will Muschamp’s firing at South Carolina and who could replace him.

TRANSCRIPT:

Andrew:​What’s up, Gator Country? Your man, Andrew Spivey, here with Nicholas de la Torre. Nicholas, we’re back and going to talk a little Florida-Vandy. I know it may take a little bit of encouragement to get excited here, but guess what? It’s a new week, new game, and 2020 says if you have a game, be grateful.

Nick:​For real. Just be glad that you and I don’t need to suit up, because I am lacking motivation for Vanderbilt.

Andrew:​Yeah. I’m sitting here thinking before we record this podcast, and I’m like, what are we going to talk about? You’re 0-6 if you’re Vandy. Let’s just be real about it. You’ve probably been the team that’s been talked about the least, and probably rightfully so. Just haven’t been very relevant this year. I’ll ask this question to you. Is this it for Derek Mason?

Nick:​I don’t know. We’ve talked about it a bunch, about has this team or are teams going to give their coaches another year because of Covid? Obviously, didn’t work out for Will Muschamp, who got fired. But will Vanderbilt, a public school, who’s definitely going to be losing money. Sorry, private school, who’s definitely going to be losing money? Are they going to fire Derek Mason? What’s his contract look like? Big losers this year.

Andrew:​They don’t have to discloser their losses. I say this, and they never have a big crowd at all, but a lot of visiting teams visit the stadium just because it’s easy, and they love the night life in Nashville and everything else. They’re not getting that at all, so they’re one of the smaller limited crowds there, so they’re hurting even more there. It’ll be interesting to see if that is.

I guess, before we get into Vandy, let’s get into that, about Will Muschamp. Five years was enough for the Gamecocks. I always say this, and that is if you know that it’s time, why wait? I think we all knew that the time had come. Get a head start. Get out there and see who you can get. I mean, right now you’re the only team in town looking for a coach, so that’s a good thing. I guess Southern Miss is, but still. Get out there and get to doing your homework.

I was surprised, but I wasn’t surprised. You know what I mean? Someone told me this. They said next year is going to be all about getting season tickets and getting people back in the stands, and at South Carolina nobody was going to do that if Will Muschamp was the coach.

Nick:​I mean, there’s a lot of people that have really good relationships with Will Muschamp. I just find it hard to feel bad for a guy who’s been paid more than $21 million for being bad at his job. Two different teams saying, here’s millions of dollars, just go away.

Andrew:​Right.

Nick:​Just don’t do the job that we paid you to do. Here’s even more money. Just get away from us. I have a hard time feeling bad for a guy that’s made $21 million for being exceptionally bad at what he was hired to do.

Andrew:​Steve Spurrier. Did you see his quote?

Nick:​Yeah.

Andrew:​He said, well, “He’s not going away empty pocketed. He knows how to get big contracts. I can tell you that.” That’s what he told the ABC Columbia division up there. Like I say, I feel bad for the people around Will that are getting let go. Our good buddy Drew Hughes went up there and was recruiting in the recruiting department with Will. Went up there for this last year to try to help him get things fixed. Didn’t happen. A couple other guys that we know of that went up there and are now without jobs. You hate it for them. I mean, you hate it for Will that he couldn’t get the job done. I know you don’t care for him too much, and it is what it is. I think we all hope that people can get the job done, and he didn’t. But like you say, he’s walking away with his pockets full.

Nick:​Yeah. Obviously, there’s strength coach. There’s defensive backs coaches, running backs coach, offensive line coach. The guys that aren’t getting paid like Will Muschamp is.

Andrew:​Right.

Nick:​And will be looking. Then obviously there’s families and wives and kids that get uprooted, and that stuff sucks.

Andrew:​Right.

Nick:​For me, didn’t make sense when South Carolina hired him to begin with, and I have to assume that this will be his last head coaching gig.

Andrew:​At least for a while, right? I love Dan Quinn to death, and I wish like hell it would have worked out for him in Atlanta, but I knew when his defense started playing terrible Dan Quinn had to go. Unlike at Florida, Will Muschamp’s defense started to play terrible at South Carolina. You knew when that happened, boom, he had to go.

Nick:​Yeah. The defense, and I’m going to pull it up real quick. The defensive numbers for Will Muschamp at South Carolina, right now South Carolina is the 12th ranked defense in the SEC in terms of total defense. What was their scoring defense? They were giving up a ton of points. 13th, averaging giving up 36.7 a game. Only Mississippi has got a worse defense. The people that are saying, and it’s not just our message board, I’m hearing it all over the place, make Will Muschamp Florida’s defense coordinator. His defense has sucked at South Carolina. Granted, it’s harder to recruit and get players at South Carolina than it would be at Florida, but they gave up 52 to LSU, 48 to A&M, and 59 to Ole Miss in the last three weeks. You gave up more than 150 points in the last three games.

Andrew:​Right.

Nick:​No thank you. Don’t need you anywhere near my defense, if I’m a head coach. Nope. That’s not the guy I want coordinating my defense.

Andrew:​Yeah. That’s that. I think a little bit of that is it’s tougher to get players at South Carolina than it is at Florida, at Auburn, that kind of stuff. Here’s the thing though for me. Will Muschamp and T Rob has burned some bridges. T Rob burned some bridges by the way he handled things when he was there with Mac at the end, when Muschamp left and he stayed on for the couple months with Mac. Then the way they went to Auburn and handled some things there. There’s a lot of some connections that have been burned. Be interesting to see. T Rob, I guess you’re going to be back to being a DB coach, because you can’t get off daddy’s pant leg, and daddy’s got to go be a DC somewhere. So, I guess you’re taking a demotion too?

Nick:​I don’t know. Do not know. I like T Rob. You do not.

Andrew:​I do not.

Nick:​I like T Rob.

Andrew:​I just think T Rob’s full of it. He still thinks Dalvin Cook’s coming to Florida.

Nick:​Dalvin’s doing big things at Minnesota.

Andrew:​Yeah. Quick thing, real quick. If you were South Carolina, it’s got to be Hugh Freeze, right?

Nick:​I wouldn’t go near Hugh Freeze with a 20-foot pole.

Andrew:​You wouldn’t?

Nick:​Absolutely not.

Andrew:​Why?

Nick:​He was a complete disaster.

Andrew:​Okay. I mean, so was Lane Kiffin.

Nick:​Not in the same way that Hugh Freeze was.

Andrew:​This is interesting, because I thought you would take the same boat.

Nick:​Absolutely not. Lane Kiffin was like bad at football. Hugh Freeze was like getting charged for having hookers on the road. That’s not the same thing.

Andrew:​Yeah.

Nick:​That’s not the same thing at all. Lane Kiffin has gotten fired because he’s lost football games. Hugh Freeze lacks institutional control and has off the field scandals. I’m not getting anywhere near Hugh Freeze.

Andrew:​Hold on now. Lane was not exactly sent away from Alabama for that. I mean, Lane was sent away from Alabama, told to look for a job, for some things as well. Let’s not call Mr. Lane Kiffin a preacher boy here.

Nick:​Not calling him a preacher boy, but also not hiring Hugh Freeze, who in public is all about God and this and that, and then all of a sudden you see what he’s actually doing when he’s out recruiting for Ole Miss. For me, no thank you.

Andrew:​Who’s your top guy then?

Nick:​Not Hugh Freeze.

Andrew:​Okay. Who is it?

Nick:​Hugh Freeze is a disaster. I don’t know. I see Jordan Rogers tweets about Brian Johnson, and I’m thinking, South Carolina is not a good job. Sure, you’re an SEC coach, but that’s a job, a gig that’s going to be hard to win eight games a year. You just watched Will Muschamp get fired for winning seven, eight games a year. To me, that’s not a job that I’m coveting if I’m an up and coming coach.

Andrew:​See, that’s my question. We’re going to move on here quickly, but at South Carolina, what is your goals? If you’re South Carolina, what is realistic goals at South Carolina?

Nick:​Spurrier ruined them. I don’t know. Your goals are not realistic.

Andrew:​You’re not winning a National Championship.

Nick:​No. Their goals are not realistic. Spurrier, they kind of got to a point with Spurrier where you win the SEC a couple times, and you’re thinking we can win the division, we can get to Atlanta, and then doesn’t do that a couple times. It’s like, listen man, Marcus Lattimore ain’t coming around every other year.

Andrew:​Jadeveon Clowney ain’t coming either.

Nick:​Yeah. Those are once in a generation kind of guys. The expectations, I think, at South Carolina have been skewed a little too far for what is realistic at South Carolina.

Andrew:​Yeah. I mean, you see some of those names, and you see Billy Napier at Lafayette. I know Billy pretty well. Billy’s not working out there. Billy’s personality is way different than South Carolina. You see the guy, Jamey Chadwell. Okay. But is that bringing excitement? I’ve seen Josh Heupel from UCF mentioned a little bit. Is that bringing excitement? If I’m Jamey Chadwell, I’m not going there. I’m going to ruin my career. If I’m Billy Napier, I’m not taking that job. I got a cakewalk right now at Lafayette. I’m waiting on some other job to come that I have it realistic.

Right now, you are the whipping boy to Clemson. That’s it. If there is a top South Carolina target in the state of South Carolina, it’s going to Clemson. You’re not getting him. You’re having to go recruit out of state, and what are you selling?

Nick:​It’s a tough job.

Andrew:​I mean, is your goal right now to be third in the East? Is that your goal?

Nick:​At South Carolina you’re recruiting against everyone else in the SEC. There’s not enough guys in the state, and if there are, those guys are probably going to Clemson now. You’re also recruiting against Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State, Nebraska. It’s a tough job. I don’t want to speak for you. I did not think Will Muschamp would be successful when they hired him. He wasn’t. It’s a hard job. The expectations of the South Carolina fanbase do not match what I think the potential is at South Carolina. So, for me, if I’m Brian Johnson, it would be great. My first job is to be a head coach, in the SEC. That’s my first head coaching job? That’s awesome. But then you look at it, the expectations of the fanbase do not meet the reality of the school and the situation there.

To me, that’s just a job where you’re setting yourself up to be fired in four years, even if you’re winning seven, eight games. Maybe Hugh Freeze is the best they can do, and you accept the guy who in public is quoting the Bible and sounds very religious, and then they find your phone, and you’ve got escort services when you’re on the road on recruiting trips. Maybe that’s the guy that they need, and that’s the best guy that they can get, but that’s not who I would hire.

Andrew:​Right. Yeah. I don’t know. I don’t know who you go get. If I’m Brian Johnson, I’m thinking hard about it. Obviously, it’s an opportunity to be a first-time head coach, but you probably fall flat on your face and in three years, maybe four years. It’s an opportunity.

​Let’s go to the game, Nick. We got Vandy this week up in Nashville. Have they announced how many fans it is? It’s just parents, right? Is that all it is?

Nick:​Vanderbilt is allowing their students, their football players can have their families, and then for the first time this year opposing team players can have their families as well. If you look at Vanderbilt’s attendance so far, against LSU there were 2,000 people there. South Carolina, 1,288. Mississippi, 840 people at the game. You’re looking at these numbers, and you got to bring your own juice.

Andrew:​Yeah. Dan Mullen kind of talked about that. They’re going to do a lot of things different. Smaller locker room at Vandy, kind of like at A&M. The plane ride and everything else. Said he’s going to have to adjust some things and kind of spend less time in the locker room and all that. I think that in itself will kind of keep the team focused, I guess is the best way to say it. Maybe on edge a little bit. It’ll be interesting just to kind of see how things get changed about after that A&M trip, because this is the first true road trip that they’ll be on.

Nick:​It’s got to be self-motivation. Listen, you’re facing an 0-6 team. It’s a Vanderbilt team that, quite frankly, is not a very good football team. It’s 11:00 AM local kick. It’s early. It’s going to be cold in Nashville. It has all the makings of a trap game. But if you’re Florida, and they keep talking about it, Florida football players and the coaching staff, they keep mentioning we want to be a great team. We want to be a National Championship team. National champions show up. A business trip. Show up at 11:00, handle business, beat Vandy by 25, 30 points, and get on out of Nashville.

Andrew:​Exactly. And stay healthy. That’s the biggest thing. This is an opportunity to get Emory and Ant some more opportunities at quarterback. An opportunity to get some more of your linemen some opportunities to play. Maybe a chance to get Ethan White some more reps and get him ready to go. Get all your guys more reps in this game. You would hope that your starters would play the first half and kind of sit out the second half in this game.

​I look at this game, Nick, and you and I talk about this all the time. I think it’s safe to say that this is very important this week, and that is have that killer instinct this week. Go into this game saying, we’re going to win this game, and we’re going to win this game big. Go in there and take care of business. Don’t come in there with your foot off the gas and allow this game to linger on until the fourth quarter and make your starters play four quarters. Go into this game with the killer instinct of we’re going to win this game, and we’re going to win this game. Get it handled quickly. Give Vanderbilt zero opportunity to have any kind of life in this game and put it away.

Nick:​Yeah. Hey, two years ago, Dan Mullen’s first year, up in Vanderbilt you’re down 21-3. It can happen. It’s very easy to overlook this Vanderbilt team. It’s very easy with an early kickoff. You’ve played a full SEC schedule. Your body hurts. You’re tired. This is a week we can just show up and kind of go through the motions.

Andrew:​Right.

Nick:​I think that’s really, even more so than your opponent, that’s really what you’re battling this week.

Andrew:​Right. That’s an opportunity that you go into this game and allow them to stick around and make this game a lot tougher than it should be. This game should not be tough at all. This game should not be in doubt in the second half whatsoever. Vandy’s averaging 16.5 points per game. Giving up 36 points. They’ve only scored 99 points all year, Nick. 99 points. Florida’s done that in two games.

Nick:​Yeah. Not great. Not particularly good anywhere. It’s weird for a team like Vanderbilt, with a defensive minded coach like James Franklin, they are middle of the pack. Giving up 257 yards through the air. They’re just not really, even when Vanderbilt’s been bad, you look in the past, like they would hold Florida to seven points or 13 points, but scoring defense wise, rushing defense wise. They’re giving up almost 200 yards on the ground on average per game. This is not even a typical Derek Mason defense.

Andrew:​Vandy typically has been one of those teams, even under the Urban days, that have kept things close with Florida for a while. But like you said, this is just a really bad team. They don’t have Ke’Shawn Vaughn or any really star guys that can do some things on offense. I’m going through this. They’re averaging 220 yards per game passing, 126 yards rushing. None of that’s really spectacular in this game. Another opportunity for Kyle Trask to kind of pad those Heisman stats.

Nick:​Yeah. Let’s get into that, because I’ve kind of gone back and forth on this.

Andrew:​Okay.

Nick:​It seems like at least the TV people, when they were talking about Trask, or maybe some national people were saying Kyle Trask is entering the Heisman race, and now he’s the betting favorite. To me, I’m sitting there thinking, what do you mean entering the Heisman race? He’s been doing this all year, been playing at this level all year. Then I thought about it, and I go, okay, Florida’s first game was at noon. Second game, was that also noon? Were the first three games at noon?

Andrew:​Yes.

Nick:​Yeah. First three games were at noon. Then you had a two-week layoff because of Covid. You come back against Missouri, and that’s a game that’s only streaming for a lot of people.

Andrew:​Right.

Nick:​Then you go into Georgia. Okay, well then Georgia was a national stage, and he did what he did against Georgia on a national stage. Then did it again last week at night, Feleipe Franks. That was a big national game, because of the storyline. I’m thinking, I guess that makes sense, but to me, my initial thought process was, where have you all been? What do you mean entering the Heisman race? He’s been doing this all year long.

Andrew:​Yeah. When you hear that on Saturday during the Arkansas game, and you hear them say he’s entering the race and this, that, and the other, my thinking is he’s been, and I say this, and it’s not true this year, but he’s had his invitation to New York. Now it’s an invitation to the virtual ESPN party, but still he’s had that invitation. The question for me is, and the question that I think all of us have, is where he is. Is he one, two, three, or four? Is he ahead of Mac Jones? Is he ahead of Justin Fields? Is he ahead of Trevor Lawrence? Those are the four that in my opinion will be finalists.

In my opinion, I think right now it has to be between him and Mac Jones. Fields hasn’t played enough. Trevor’s missed two games. It has to be between him and Mac Jones, and if you look at it, just in general, I think he has to be ahead of Mac Jones. But to say he’s just now entering the conversation is just bizarre and dumb to me. I think the better thing would have been maybe he’s jumping into the conversation to be the leading guy. Maybe that’s what they kind of meant.

Nick:​So, coming into this season it was a two-dog race. It was Fields and Lawrence, and which one is going to win the Heisman? And deservedly so. Those are two guy who you expected pre-Covid to be the frontrunners for the Heisman. Kyle Trask was maybe like a dark horse candidate. Maybe. But definitely not getting the kind of hype preseason, despite Florida being a trendy pick to make the playoff and things like that.

So, I think just for Kyle Trask it was you’re starting from a disadvantage before the season, and then kind of the way I put things. Florida hasn’t really been on a national stage this year, even with fewer teams playing and fewer games happening. Listen, you look at the rest of the season for Florida. Kentucky, not very good. Tennessee, not very good. Vanderbilt, terrible. If you play the LSU game, they stink. So, really you’ve got to kind of pad stats if you’re Kyle Trask, and if Florida’s trying to get in there. You’ve kind of pad stats, but you’re going to have to beat. Kyle Trask does not win the Heisman if Florida doesn’t beat Alabama.

Andrew:​Right.

Nick:​Florida will have to beat Alabama in the SEC Championship game, and Kyle Trask will have to have a good game, if he’s going to win it.

Andrew:​I think that’s just the nature of kind of where the award’s gone to. That is not necessarily the best player, and I think Dan Mullen said this best on Monday. It’s the best player on the best team. You have to be that best team almost to get that award. I don’t know that that’s fair, and I don’t know that it’s not fair. I say this, and I’m just saying it because that’s the last team they played. But if Feleipe Franks was throwing for 500 yards a game and six touchdowns, does it really matter if your team sucks?

Nick:​No. It’s kind of like what Dan said. The award kind of doesn’t go to the best player in the country anymore. It kind of goes to the best player on the best team.

Andrew:​Right.

Nick:​Now, listen, last year I thought Joe Burrow. It’s also not to say like, listen, maybe Trevor Lawrence is a better quarterback than Kyle Trask. Maybe he is. But the Heisman, in my mind, should be going to the best player that year. Right now, the way Kyle Trask is playing, you can’t tell me. You can’t pick another player in the country and say, this guy is having a better year.

Andrew:​No. I don’t think you can either. I think that when you look at that in general, and I think we, not necessarily us, but I think a lot of writers who vote get caught up in Trevor has had now three good years. Well, it doesn’t matter. It’s who is the best player that year? Not necessarily who the best career player is. If that’s the case, why didn’t Tim Tebow win it every year he got it? He was the best player for four years. Why didn’t he get it?

​I hope that it’s looked at that way, and again, Florida’s got back to back noon kickoffs coming up again, so I hope that doesn’t end up hurting him. But like you said, I think it comes back to if you beat Alabama in the SEC Championship game and Kyle has a big game, that’ll cement his case. The thing is he can lose it the next few weeks by playing bad.

Nick:​Yeah. Listen, you’ve got to go out winning these next couple games convincingly, and that starts with this Vandyhurdle.

Andrew:​Yes.

Nick:​I’m really interested to see, because they’re saying all the right things. Dan Mullen says, it doesn’t matter who our opponent is. We can be the playing the ’85 Bears. If we’re not focused on ourselves and getting better this week in practice, just us improving, if we’re not better this week than we were last week, then we’re not a championship team. That’s what championship teams do.

Andrew:​Yeah. That’s exactly right. It’s what you got to do. For me, with Florida as a team as well, there’s still a lot out there. Continuing to show the college football playoff committee and everyone else that this is a team that deserves to be there. There’s still a lot to prove team wise. You can get to Atlanta, but make yourself right up and in contention and everything else. I’m with you there. I think the biggest thing is just don’t lose it these next few weeks.

​I’m reading this stat right now. Kyle Trask is averaging 4.6 passing touchdowns per game. Per game. If he’d averaged that over a 13-game season, and you’re not going to get 13 games, he’d finish with 60 touchdowns. That’s the same as Joe Burrow had last year. That’s insane.

Nick:​You could get 13 games.

Andrew:​Yeah.

Nick:​Maybe not. It’ll be interesting to see. If you played all ten games that were scheduled, then you played the SEC Championship game, then you played a semifinal game and a national championship. Then you get to 13.

Andrew:​Right. But the Heisman would be given before that.

Nick:​Right.

Andrew:​So, that’s that. Another big award for Kyle is he’s invited to the Senior Bowl.

Nick:​Yeah.

Andrew:​Let’s see. It’s Shawn Davis.

Nick:​That’s a bummer for me, because I’ve told people the way that Kyle Trask could be playing quarterback at Florida until he’s 24 years old. He had a medical redshirt available to him, and he’s got a free year of eligibility this year. I was like, Kyle not only can come back in 2021, he could be back in 2022. Theoretically.

Andrew:​Yeah.

Nick:​Burst my bubble.

Andrew:​That goes to show you how big of a year he’s had, because he was not on the watch list for the Senior Bowl. We’re good friends with those guys. He wasn’t on the watch list at the beginning of the year. Busts onto the scene, and he’s one of the first quarterbacks to be picked for that. Be interesting to see how he does in that game. I think he’ll do well, but it’ll be interesting to see. Trevon Grimes also accepted his. Shawn Davis also accepted his. So did, who am I missing, Nick? Shawn, Trevon, Kyle. There was one more that accepted. Now I’m losing it.

Nick:​There’s four so far. It’s going to be a jampacked Gator week at the Senior Bowl. Who was the last one? There were four. Trevon, Shawn, Kyle, and Jeremiah Moon.

Andrew:​Jeremiah Moon. That’s it. I was thinking offense, and it’s Jeremiah Moon. Those four. Obviously, expect KT to get it. Mobile guy, so he’ll be announced a little later on in the process. Yeah. Went from not having very many Gators to the last few years loading it up.

Nick:​Yeah. It’ll be a jampacked week. It’ll be interesting to see how all that goes in the Covid era and what it’ll look like.

Andrew:​I’m just hoping we still get the same access.

Nick:​Yeah. Senior Bowl is great access, for sure.

Andrew:​Watching those guys, talking to scouts, and all that good stuff. That’s what makes it is hearing what the scouts and different people think about Florida and just the team in general, and kind of what things are going. That’s kind of what makes it. Again, I think it’ll be interesting to see how Kyle does in that environment of having to pick up an offense really quick. I think he’s a smart guy, and that won’t be a problem at all, but it’ll be interesting. Be something different. Quarterbacks typically gain or lose a lot in the Senior Bowl. I say that because teams either say, he’s really smart and picked up on things, or we need to go back and do some more homework on guys.

Nick:​It’s a huge opportunity. All 32 NFL teams are there. You’re talking to all of them, meetings. It’s not just them seeing what you can do on the field close up. It’s really just the opportunity to sit down and for them to get to know you. Your Draft stock can rise. We talked to Trevon Grimes about that. He said he had already reached out to Tyrie Cleveland and to Van Jefferson, two guys who really used, Van really used the Senior Bowl to his advantage, but then Tyrie got the late invite last year and took advantage fo the opportunity that he had there.

​I think it’ll help Kyle, but I think even more so it needs to help a guy like Jeremiah Moon, who has not been able to stay healthy at all during his college career and doesn’t have the stats. There will be buzz around Kyle Trask just because of the numbers and the way he’s playing this year, but a guy like Jeremiah Moon, you’re hurt again right now. It’s a big week for you to sit there and talk to these guys, and they’re going to go over your medicals. What’s wrong with your foot, knee, ankle, back, wrist, finger, head? What’s all that stuff?

Andrew:​I think he will do well in interviews and stuff like that because of his length, and so it’ll be interesting, like you said, to see how he plays. Hopefully he can stay healthy.

Nick:​He’s a really intelligent, nice, well spoken young man, so he’ll so well in some interviews, but there’s the injury questions he just doesn’t have an answer for. Really has not been able to stay healthy at all.

Andrew:​All he can say is, I don’t know.

Nick:​Don’t get hurt during the Senior Bowl week.

Andrew:​Yeah. Don’t do that. I think that’s all. Basketball announced.

Nick:​Basketball. Yeah.

Andrew:​Only 2,200 are going to be in the O Dome.

Nick:​Yup. That’s just where we are with Covid and with the surge again. Listen, I’m sure they will continue assessing things, and if the testing numbers get better as the season goes on, maybe you’ll have some more people. Obviously, all the studies show that if you’re outside and in fresh air and you’ve got some wind circulating that it’s less likely to spread. That is not the scenario you have with basketball being in an arena.

Andrew:​Yeah. It’s not going to be near as entertaining. You’re going to turn on a game, and you’re not going to hear the Rowdy Reptiles or the camera crazies at Duke or Kansas’ student section. It’s going to be different. Now they’re saying they may do the entire NCAA tournament in Indianapolis now. Do it as a bubble. Here’s my thing. That’s cool. Whatever it takes to get the tournament.

Nick:​Yeah. Big year. We were talking about football coaches getting extra time. This is a big year for Mike Whiteand this Florida basketball team. Listen, poor Mike White. He sat there talking about, and I believe him when he says, we have the pieces right now to run the kind of offense, this fast up tempo offense that everyone thought he was going to run when he first showed up. But then you draw Virginia Week 2, and you’re not going to run up tempo. You’re not going to score a lot, and that’s just because nobody does that against Virginia. That’s just not how those games go. It’s a big year for Mike White. You’ve got to show up this year.

Andrew:​Yeah. Poor guy. That’s all I can say. That’s going to be a 55-45, 55-50 game, and people are going to bitch and complain and everything else, because Mike White’s not running. Guess what? I don’t know if LeBron and the Lakers would run on it. Virginia would figure out some way to make them even go half-court in that game.

Nick:​Maybe not LeBron, but yeah. The other four guys on the court not named LeBron. They’d slow them down.

Andrew:​They would just figure out some kind of way to double them and make them go to a half-court offense, because it does not matter who they play. It’s always a grind it out kind of game. Here’s my thing. I’m so glad I don’t have to cover Virginia on a daily basis. I’d get bored.

Nick:​Yeah. You got to be like, we’ll ask Eric, because he’s a basketball purist. Maybe he enjoys it, but you and I are not basketball purists. Watching teams score 38 points in a basketball game, not my idea of a fun afternoon to watch that.

Andrew:​No. I mean, my thing, I’m cool with like a 70-60 game, somewhere around in there, where there’s some good defense being played, but still enough offense to keep me entertained. I’m not one of those that like watching the Rockets play, because there’s zero defense. They run down, throw up a three, and they score 150 points a game. I don’t like that style of basketball. I need something in between. I need a little bit of offense and a little bit of defense. I don’t need pure offense or pure defense.

Nick:​Yeah. Give me a mix.

Andrew:​Give me a little bit of a mix there. Hopefully, my guys Trae Young and the Hawks will be a little bit of a mix. The NBA Draft is Wednesday night. I’ll see who goes first. Any picks?

Nick:​No. I don’t know. I haven’t really followed it. I don’t like the way the NBA does their Draft. In the NFL, let’s say the Dolphins and the Falcons trade picks. The Falcons trade for the Dolphin’s fifth pick. Now the Falcons are picking fifth. They make their pick. In the NBA, it’s like these poor kids who are there at the Draft are putting on the hat of the Hornets, but it’s, no, the Hornets are actually making this pick for the Suns, and then the Suns traded the Draft rights to this. I’m like, who the hell drafted this guy? Can you just tell me what team he’s going to be playing for? They make it so convoluted. I’m watching the NBA Draft and thinking, I don’t even know who is going where, who’s picking for who. Just listen, if the Heat traded with the Suns, and now the Heat are picking seventh, don’t say the Suns draft so-and-so. This is the Heat’s pick. You don’t need to tell me.

Andrew:​Don’t tell me the Suns are drafting for the Heat. No. The Heat are drafting. That’s it. I’m going to with Ball, LaMelo.

Nick:​#1 overall.

Andrew:​Yeah.

Nick:​I don’t know if I’m trying to draft his dad.

Andrew:​For real. If not him, it’ll be Wiseman. My question is how fun. Now, how entertaining off the court it would be, probably not much. But how fun would it be to see Ball, Curry, and those guys, if he was to go two overall to the Warriors? That’d be a lot of egos on the court.

Nick:​Yeah.

Andrew:​Yeah.

Nick:​James Harden turned down a $50 million extension from Houston and basically is holding them hostage. Wants to go play with Kevin Durant and Kyrie in Brooklyn.

Andrew:​If I’m Kevin Durant and Kyrie, I’m saying, hell to the no of bringing James Harden to my team. Neither one of those guys will see the ball.

Nick:​Sitting there clapping your hands. Here. Open.

Andrew:​He’s open on the other end of the court, he thinks. I’m not hating on James Harden, but the guy likes to shoot every opportunity he gets. Nick, tell everybody where they can find us. We’ll get out of here. We’ll see everyone on Friday. We’ll make some picks. Probably not talk much more about this Vandygame, as we didn’t talk very much about it today, because there just isn’t that much to talk about.

Nick:​www.GatorCounty.com for all your Florida Gator news. The podcast is there in audio and transcript form. You can find the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. Search Gator Country. Hit subscribe. Never miss an episode. Do your social media thing. @GatorCountry on Facebook and Twitter. @TheGatorCountry on Instagram. I’m @NickdelaTorreGC. He’s @AndrewSpiveyGC.

Andrew:​There you go. Guys, we appreciate it. We will see everyone on Friday. As always, go Braves and chomp, chomp.

Nick:​You stay classy, Gator Country.