Worst to Best 2015-16 Major Mens Sports Seasons

[jbcarol]

14. Mizzou

https://twitter.com/Steve_Walentik/status/744535589916024832

A year in which the football and men's basketball teams both struggle would normally be forgettable for the Missouri athletic department. There are a lot of adjectives to describe the 2015-16 year in athletics at MU, but "forgettable" isn't one of them.

In a year of upheaval, athletes openly rebelled against the university and its athletic administration, longtime coaches left their posts, the NCAA investigated the men's basketball program and the school conducted a Title IX investigation of the softball team that drags on even after the last runner crossed the finish line at the national track meet, signifying the end of competition for MU's school year.

A constant flow of problems ensured Athletic Director Mack Rhoades spent his rookie year playing defense as he took fire from fans, politicians and his own athletes.

It didn't help that in the revenue sports, there was little to cheer. The Missouri football team went 5-7 in a season that was even more frustrating than the record indicated. The Tigers failed to score a touchdown in five of the 12 games. The men's basketball program continued to be plagued by player defections, finished with a 10-21 overall record and placed last in the Southeastern Conference for the second straight year with a 3-15 mark.

In the more than 100 years Missouri has competed in both football and men's basketball, this was only the ninth time the Tigers posted losing records in both sports in the same school year. The combined SEC records of the football and basketball teams this year was 4-22.


In the spring, Missouri's baseball and softball teams began the season with a lot of answers and ended with a lot of questions.

The baseball team, coming off a year in which it went 15-15 in SEC play and returning its top two starting pitchers and five starting position players, struggled in every phase. The Tigers lost their first seven SEC games and never recovered, finishing with a 26-31 record and a 9-21 mark in conference play.

One year after receiving a three-year extension, Coach Tim Jamieson was forced out, although it was called a resignation. Jamieson coached the Tigers for 22 years and led them to nine NCAA Tournaments, including seven straight appearances from 2003-09...

[jbcarol]

13. Auburn

One of Auburn's worst years ever in men's sports

Despite one of the worst years ever for Auburn's top three men's sports, athletic director Jay Jacobs says he has "never felt better" about the three coaches leading the Tigers football, men's basketball and baseball teams.

Auburn's top three men's sports went a combined 41-59 overall with a 15-41 mark in SEC play, with only Missouri (41-61 overall, 13-43 SEC) having less success in the conference this past year.

"I think that Auburn athletics is strong," Jacobs said during last week's SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, Florida.

While Auburn had success in non-revenue sports this year, with equestrian winning its fourth national championship and softball playing in the championship of the Women's College World Series, there are a collection of dubious marks for woeful performances on the gridiron, basketball court and baseball diamond.

There is no other year in Auburn history when its top three men's sports had such lows in both combined overall win percentage (41-59, .410) and combined SEC win percentage (14-41, .269) - the school has incomplete records for its baseball team from from the 1930s and 1940s and Auburn did not field a football team in 1943, men's basketball team in 1943-44, or baseball team in 1944 or 1945 due to World War II.

The 2015-16 season delivered Auburn's worst combined SEC win percentage for the school's top three men's teams since 1981 (11-36, .235) and second-worst in the all-time history of the program. The combined .410 overall win percentage from the three men's teams is the lowest for the Tigers since 1949 (19-33-1, .368).

Of the four times since 1946 when Auburn's football, men's basketball and baseball teams combined for an under-.300 win percentage in SEC play, two have come in the last four academic years, during which there has been at least one head coaching change in each sport.

After entering the 2015 season ranked No. 6 in the preseason polls, Auburn's football team had a drastically underwhelmed and went 7-6 overall and 2-6 in SEC play, with no home conference wins.

Bruce Pearl's second season on the Plains included highlights - a season-opening win over UAB and back-to-back home wins over Kentucky and Alabama - as well as a brutal finish, with losses in 12 of the final 14 games.

With a series of injuries and point guard and leading scorer Kareem Canty suspended and then departing for the NBA Draft, Auburn finished 11-20 overall and 5-13 in the SEC.

First-year baseball coach Butch Thompson started at Auburn under less than ideal circumstances following the firing of Sunny Golloway last September.

After snapping a five-year drought by making an NCAA Regional in 2015, Auburn failed to qualify for postseason play this season after finishing 23-33 overall and 8-22 in SEC play for a 13th place finish in the conference.

It was Auburn's fewest SEC baseball wins since 1984 (Eight) and one of just three seasons in the program's 80-year history with a less than .500 overall win percentage (.412) and less than .300 SEC win percentage (.267), with the others coming in 1983 and 1955.

[jbcarol]

12. South Carolina

Grading each South Carolina team on its 2015-16 performance

FOOTBALL

Coach: Steve Spurrier/Shawn Elliott

Record/conference finish: 3-9 (1-7 SEC, sixth SEC East)

Postseason: None

The skinny: A snowball tumble for a team that finished fourth in the final polls after the 2013 season. From the all-time winningest coach abruptly resigning mid-season to losing to The Citadel, the year was a total disaster.

Grade: F


MEN'S BASKETBALL

Coach: Frank Martin

Record/conference finish: 25-9 (11-7 SEC, T-third)

Postseason: Second round, NIT

The skinny: Talk all you want about Georgia or RPI or strength of schedule, but the national consensus is that USC was jobbed by the NCAA Tournament selection committee [even got a congratulations text]. Gamecocks had an outstanding year and deserved to be recognized in the Field of 68. Guards Sindarius Thornwell, Duane Notice and P.J. Dozier return.

Grade: A


BASEBALL

Coach: Chad Holbrook

Record/conference finish: 46-18 (20-9 SEC, first SEC East)

Postseason: Swept in the Columbia Super Regional by Oklahoma State

The skinny: All Holbrook did was take a reconstructed team that missed the postseason last year to the SEC East championship, just a half-game from winning the whole shootin' match. Even after the usual SEC tournament stinker, USC should make some noise in a home NCAA Regional.

Grade: A

[jbcarol]

11. Vandy

Derek Mason won one more game than he did in his first year and two more SEC games [Two] than that disastrous 3-9 season.

In 2014, their average margin of defeat was 16 points. This fall, it dropped to 5.8. In that first season, they ranked 104th in scoring defense. This season, they improved all the way to 21st in the nation.

Of course, it's difficult to call a four-win season a major step forward. Those advances weren't so apparent across the board. Vandy's passing offense fell from 105th to 112th in the country. They scored two fewer points per game than they did the year before. Despite a few moments of promise, this team is still a long way away from finding a stable solution to their quarterback problems.

Vanderbilt Basketball: A Year in Review

Wichita State loss was tough to swallow yesterday, and it only makes sense that Stallings [since replaced by Bryce Drew] ended it with a bone-headed technical foul. Now that the season is over, disappointment or not, it is only logical to reflect on both Vandy's shortcomings and triumphs that made this season such a roller-coaster ride. I'll be honest though, this was a disappointing season.

We will not be seeing Damian Jones or Wade Baldwin IV donning the black and gold once again. Both have been integral parts of Vandy's quasi-successful seasons the past two years, and it's a real shame to see them leave.

The Highs

Projecting to be the top SEC team

W vs. Texas A&M

W vs. Kentucky

Wade Baldwin dabbing

Hendo's full court shot on an absolute line drive, he got on ESPN too!

The Lows

Not meeting any of the expectations set out by analysts

Being labeled as soft

L vs. Ole Miss after Wade Baldwin's dab

L vs. Tenesseee

https://twitter.com/AdamSparks/status/739139167855120384

Adam Sparks ‏@AdamSparks Jun 4

Tim Corbin: "I haven't been through anything like that, and I'm 54 years old. So I know they haven't been through that."


Vandy's baseball season came to a tragic end after getting swept in the Vandy regional the same week of the drowning death of freshman pitcher Donny Everett.

[jbcarol]

10. Kentucky

Season ending analysis from Kentucky's 38-24 home loss to Louisville

Down 24-7 at halftime, Louisville dominated the second half

It was a picture of UK's 5-7 football season

For the second straight season, Kentucky started the year off well only to falter down the stretch. In the end, the Wildcats were left with a frustrating 5-7 record, a game short of bowl eligibility once again.

Best moment: Kentucky's 21-13 win over Missouri on Sept. 26 --

Worst moment: It's easy to point to the Wildcats' season finale -- a 38-24 loss to Louisville in which they led 21-0 in the first quarter and 24-7 at halftime -- but bowl eligibility shouldn't have come down to that game. Kentucky should've taken care of business two weeks prior versus Vanderbilt, when the Wildcats lost 21-17.

Kentucky was one of four SEC teams ineligible for a bowl bid.

Kentucky (27-9, 13-5) was one of three SEC teams to get a bid to the NCAA Tournament. They were ranked number one after defeating Duke in November.  Kentucky was co-champs of the SEC with A&M and seeded number two in the SEC Tournament beating A&M in overtime.  Kentucky lost in the Round of 32 to bitter rival Indiana. This was their second worst finish under Calipari but second best in the SEC in 2016.

UK baseball coach Gary Henderson has resigned after missing the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive season...

He was effectively traded to Mississippi State for their pitching coach

Kentucky was one of the 12 teams who did qualify for the SEC Tournament

John Calipari declared a fourth season, the biggest night of the year if not ever, the NBA draft.

While leading the SEC, UK players fell from original draft projections. Jamal Murray was seventh. Skal fell to 28th. Tyler Ulis fell to the second round. Alex Poythress was not drafted. Marcus Lee withdrew from the draft after participating in the NBA combine and then transferred to play for the Cal Bears; two more years of college basketball.  Isaiah Briscoe also withdrew from the draft and returned to Kentucky setting up a three-guard 2016-17 team with Fox and Monk.

[jbcarol]

Brandon Marcello ‏@bmarcello 56s56 seconds ago

Jay Jacobs: 'Auburn athletics is strong' following its worst year in Big 3 sports
https://www.seccountry.com/auburn/jay-jacobs-auburn-athletics-is-strong-following-its-worst-year-in-big-3-sports

AUBURN, Ala. — The worst year in men's sports history at Auburn is not deterring Auburn athletics director Jay Jacobs from heaping high praise on his coaches.

"Auburn athletics is strong," Jacobs declared at the SEC's spring meetings in early June.

The three major sports (football, men's basketball and baseball) have never combined for a lower winning percentage (.410) and SEC win percentage (.269) in a single academic year...

"Absolutely we have to do better but I can tell you this: we're not sparing any resources to give each of those coaches — those three and the other 12 — an opportunity to be successful," Jacobs said June 21 in Atmore, Ala. "Whatever it is they need, certainly within reason, but having been in this business and played, I know what's within reason."

The football program opened the season ranked No. 6 in the national polls, finished 7-6 and nearly lost to in-state FCS foe Jacksonville State in Week 2. The football program has lost nine of its last 11 SEC games.

The basketball program suffered through a string of injuries to its best players (Tahj Shamsid-Deen, T.J. Dunans) and eligibility issues with another (Danjel Purifoy) to finish with a 11-20 overall record and 5-13 SEC mark in Bruce Pearl's second season as coach.

Baseball was a completely different animal. Butch Thompson was not provided much time to rebuild the program after the sudden firing of third-year coach Sunny Golloway in September. Thompson "did a masterful job keeping those young guys together," Jacobs said. The Tigers finished 23-33 overall and 8-22 in the SEC.

Thompson, a former pitching coach at Mississippi State, is a name several schools would have been interested in hiring this spring if Auburn had not already hired him, Jacobs bragged.

The scoreboard matters to fans, but attendance continues to be up for football and men's basketball. Interest is still high, but it could be tested this upcoming season if the losing continues. The Auburn football program has not won an SEC game at Jordan-Hare Stadium since Oct. 25, 2014.

"But I know this: we have to win more," Jacobs said...

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/aldotcomSports/status/746773779561521153

[jbcarol]

9. Georgia Bulldogs

Georgia Bulldogs were the preseason favorites in the SEC East but lost three conference games. After a 9-3 regular season, head coach Mark Richt was fired and Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart was hired to replace him.

Best moment: The season was never sweeter for the Bulldogs after their dismantling of South Carolina, 52-20, in Athens.

Worst moment: Losing at home by 28 to Alabama was bad, and Tennessee's 38-31 win over Georgia rocked Athens. But the lowest moment, which eventually cost Richt his job and eliminated the Bulldogs in the SEC East? The 27-3 loss to Florida. This game hurt for so many reasons. For one, Georgia decided to go with little-used third-string quarterback Faton Bauta, who promptly completed 45 percent of his passes and threw four interceptions. Florida didn't have much of a passing game, but registered 258 rushing yards, got a special teams touchdown, and put the game away with a 66-yard prayer of a touchdown pass to Antonio Callaway.

SEC basketball was down from last season to this season

Unfortunately, seven teams—half the conference—dropped at least 20 places in the ratings. Some of these drops weren't a surprise, like the Arkansas Razorbacks

Georgia Bulldogs are less understandable in their fall. Lost an important player from last year—Marcus Thornton —but they each returned nearly everyone else.

Georgia was 10-8 in league and lost to St. Mary's in the second round of the NIT.


Scott Stricklin's baseball team (27-30, 11-19) was able to back into the SEC baseball tournament, but failed to make the NCAA Tournament, continuing a futility streak reaching back to 2008.

[jbcarol]

8. Tennessee

Butch Jones' team can't help but play the what-if game over failing to claim an SEC East title in a season when it was within the Volunteers' grasp.

This was a season that we will remember for a couple of heartbreaking losses -- namely September defeats against Oklahoma and Florida when the Vols (8-4, 5-3 SEC) were on the verge of breakthrough victories --

Their eight wins were the most by a Tennessee team since 2007, and this was  the first time since that '07 season that the Vols will play in a New Year's Day bowl game.

The losses to Oklahoma and Florida felt equally bad.

Tennessee led Oklahoma 17-3 entering the fourth quarter only to have Baker Mayfield force overtime by hitting Sterling Shepard with a touchdown pass with 40 seconds to play. The Sooners won 31-24 in the second OT when they picked off a Dobbs pass on the final play.

Two weeks later, the Vols led 27-14 before Florida scored two touchdowns in the final 4:09 – the second of which was a fourth-and-14 completion that Antonio Callaway took for the game-winning touchdown with 1:26 to play – and won 28-27. That loss was especially painful since it eventually made the difference in Florida reaching the SEC title game over Tennessee.

No. 12 seed Tennessee (15-19) stayed in the SEC Tournament longer than some expected under first year coach Rick Barnes.

Tennessee Baseball (29-28) missed the NCAA Tournament for an 11th straight season. AD Hart announced that Dave Serrano's contract was extended for one more season.

[jbcarol]

7. Ole Miss

The goal was to win the West and play for an SEC championship. And Ole Miss came oh so close.

Ole Miss would have made it to Atlanta if not for a fourth-and-25 conversion given up in overtime against Arkansas.

The Nkemdiche brothers and Laremy Tunsil kept things interesting all year long and Ole Miss now faces NCAA sanctions in addition to their self-imposed penalties. The 2013 recruiting haul leading to an eventual 2016 notice of allegations is a tie-breaker landing Ole Miss sixth among the seven SEC West schools.

Spirit Ben: The locker room was eerily quiet, players shuffling back and forth, a few with head phones and towels draped over their heads as if to avoid contact with anyone.

Ole Miss likely needed four wins in four days of SEC tournament play to reach the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the last four seasons. Instead, the Rebels are going home, one and done after an 81-73 second-round loss to Alabama Thursday night in the SEC Tournament.

Stefan Moody deserved better. He scored 39 points in the loss — tied for the second-most in an SEC tournament game — on 12 of 27 from the floor and 8 of 17 from 3. His teammates combined for 34 points (14 of 40 FGs), and Tomasz Gielo was the only other Rebel to reach double-digit points.

He should have been given a sendoff on the biggest stage in college basketball in the NCAA Tournament. Such a player is what March Madness was made for. Just ask Marshall Henderson.

Instead, he had to settle for a standing ovation as the final seconds ticked away in a loss few will remember years from now.

NCAA Baseball Tournament 2016: Ole Miss eliminated by Tulane

A 43-win season over in the span of less than 24 hours. Ole Miss, which this time last week looked poised to pick up a national seed, was washed winless out of its own regional by Tulane on Saturday, blowing a ninth-inning lead in a 6-5 loss. Its the second straight year the Rebs have failed to win an NCAA Tourney game after going two-and-through in Los Angeles in 2015.

If we're being honest, Ole Miss' super regional hopes died on Friday night in the loss to four-seed Utah—the Rebs just didn't have the starting pitching depth to reel off four straight wins out of the losers bracket. But you figured they'd at least be able to grab one from Tulane.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/TJMoe28/status/753306311102566400

https://twitter.com/craigmullen8/status/753304164554375169

Clay Travis ‏@ClayTravis 23h23 hours ago

Clay Travis Retweeted SEC Network

Enrollment also declined 25%. But at least they got an ESPY.

[jbcarol]

6. State

State wrapped up its season with a 51-28 win over NC State in the Belk Bowl to finish 9-4 overall

Losing to the eventual SEC champion Alabama wasn't shocking, but what was surprising was losing by as large a margin as Mississippi State did when it fell 31-6 to the Crimson Tide on Nov. 14. Prescott was sacked nine times and the Bulldogs gave up big play after big play. All four Alabama touchdowns covered at least 60 yards.

It was the recruiting season that dropped State to sixth in a tight race between SEC-W schools:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMGbXUJXauY

The Jeffrey Simmons incident still haunts Mullen and State at the SEC Media Days and on going. He was the recruit State had to have after Ole Miss brought in another haul, especially in-state, on NSD. Simmons' ground and pound was not a domestic violence situation.  As shown in the YouTube above, he came to the aid of his sister but was excessive given his strength advantage (size looked even).

MSU introduced the Ben Howland with three Final Fours on his resume with a roster of five seniors last March. He added projected one-and-done Malik Newman a month later.

Newman's decision to transfer after a less than promising NBA combine performance opens a scholarship for Howland and Company but may hurt his reputation as a handler of the projected star in the future.

State finished 11th in the SEC with a 7-11 conference record and 14-17 overall.

'Worst to first:' Mississippi State baseball wins SEC championship

STARKVILLE - In the top of the sixth, on an 0-2 count to Arkansas' No. 9 hitter, the announced crowd of 8,421 at Dudy Noble Field rose and cheered. The mid-inning standing ovation caught a few Mississippi State players off guard, but those in the dugout high-fived.

An Ole Miss win of all things sparked the celebration. It meant a Bulldog victory would clinch the program's first Southeastern Conference title since 1989. Minutes later, the championship became a reality with a 9-4 victory over Arkansas to finish the series sweep.

State's season ended in the Starkville Super Regional with a loss to Arizona.

[jbcarol]

With the SEC-West schools having similar seasons we go to James Earl Jones to determine the tie-breaker:

"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good and that could be again. Oh...people will come Ray. People will most definitely come."

5. Arkansas

Arkansas finished 7-5 overall but 5-3 in SEC play, tying for third in the SEC West, a nice step up for the Hogs -- who were last in the division in 2014

There were several great moments in Arkansas' 2015 season but none better than the Razorbacks' dramatic 53-52 overtime win at Ole Miss on Nov. 7. Fourth-and-25 will forever live in Razorback lore.

Razorbacks' three-game losing streak in September provided several lows, but the most embarrassing was probably their Sept. 12 loss, 16-12, to Toledo. The Rockets, who later found themselves in the College Football Playoff top 25 rankings twice, proved to be a good team. The loss deflated much of the buzz that surrounded Arkansas in the preseason.

Razobacks beat Kansas State in the Liberty Bowl.

They closed like Tennessee only against top drawer competition.

After the Arkansas Razorbacks finished their 2015-16 basketball campaign another nip-and-tuck loss to Florida to bow quickly out of the SEC tournament: "They were every bit of 16-16, 9-9. Average. Good at home for the most part, but mistake-prone even there. Feisty on the road, but unable to finish."

Hogs doomed themselves, to be quite fair, with a wretched nonconference effort. Six losses, only one against an NCAA Tournament qualifier (Dayton), and nothing distinguished about the six victories that preceded SEC play. In prior years, Arkansas could have survived a .500 showing in league games by simply winning 10 or 11 against out-of-conference foes. Even beating Texas Tech later in the year to secure one of only three SEC wins in the 10-game challenge with the Big 12 didn't carry much cause for hoopla.

Had Arkansas been able to wrest victory from the jaws of defeat against the likes of Stanford, Mercer, Wake Forest and Dayton, two benefits would have been extracted: The first is that the team would've launched into SEC play with a 10-2 record, and would've ended up hitting the 20-win mark in all likelihood, which would have at the very least placed it in the NIT field.

Arkansas Baseball Was A Disaster This Year

Though ranked in the top 25 early on in the season and expectations sky high following a 3-0 trip to Houston with wins over quality teams, they ended up 7-23 in SEC play, two fewer wins than than the basketball team had in an SEC season with 12 more games.

It's hard to imagine the program staying this low for too long.

[jbcarol]

4. LSU

Between weather cancellations, Heisman chases, firing rumors, strong starts and late fades, Les Miles' Tigers (9-3) kept their fans on the edge of their seats

We finally learned Miles would keep his job after the 19-7 win over Texas A&M to conclude the regular season, but after enduring a three-game losing streak in November.

LSU had an outside chance at turning Bama into a competitive game when Fournette scored a touchdown to make it 30-16 with 9:18 to play. However, Alabama immediately demoralized the Tigers with a 13-play, 78-yard drive to drain the remaining time off the clock. What we'll remember most about the drive was how Derrick Henry pounded the Tigers for 78 rushing yards on 11 carries, pushing his total for the game to 210 yards on 38 attempts.

Rabalais: LSU's frustrating 2015-16 athletic year was The Year of the Almosts

The year Les Miles almost got fired.

The year Ben Simmons, the top prospect who became the top draft pick, was almost good enough to lead LSU to the NCAA tournament.

For the first time since 1984, no LSU team, men's or women's, won a regular-season or postseason championship on the Southeastern Conference or NCAA level. There were close calls aplenty, but in the end it was a year of great, splashy talents who made a lot of noise and headlines but didn't do a whole lot to add to LSU's trophy case.

For LSU fans, it had to be enough to be content with the singular achievements. Achievements like Fournette becoming the first SEC player since 1949 to win the NCAA rushing title. And Simmons being the No. 1 NBA draft pick, burnishing LSU's legacy as the only program to produce No. 1 picks in football, baseball and men's and women's basketball.

But as far as LSU finishing No. 1 in any sports, not so much.

MELTDOWN OF THE YEAR: LSU men's basketball

As a fellow sportswriter from Alabama put it, it's hard to imagine any other SEC team besides woeful Missouri having Simmons on the roster and not earning an NCAA tournament bid.

The 2015-16 Tigers will be the standard of underachievement in Tigertown for years to come.

CONTROVERSY OF THE YEAR: The Les Miles saga

Coastal Carolina won the opener against LSU in the Baton Rouge super regional, so Sunday night's Game 2 was one that the Tigers needed to win if they had designs on Omaha and a College World Series title. After a doozy of a game and a dramatic ninth inning, though, LSU is out of this year's frantic NCAA Baseball Tournament.

[jbcarol]

3. Florida

2015 Florida Season in Review

Florida's season began with little fanfare or expectations. There was a first-year coach and an unproven quarterback, and the fan base was just hoping to see a berth in the postseason with some growth.

It got much more than that, with the Gators winning the SEC East and finishing with 10 wins for just the second time in six seasons.

Among the memories was the play that revitalized the Swamp — and indeed all of Gator Nation. Will Grier hit Antonio Callaway on a fourth-and-14 pass, and Callaway took it for a last-minute TD that gave the Gators a win over Tennessee. The momentum continued with a blowout of top-10 Ole Miss and a road win against a Missouri team that had throttled UF two years in a row. Alas, the rest of the season can be summed up in three letters: PED. Grier's year-long suspension for performance-enhancing drugs stopped the momentum, though the Gators did easily handle Georgia for the second season in a row. After the suspension, the Gators went 4-4 the rest of the way, needing a late field goal to beat Vanderbilt and overtime to beat lowly FAU.

Then, three consecutive one-sided losses to end the season, including a 41-7 Citrus Bowl beatdown at the hands of Michigan, left a bad taste in everyone's mouth.

Was season a success? Yes.

Despite missing out on NCAAs, Mike White's first year was positive

He put his team in position to have a chance — a good chance — at a Southeastern Conference Tournament run, an NCAA Tournament appearance and even an NIT run.

Unfortunately, the Gators came up short in each of those pursuits.

Still, there is renewed hope for Florida basketball.

It's no secret that the program is in a rebuilding phase. The shoes Billy Donovan left behind are massive, but Mike White, in just one year, has proven that he is more than capable of filling them.

Florida finished the season with a 21-15 record and a 9-9 mark in SEC play. That's an improvement from last year's 16-17 record and 8-10 performance in conference play, which led to Florida being left out of the NIT.

Remember, even Donovan's first year as head coach in 1996 was a 13-17 campaign when Florida went 5-11 in the SEC.

This year, White worked with what he had and what he inherited. He knew this wasn't a team that was going to light up defenses with impressive shooting performances.

Remember UF's 58-52 road loss to then-No. 1 Michigan State? Or the 71-68 road loss to then-No. 15 Texas A&M? How about its home win against then-No. 9 West Virginia?

The Gators just missed the cut for an NCAA tourney berth and ended the regular season on a 1-4 skid...

No. 1 Florida Gators baseball swept out of 2016 College World Series

Woes in Omaha, Nebraska, continued for Florida Gators baseball, which got swept out of the 2016 College World Series via consecutive losses to Coastal Carolina (2-1) and Texas Tech (3-2).

[jbcarol]

2. A&M

The only SEC school to participate in a bowl game, the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament Sweet 16, and the Super Regional.  The women's football conference will be discredited to the '16-17 academic year.

2015 season started a lot like 2014, then had a somewhat similar ending for A&M -- a hot start with a not-so-hot conclusion. The end result was another middle-of-the-SEC West finish for the Aggies.

Aggies' most memorable win came at AT&T Stadium, a 28-21 victory over Arkansas on Sept. 26. It played out quite similar to the teams' 2014 clash, when Arkansas seemed to have Texas A&M on the brink but the Aggies were able to make a fourth-quarter comeback to force overtime and win.

The low point didn't come during the season, but instead afterward. The Aggies lost their top two quarterbacks, Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray, within a week of each other as both said they will transfer.

2015-2016 Texas A&M Basketball Post Season Review


Rick Stansbury dabs

Hield had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the second-seeded Sooners to a 77-63  win over third-seeded A&M in the NCAA West Regional on Thursday.

Tyler Davis scored 17 for A&M (28-9), which reached the Sweet 16 with a thrilling double-overtime victory against Northern Iowa after rallying from 12 points down in the final 44 seconds of regulation.

A&M: The Aggies dropped to 4-1 against teams from its old conference, the Big 12.

A&M was the 2016 SEC regular season champion and lost the SEC Tournament final in overtime to UK.

A&M Aggies had their season come to a close Sunday with a 4-1 loss to the TCU Horned Frogs in a rubber match of the College Station Super Regional on Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park

The loss ended a season that featured A&M's (49-16) first SEC Tournament championship and their seventh NCAA Regional title.

[jbcarol]

1. Bama

National champs

The dynasty was reportedly over. It was dead, some were writing. But Alabama didn't cooperate. Two weeks after their obituaries were written after a loss to Ole Miss, the Crimson Tide went into Georgia and throttled the Bulldogs by 28 points, the largest margin of victory on the road against a top-10 opponent in school history.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/DanielPaulling/status/760522373204500480

[jbcarol]

Jay Jacobs: 'Auburn athletics is strong' following its worst year in Big 3 sports

The three major sports (football, men's basketball and baseball) have never combined for a lower winning percentage (.410) and SEC win percentage (.269) in a single academic year.

To put the losses in perspective, look no further than the women's softball team. Clint Myers' bunch won 16 SEC games; the three men's sports combined to win only 15 games (15-41).

The football program opened the season ranked No. 6 in the national polls, finished 7-6 and nearly lost to in-state FCS foe Jacksonville State in Week 2. The football program has lost nine of its last 11 SEC games.

The basketball program suffered through a string of injuries to its best players (Tahj Shamsid-Deen, T.J. Dunans) and eligibility issues with another (Danjel Purifoy) to finish with a 11-20 overall record and 5-13 SEC mark in Bruce Pearl's second season as coach.

Baseball was a completely different animal. Butch Thompson was not provided much time to rebuild the program after the sudden firing of third-year coach Sunny Golloway in September. Thompson "did a masterful job keeping those young guys together," Jacobs said. The Tigers finished 23-33 overall and 8-22 in the SEC.

Thompson, a former pitching coach at Mississippi State, is a name several schools would have been interested in hiring this spring if Auburn had not already hired him, Jacobs bragged.

The scoreboard matters to fans, but attendance continues to be up for football and men's basketball. Interest is still high, but it could be tested this upcoming season if the losing continues. The Auburn football program has not won an SEC game at Jordan-Hare Stadium since Oct. 25, 2014.