Chomping at Bits: Florida men's basketball ends season with NIT quarterfinals loss

Chomping at Bits comes stocked with the best Florida Gators links and news we can find, and some other stuff. Got a link you think we should check out? Email us at AlligatorArmy@gmail.com, subject line CAB, or find us on Twitter at@AlligatorArmy or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AlligatorArmy.

Gators end season with NIT quarterfinal loss: Florida fell 82-77 to George Washington last night in Washington, D.C. The Gators were one game short of making the NIT semifinals in Madison Square Garden. Though the Gators shot 43.1 percent from the field and finished with four players in double figures, they were unable to limit George Washington's offense for much of the game. The Colonials shot 47.7 percent from the field, the most given up by Florida since its loss to LSU on February 27th. Dorian Finney-Smith had nine points and eight rebounds in his last game with the Gators. (We'll miss you, Doe-Doe.) (Ian Cohen, Independent Florida Alligator; Chris Harry, Florida Gators)

Spring Game to be televised live on SEC Network: The Orange & Blue Debut will take place on Friday, April 8th at 7:00 p.m. (Daniel Apple, Florida Gators)

Luke Del Rio comfortable at Florida, with Gators' offense : After three years and three schools, Luke Del Rio feels at home at Florida and familiar with Jim McElwain and Doug Nussmeier's offense. The quarterback appears to be the front-runner for the starting position this season and met with the media for the first time as a Gator yesterday. If he wins the job, it would make Del Rio the ninth starting quarterback for the Gators since Tim Tebow in 2009. Del Rio was recruited by McElwain when he was the head coach at Colorado State but Del Rio chose to walk on at Alabama instead. (Matt Baker, Tampa Bay Times; Edgar Thompson, Orlando Sentinel; Robbie Andreu, Gainesville Sun)

Caleb Brantley ready to take leadership role on defensive line: Brantley wants to follow in the steps of former Gators Dante Fowler, Jr. and Jonathan Bullard by being both a leader and standout player on the defensive line. Brantley credits his improvement to defensive line coach Chris Rumph and defensive coordinator Geoff Collins, noting that earlier in his career he was at times distracted, immature, and did not like aspects of the coaching he received from former staff. (Graham Hall, Gainesville Sun)

Florida softball's pitching staff is the most effective in the nation: Aleshia Ocasio, Delanie Gourley, and Kelly Barnhill have a combined 0.87 ERA and dominate their opposition. The Gators play a doubleheader against No. 6 LSU in Baton Rouge today. (Matt Brannon, Independent Florida Alligator)

Amanda Butler named as finalist for the 2016 United States Marine Corps/WBCA NCAA Division I National Coach of the Year: This is the second time that a Florida women's basketball coach has been a finalist for a national award. The National Coach of the Year is selected from a list of finalists composed of regional coaches of the year, who are chosen by vote of their peers in their respective WBCA membership regions. (Kathy Cafazzo, Florida Gators)

Florida lacrosse successfully recruiting northeast: The Gators have only had a lacrosse team for seven years but in that time have been to the NCAA tournament five times. Other than in their first season, the Florida lacrosse team has yet to finish a season outside of the top-15. The Gators have been able to attract talent from the north, where college lacrosse players have many opportunities, in part due to their early success. (Kyle Brutman, Independent Florida Alligator)

The comments are yours.