If the Florida Gators were still on the bubble entering the SEC tournament, their chances of making it into the Dance were smashed on Thursday night as they got rolled by a weak Alabama team, 80-69. The Crimson Tide had a 28-point at one point in the game, but saw their lead shrink to six points before pulling away. Either way the loss was one that defending champs could ill afford.

The likelihood for Florida to make a tenth straight NCAA appearence seems slim after the Gators finished the regular season losing 7 of 10 games and now four straight contests makes their No. 65 RPI ranking look even worse.

The disappointing play by the Gators also takes some air out Kentucky's victory over them this past Sunday at Rupp Arena.  Many Kentucky fans, including fellow GSI blogger Bret Sims, were ready to annoint UK as kings of the court following the team's heart-filled victory over Florida on Sunday. This loss only furthers the argument against the strenght of that win and makes the SEC look that much weaker.

from FootballFutures.com:

Here are the projected picks for 2008, along with the compensatory player, their average contract value, their games played, their games started and other notes:

THIRD ROUND
Washington (Derrick Dockery, $7 million per season, 16 GP/16 GS)
Cincinnati (Eric Steinbach, $6.971 million, 16/16)
Baltimore (Adalius Thomas, $6.9 million, 16/15)

FOURTH ROUND
Buffalo (Mike Gandy, $4.667 million, 16/16)
Baltimore (Tony Pashos, $4.7 million, 15/15)
Philadelphia (Donte Stallworth, $5.083 million, 16/9)
Green Bay (Ahman Green, $5.6 million, 6/5)
Tennessee (Drew Bennett, $5 million, 14/1) – possibly a fifth- round pick
San Diego (Donnie Edwards, $4.5 million, 16/16) – possibly a fifth- round pick

FIFTH ROUND
Philadelphia (Jeff Garcia, $4 million, 13/13, Pro Bowl)
N.Y. Giants (Visanthe Shiancoe, $3.6 million, 16/15) – possibly a sixth- round pick

SIXTH ROUND
Indianapolis (Nick Harper, $3.133 million, 14/14)
Indianapolis (Dominic Rhodes, $3.75 million, 10/2)
Philadelphia (Roderick Hood $3 million, 16/16)
Miami (Damion McIntosh, $2.95 million, 15/15)
Indianapolis (Cato June, $3 million, 16/14)
Baltimore (Ovie Mughelli, $3 million, 16/7)
Cincinnati (Kevin Kaesviharn, $2.4 million, 16/3) – possibly a seventh- round pick
Cincinnati (Kelley Washington, $2.5 million, 14/0) – possibly a seventh- round pick

SEVENTH ROUND
Baltimore (Aubrayo Franklin, $2 million, 14/13) – possibly a sixth- round pick
Carolina (Chris Draft, $1.358 million, 16/6)
Washington (Warrick Holdman, $1.375 million, 0/0, on IR all season)
Chicago (Justin Gage, $1 million, 16/8)
Cincinnati (Anthony Wright, $1.055 million, 4/0)
Chicago (Todd Johnson, $975,000, 16/1)
Buffalo (Andre Davis, $850,000, 14/8)
Chicago (Ian Scott, $1 million, 0/0, on IR all season)
Washington (Kenny Wright, $973,333, 7/1)
Carolina (Vinny Ciurciu, $966,667, 13/0)
Indianapolis (Mike Doss, $900,000, 8/1)
Atlanta (net-value comp; lost three for $9.567 million, 47/30 and one Pro Bowl; signed three for $4.964 million, 45/13)

Jonathan Stewart, one of the most highly-touted running backs eligible for this April's NFL draft, is going to be out for 4-6 months following surgery on his big toe on Wednesday, according to NFL Network's Adam Schefter.

Many mock drafts had Stewart as the second-best running back on the board behind Arkansas' Darren McFadden as a sure-fire first round pick. The time table of the injury suggests that Stewart could be ready before training camp, but there's no doubt it is going to drop his value down a bit.  It is very similar to what happen with Adrian Peterson last year at this time.  However, Stewart is not as talented as Peterson, who may have been the No. 1 overall pick had he not have been coming off surgery. It would not be surprising to see Stewart drop to the second round now.

Stewart decided to skip his senior season at Orgeon to enter the draft and now it may turn out to be a costly decision.

SCOUT.COM - PLAYER PROFILE

Despite the fact that both Bengals' head coach Marvin Lewis insistance that the team won't trade Chad Johnson and Rams' head coach Scott Linehan stating that Torry Holt is going nowhere, rumors continue to flood the Internet that a swap of Pro Bowl wideouts may be in the work.

Carlos "Big C" Holmes, of BigCProFootball.com, appeared on the Bengals' flagship station 1530 Homer the Sports Animal on Wednesday with Alan Cutler and stated that there are "many inside the Bengals' organization that are very high RB Darren McFadden" and the team may trade up to get him should they slip. Holmes added that there rumors of the Bengals and Rams making a deal of Johnson for Holt.

The Rams have the No. 2 overall pick and the Bengals have the No. 9 and they will have a few extra compensatory picks in the middle of the draft as well. Holt, 32, is two years older than Johnson and is beginning to see a decline but still has enough left in the tank to produce at high level for a few more years.

Would the Rams bite on a Bengals' offer that included Johnson, the No. 9 overall pick and one of the team's third-round selection, in exchange for the younger Johnson and the No. 9 overall pick?  And would the Bengals really go after McFadden with so many holes on a defense that ranked 27th in the league in 2007?

In a bit of a surprise move the Detroit Lions cut starting running back Kevin Jones on Thursday. The former first round pick has undergone surgery for a Lisfranc foot fracture and a torn ACL the last two offseasons and it is unclear right now whether or not he will be ready for the start of the 2008 season. Some have speculated it may be 2009 before he will be capable of being 100%.

The former first round pick in 2004, Jones has been unable to come anywhere close to the 1133 yards he rushed for as a rookie and has failed to play in all 16 games in any of his four professional seasons.

Sources told the Detroit Free Press that the Lions gave Jones two reasons for his release: the salary cap and injuries. Jones had one year left on his contract with a base salary of $2.37 million. One source said there was a possibility he could return at a lower number, depending on how things play out. He is recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament, after coming back from a serious foot injury last year.

The team re-signed Tatum Bell earlier in the week, but lost T.J. Duckett and were outbid for Julius Jones by the Seahawks.  Aveion Cason and Brian Calhoun are also in the mix and it seems likely that the team will go after another running back early in this April's draft. Detroit has the No. 15 overall pick in the first round.

Head coach Rod Marinelli continues to do away with team president Matt Millen's highly drafted talent.  Since Millen took over control of the front office in 2001, the Lions have selected 18 different players in the draft's first two rounds, eight of them are no longer with the team. Jones and Kalimba Edwards, who was also cut on Thursday, join Shaun Rogers, Joey Harrington, Charles Rogers, Boss Bailey, Teddy Lehman and Mike Williams as Detroit cast-offs.

"As I've said all along, we will always make decisions that we believe are in the best interest of our entire football team," Marinelli said in the statement. "As the off-season has evolved — from our postseason roster evaluation to the combine to the free agency period — we feel we've made several moves to improve our team."

The St. Louis Cardinals have the makings of one of the worst rotations in all of baseball going into this season. Today they made a move to try to help out that poor staff by signing Kyle Lohse to a one-year deal. The addition of Lohse isn't going to do much for a team that is in a rebuilding phase and could challenge the Pittsburgh Pirates for the NL Central doormat prize. Lohse will be added to a rotation that includes Adam Wainwright and Braden Looper. The Cards are hopeful that Matt Clement and Joel Pinero to get into the rotation soon, but that's not likely to happen. Mark Mulder, the guy that was supposed to be the team's ace, looks like he won't be ready to contribute until May. Once Clement, Pinero and Mulder are able to get into the rotation, odds are that either Wainwright or Looper will be pushed to the bullpen unless they dazzle the Cards coaching staff early on, something that's not all that likely to happen.

The addition of Lohse does give the team a pitcher that has the potential to be a good middle of the rotation guy. Last season he went 9-12 with a 4.62 ERA in 34 starts and 192 2/3 splitting time between the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies.

*Quick fantasy note: Lohse catching on with the Cards doesn't give him much, if any, fantasy value. Unless you're in a super-duper deep league, he's not worth drafting.