FOUR BITS: Brantley prepared, McCartney narrows, FLA/GA game, Soccer ties

1 » With the status of Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow still uncertain for next Saturday, back-up John Brantley is prepared to start, writes Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald. Having the support of his teammates, Brantley is confident he will be ready to go against the LSU Tigers should Florida’s starter not be healthy enough to go. “You don’t know what’s going to happen yet,” Brantley said. “I’m just going to prepare like I do every week. I’ll prepare like I am going to play no matter what, with Tim there or not.”

2 » Ranked as the 11th best wide receiver in the state of Florida by Rivals, 4-star recruit Ivan McCartney of Miramar has narrowed his list down to five, including the Gators, Miami Hurricanes, West Virginia Mountaineers and Oregon Ducks. He is scheduled to take his official Florida visit on Thanksgiving weekend when the Gators play the Florida State Seminoles and make his decision after that. McCartney is considered a heavy Gators lean at this time, though he has yet to name a front-runner for his services.

3 » The Jacksonville Business Journal believes (rightly so) that it is money, not tradition, keeping the Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs game in the Jacksonville. The schools are able to make more money playing at a neutral site because the city, not the teams, covers expenses of playing the game, and each team splits the profits rather than earning revenue every other year. “You’d leave more than $1.2 million on the table over that two-year period if you went to a home-and-home series,” Gators executive associate athletic director Greg McGarity said.

4 » No. 7 Florida Gators soccer (8-3-1, 2-0-1 SEC) opened conference play with a 1-1 double overtime tie at the Mississippi State Bulldogs (8-2-1, 0-2-1 SEC) Friday evening. Tying the game in the 85th minute, Florida secured its first non-winning result in 23-regular season SEC matches.