TheĀ Florida GatorsĀ are theĀ intercollegiate athleticĀ teams that represent theĀ University of Florida, located inĀ Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as the “Gator Nation.” The Gators compete in theĀ National Collegiate Athletic AssociationĀ (NCAA) and theĀ Southeastern ConferenceĀ (SEC) and are consistently ranked among the top college sports programs in the United States. The University of Florida currently fields teams in nine men’s sports and twelve women’s sports.[2]
All Florida Gators sports teams compete in NCAA Division I,[3]Ā and 20 of the 21 Gators teams compete in the SEC.[4]Ā The sole University of Florida sports team that does not play in the SEC is theĀ women’s lacrosseĀ team, which joined theĀ American Athletic ConferenceĀ beginning in the 2019 lacrosse season because the SEC does not sponsor competition in the sport.[5]Ā The University of Florida was one of the thirteen charter members who joined to form the new Southeastern Conference in 1932.[6]Ā Previously, the university was a member of theĀ Southern Intercollegiate Athletic AssociationĀ from 1912 to 1921[7]Ā and theĀ Southern ConferenceĀ from 1922 until the SEC began play in the fall of 1933.[8]
All Florida Gators sports teams have on-campus facilities, and most are located on or near Stadium Road on the north side of campus, includingĀ Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin StadiumĀ for football;[9]Ā theĀ Exactech ArenaĀ at theĀ Stephen C. O’Connell CenterĀ for basketball,[10][11]Ā gymnastics,[12]Ā swimming and diving,[13]Ā indoor track and field,[14]Ā and volleyball;[15]Ā andĀ James G. Pressly StadiumĀ for soccer[16]Ā and outdoor track and field.[17]Ā TheĀ Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium, theĀ Condron Ballpark, and theĀ Donald R. Dizney StadiumĀ for lacrosse are located on Hull Road on the southwestern side of the campus.[18][19][20]Ā TheĀ Mark Bostick Golf CourseĀ andĀ Scott Linder StadiumĀ for tennis are located on S.W. Second Avenue on the northwestern side of the campus.[21][22][23]
The Florida Gators athletic program is administered by theĀ University Athletic Association, Inc.Ā (UAA), a private non-profit corporation that reports to the president of the university and its board of trustees.[24]Ā For the 2014ā15 school year, the UAA had an operating budget of $103,310,001, projected revenues of $104,064,487, and made a $3.5 million contribution to the university’s general fund.[25]Ā Scott StricklinĀ has been Florida’sĀ athletic directorĀ since 2016.
Awards and records[edit]
| Men’s sports | Women’s sports |
|---|---|
| Baseball | Basketball |
| Basketball | Cross country |
| Cross country | Golf |
| Football | Gymnastics |
| Golf | Lacrosse |
| Swimming & diving | Soccer |
| Tennis | Softball |
| Track and fieldā | Swimming & diving |
| Tennis | |
| Track and fieldā | |
| Volleyball | |
| ā ā Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor. | |
Beginning in the early 1990s, the Florida Gators has been recognized as one of the premier athletic programs in theĀ Southeastern ConferenceĀ (SEC) and one of the best in the nation. The SEC has awarded an All-Sports Trophy to the best overall sports program in the conference since 1984, and Florida has won the award 28 times as of 2023. Florida is the only school in the SEC and one of four schools nationally to have won a national championship in the football, men’s basketball, and baseball. Every year since 1993, theĀ National Association of Collegiate Directors of AthleticsĀ (NACDA) has recognized the Gators athletic program as one of the ten best overallĀ Division IĀ athletic programs in the country in its annualĀ NACDA Directors’ CupĀ standings, including as runners-up on four occasions.[26]Ā The men’s athletic program was also the winner of the 2010ā11 and 2011ā12Ā Capital One Cup; the women’s athletic program won the Capital One Cup in 2013ā14, and both programs have placed in the top five in the standings on several other occasions.
Among the Gators’ recent national championships, theĀ Florida Gators men’s basketballĀ team won theĀ 2006Ā andĀ 2007 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournaments, and theĀ Florida Gators footballĀ team wonĀ 2007 BCS National Championship GameĀ in football, all in the span of 366 days.[27]Ā Florida is the only school in NCAA Division I history to hold the outright men’s basketball and football championships during the same school year. In January 2009, the Gators football team won theĀ 2009 BCS National Championship GameĀ with a 24ā14 victory over theĀ Oklahoma Sooners.[28]Ā TheĀ Florida Gators baseballĀ team took home its first championship at theĀ 2017 NCAA championship, defeating rival SEC foe the LSU Tigers in two games. The Gators won the NCAA men’s indoor track and field championship in three consecutive seasons in 2010, 2011 and 2012,[29]Ā the NCAA women’s swimming and diving team national championship in 2010,[30][31]Ā the NCAA women’s tennis championship in 2011, 2012 and 2017,[32]Ā the NCAA men’s outdoor track and field championship in 2012, 2013 and 2016, the NCAA women’s gymnastics championship in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and the NCAA softball championships in 2014 and 2015.[33]Ā Individual Gator athletes have won 279 individual NCAA championships in boxing, golf, gymnastics, swimming and diving, tennis, and track and field. In 2017, Florida won the baseball national championship for the first time. The Gators swept LSU in the best of three national title series. This earned the university a total of 39 national team championships. Additionally, this put the University of Florida in exclusive company. With the 2017 baseball national championship, Florida became only the fourth school in history to win national championships in football, men’s basketball, and baseball. Florida, along with Michigan, Ohio State, and UCLA are the only schools to ever achieve triple crown status. This also put Florida in a category by itself. Florida is the only Southeastern Conference school to accomplish this feat, as well, Florida is the only school in history to have achieved triple crown status in such a short span of time. Florida’s first national championships in each of the big three sports (football, men’s basketball, and baseball) were won in the span of just 21 years.[34]
NCAA all-sports rankings[edit]
The University of Florida has been ranked among the nation’s top ten NCAA Division I athletic programs every year since 1983ā84, an overall ranking that includes both men’s and women’s sports ā the only college sports program ranked in the top ten in the United States for the last 39 consecutive years.[35]Ā TheĀ National Association of Collegiate Directors of AthleticsĀ (NACDA) has recognized the University of Florida as ranking among the top seven Division I programs in itsĀ NACDA Directors’ CupĀ standings every year since the NACDA andĀ USA TodayĀ began awarding the cup in 1993ā94. The 2022ā23 academic year marked the Gators’ 39th consecutive year ranked among the nation’s top ten best overall collegiate athletic programs, and the twenty-second consecutive year ranked among the top seven Division I programs in the NACDA Directors’ Cup standings.[26]Ā Only one other Division I athletic program has matched that feat, and Florida has achieved this record while fielding fewer sports teams than many of the other perennially top-ranked collegiate athletic programs.[26]Ā In the 29 years of the NACDA Directors’ Cup, the Gators have finished fifth or better in 22 years, and have never finished lower than seventh; the only other program ranked among the top ten Division I programs every year since 1993ā94 is the Stanford Cardinal sports program of Stanford University.
NCAA Division I all-sports rankings[26]
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SEC All-Sports Trophy[edit]
Through the end of the 2022ā23 school year, the Florida Gators have won 261Ā Southeastern ConferenceĀ (SEC) team championships, the most in conference history.[36][37]
The SEC All-Sports Trophy began in 1973 as the Bernie Moore Trophy and tabulated the league’s best men’s sports program.[38]Ā In 1983, the SEC also began recognizing the best women’s sports program in the conference, as well as the best overall SEC sports program.[39]Ā In 1994, theĀ New York TimesĀ Regional Newspaper Group assumed responsibility for awarding the trophies.[40]Ā In the 50-year history of the awards, Florida has won 24 women’s trophies, 22 men’s trophies, and 28 overall SEC All-Sports trophies.[40]
SEC rival Georgia won the overall 2005ā06 All-Sports Trophy to snap Florida’s record streak at fourteen straight (1990ā91 through 2004ā05).[40]Ā Florida reclaimed the SEC All-Sports Trophy for the 2006ā07 school year, and the Gators have held on to the overall all-sports trophies in every year until Texas A&M ended their streak in 2018ā19.[40]Ā The Gators are the first of two SEC sports programs to earn the overall, men’s, and women’s all-sports trophies in a single year (the other being Tennessee in the 2022ā23 season), and have swept all three trophies sixteen times.[40]
Championships[edit]
NCAA team championships[edit]
In their history of intercollegiate competition, the University of Florida’s varsity athletic teams have won 47 national championships (including 42 sponsored by theĀ National Collegiate Athletic AssociationĀ (NCAA), two by theĀ Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for WomenĀ (AIAW), two by theĀ Bowl Championship SeriesĀ (BCS), and one by theĀ Bowl Alliance).[34][41][42]Ā Florida is one of only two Division I schools to hold both major men’s championships (football and men’s basketball) at the same time (as the 2006 BCS football champions and the 2006 and 2007 NCAA men’s basketball champions), and was the first to do so.[b][43]