The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

, located in 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 the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) and the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(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. All Florida Gators sports teams compete in NCAA Division I, and 20 of the 21 Gators teams compete in the SEC. The sole University of Florida sports team that does not play in the SEC is the

women's lacrosse Women's lacrosse (or girls' lacrosse), sometimes shortened to lax, is a field sport played at the international level with two opposing teams of ten players each (12 players per team at the U.S. domestic level). Originally played by indigenous ...

team, which plays a sport the SEC has never sponsored. That team joined the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

in 2024 in advance of that conference's first women's lacrosse season in spring 2025. The Gators joined the Big 12 after having been a single-sport member of the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

since the 2019 lacrosse season. The University of Florida was one of the thirteen charter members who joined to form the new Southeastern Conference in 1932. Previously, the university was a member of the

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS (formerly Division I-A) football programs were members of this conferen ...

from 1912 to 1921 and the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

from 1922 until the SEC began play in the fall of 1933. All Florida Gators sports teams have on-campus facilities, and most are located on or near Stadium Road on the north side of campus, including Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium for football;GatorZone.com, Football
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field
. Retrieved July 12, 2009. th
Exactech Arena
at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center for basketball,GatorZone.com, Men's Basketball Facilities
Stephen C. O'Connell Center
Retrieved July 12, 2009.GatorZone.com, Women's Basketball Facilities
Stephen C. O'Connell Center
Retrieved July 12, 2009. gymnastics,GatorZone.com, Gymnastics Facilities
Stephen C. O'Connell Center
Retrieved July 12, 2009. swimming and diving,GatorZone.com, Swimming & Diving Facilities
Stephen C. O'Connell Center
Retrieved July 12, 2009. indoor track and field,GatorZone.com, Indoor Track & Field Facilities
Stephen C. O'Connell Center
Retrieved July 12, 2009. and volleyball;GatorZone.com, Volleyball Facilities
Stephen C. O'Connell Center
. Retrieved July 12, 2009. and James G. Pressly Stadium for outdoor track and field.GatorZone.com, Track & Field Facilities
Percy Beard Track at James G. Pressly Stadium
Retrieved July 12, 2009. The Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium, the

Condron Ballpark Condron Family Ballpark at Alfred A. McKethan Field is the college baseball stadium of the University of Florida, and serves as the home field for the Florida Gators baseball team. Condron Ballpark is located on the university's Gainesville, Fl ...

, and the Donald R. Dizney Stadium for soccer and lacrosse are located on Hull Road on the southwestern side of the campus.GatorZone.com, Softball Facilities
Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium
Retrieved July 12, 2009.FloridaGators.com, Baseball Facilities
Florida Ballpark
Retrieved September 24, 2020.GatorZone.com, Lacrosse Facilities
Donald R. Dizney Stadium
Retrieved July 12, 2009. The Mark Bostick Golf Course and Scott Linder Stadium for tennis are located on S.W. Second Avenue on the northwestern side of the campus.UFGolfcourse.com
Mark Bostick Golf Course at the University of Florida
Retrieved July 12, 2009.GatorZone.com, Men's Tennis Facilities
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Retrieved July 12, 2009.GatorZone.com, Women's Tennis Facilities
Linder Stadium at the Ring Tennis Complex
Retrieved July 12, 2009. The Florida Gators athletic program is administered by the University Athletic Association, Inc. (UAA), a private non-profit corporation that reports to the president of the university and its board of trustees. For the 2014–15 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. Scott Stricklin has been Florida's

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

since 2016.

Awards and records

Beginning in the early 1990s, the Florida Gators have been recognized as one of the premier athletic programs in the

(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 football, men's basketball, and baseball. Every year since 1993, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) has recognized the Gators athletic program as one of the ten best overall Division I athletic programs in the country in its annual NACDA Directors' Cup standings, including as runners-up on four occasions.NACDA.com
Learfield Sports Directors' Cup Previous Scoring
. Retrieved July 11, 2009. The men's athletic program was also the winner of the 2010–11 and 2011–12 Capital One Cup; the women's athletic program won the Capital One Cup in 2013–14, and both programs have placed in the top five in the standings on several other occasions. Florida Gators script logo

Among the Gators' recent national championships, the

Florida Gators men's basketball The Florida Gators men's basketball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of basketball. The Gators compete in NCAA Division I's Southeastern Conference (SEC). Home games are played on Billy Donovan Court in the O'Connell Center, ...

team won the 2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament for the third time with a 65-63 win over the Houston Cougars. This championship makes the University of Florida the first and only Division I school in history to win the Division I Championship three times each in both football and basketball. Also, the men's basketball team won the

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2007 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 2007 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament that determined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball national champion for the 2006-07 ...

s, and the

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American football, American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the ...

team won 2007 BCS National Championship Game in football, all in 366 days.''See'' NCAA.com, NCAA History
Division I Football
Retrieved March 12, 2015. ''See also'' NCAA.com, NCAA History
Division I Men's basketball
Retrieved March 12, 2015. 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 the 2009 BCS National Championship Game with a 24–14 victory over the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the college athletics in the United States , athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to ...

. The

Florida Gators baseball The Florida Gators baseball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of baseball. Florida competes in Division I (NCAA), Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), and the of the Southeastern Conference ...

team took home its first championship at the 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, the NCAA women's swimming and diving team national championship in 2010,Gator men repeat as indoor track national champs
", ''The Gainesville Sun'' (March 12, 2011). Retrieved May 25, 2011. the NCAA women's tennis championship in 2011, 2012 and 2017,Associated Press,
Florida women's tennis wins national championship
", ''The Gainesville Sun'' (May 24, 2011). Retrieved May 25, 2011. 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. 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 40 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.GatorZone.com, Athletic Department
Overview & History
. Retrieved June 29, 2015.

NCAA all-sports rankings

The University of Florida has been ranked among the nation's top ten NCAA Division I athletic programs every year since 1983–84, an overall ranking that includes both men's and women's sports – the only college sports program ranked in the top ten in the United States for the last 39 consecutive years. The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) has recognized the University of Florida as ranking among the top seven Division I programs in its NACDA Directors' Cup standings every year since the NACDA and ''USA Today'' began awarding the cup in 1993–94. The 2022–23 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. 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. 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 1993–94 is the Stanford Cardinal sports program of Stanford University. NCAA Division I all-sports rankings

SEC All-Sports Trophy

Through the end of the 2022–23 school year, the Florida Gators have won 261

(SEC) team championships, the most in conference history. The SEC All-Sports Trophy began in 1973 as the Bernie Moore Trophy and tabulated the league's best men's sports program. 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. In 1994, the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' Regional Newspaper Group assumed responsibility for awarding the trophies.Pat Dooley,
Florida wins another SEC All-Sports award
", ''The Gainesville Sun'' (May 22, 2011). Retrieved May, 2011. 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. SEC rival Georgia won the overall 2005–06 All-Sports Trophy to snap Florida's record streak at fourteen straight (1990–91 through 2004–05). Florida reclaimed the SEC All-Sports Trophy for the 2006–07 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 2018–19. 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 2022–23 season), and have swept all three trophies sixteen times.

Championships

NCAA team championships

In their history of intercollegiate competition, the University of Florida's varsity athletic teams have won 49 national championships (including 44 sponsored by the

(NCAA), two by the

Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...

(AIAW), two by the

Bowl Championship Series The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a college football post-season selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of America ...

(BCS), and one by the

Bowl Alliance The Bowl Alliance was an agreement among college football bowl games (specifically the Sugar, Orange, and Fiesta Bowls) for the purpose of trying to match the top two teams in a national championship game and to provide quality bowl game match ...

). 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.NCAA.com, NCAA History
Division I Men's Basketball
Retrieved July 10, 2009. Men's national championships (27) *Baseball (1): 2017 *Basketball (3): 2006 • 2007 • 2025 *Football (3): 1996 • 2006 • 2008 *Golf (5): 1968 • 1973 • 1993 • 2001 • 2023 *Indoor track and field (5): 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2018 • 2019 *Outdoor track and field (7): 2012 • 2013 • 2016 • 2017 • 2022 • 2023 • 2024 *Swimming and diving (2): 1983 • 1984 *Tennis (1): 2021 Women's national championships (22) *Golf (2): 1985 • 1986 *Gymnastics (4): 1982 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 *Indoor track and field (2): 1992 • 2022 *Outdoor track and field (1): 2022 *Soccer (1): 1998 *Softball (2): 2014 • 2015 *Swimming and diving (3): 1979 • 1982 • 2010 *Tennis (7): 1992 • 1996 • 1998 • 2003 • 2011 • 2012 • 2017 All of the national championships listed above were sponsored by the NCAA other than football in 1996 (Bowl Alliance), football in 2006 and 2008 (BCS), women's gymnastics in 1982 (AIAW), and women's swimming and diving in 1979 (AIAW).

NCAA individual and relay championships

Athletes at UF have won 353 individual and relay NCAA national championships. Men's individual and relay championships (157) * Boxing: 1 * Golf: 3 * Swimming and diving: 65 * Tennis: 5 * Track and field: 83 Women's individual and relay championships (196) * Cross Country: 1 * Golf: 1 * Gymnastics: 27 * Swimming and diving: 104 * Tennis: 9 * Track and field: 54

Conference championships

The University of Florida is a founding member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), one of the nation's premier intercollegiate sports conferences, and 20 of the 21 Gators sports teams compete in the SEC. Since the SEC began play in 1933, Florida's varsity athletic teams have won 261 SEC team championships, more than any other conference member.SECSports.com
2008–09 SEC Championships
. Retrieved July 7, 2009.SEC Record Book
SEC Championships (through 2007–08)
Retrieved July 7, 2009. The women's lacrosse team played its first four seasons in the now-defunct American Lacrosse Conference (ALC), followed by four seasons in the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

and six in the

before joining the

for the 2025 season (2024–25 school year) and beyond. All of Florida's conference championships are from the SEC unless otherwise stated. Men's conference championships *Baseball (16): 1952 • 1956 • 1962 • 1981 • 1982 • 1984 • 1988 • 1996 • 1998 • 2005 • 2010 • 2011 • 2014 • 2017 • 2018 • 2023 • Tournament (7): 1981 • 1982 • 1984 • 1988 • 1991 • 2011 • 2015 *Basketball (7): 1989 • 2000 • 2001 • 2007 • 2011 • 2013 • 2014 • Tournament (4): 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2014 • 2025 *Cross country (3) 1955 • 1986 • 1987 *Football (8): 1991 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 2000 • 2006 • 2008 *Golf (16): 1955 • 1956 • 1968 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1985 • 1989 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1999 • 2003 • 2011 • 2023 • 2025 *Swimming and diving (44): 1937 • 1938 • 1939 • 1940 • 1941 • 1953 • 1954 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1970 • 1971 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 • 2019 • 2020 • 2021 • 2022 • 2023 • 2024 *Tennis (12): 1950 • 1961 • 1968 • 1969 • 1975 • 1994 • 2000 • 2003 • 2005 • 2019 • 2021 • 2022 • Tournament (6): 1994 • 2000 • 2005 • 2011 • 2016 • 2022 *Indoor track and field (8): 1975 • 1976 • 1987 • 1988 • 2004 • 2011 • 2015 • 2019 *Outdoor track and field (6): 1953 • 1956 • 1987 • 2010 • 2015 • 2018 *Wrestling† (1): 1975 Women's conference championships *Cross country (7) 1984 • 1996 • 1997 • 2009 • 2010 • 2012 • 2023 *Golf (9): 1981 • 1982 • 1984 • 1986 • 1987 • 1991 • 1995 • 2008 • 2017 *Gymnastics (15): 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1989 • 2007 • 2010 • 2012 • 2013 • 2016 • 2019 • 2020 • 2021 • 2022 • 2023 *Lacrosse (12): 2011 (ALC) • 2012 (ALC) • 2013 (ALC) • 2014 (ALC) • 2015 (Big East) • 2016 (Big East) • 2017 (Big East) • 2018 (Big East) • 2019 (American) • 2021 (American) • 2022 (American) • 2024 (American) • Tournament (11): 2012 (ALC) • 2014 (ALC) • 2015 (Big East) • 2016 (Big East) • 2017 (Big East) • 2018 (Big East) • 2019 (American) • 2021 (American) • 2022 (American) • 2023 (American) • 2024 (American) • 2025 (Big 12) *Soccer (14): 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2012 • 2013 • 2015 • Tournament (12): 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2004 • 2007 • 2010 • 2012 • 2015 • 2016 *Softball (9): 1998 • 2008 • 2009 • 2013 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 • 2021 • Tournament (5): 2008 • 2009 • 2013 • 2018 • 2019 • 2024 *Swimming and diving (18): 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 2002 • 2009 • 2023 • 2024 *Tennis (29): 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2001 • 2003 • 2004 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2015 • 2016 • Tournament (20): 1982 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 2000 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2016 *Indoor track and field (8): 1990 • 1992 • 1997 • 2002 • 2004 • 2010 • 2012 • 2014 *Outdoor track and field (7): 1992 • 1997 • 1998 • 2003 • 2009 • 2018 • 2022 *Volleyball (24): 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2010 • 2012 • 2014 • 2016 • 2017 • 2019 • Tournament (12): 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2005 † Wrestling is no longer offered at the varsity level at UF since 1979. For purposes of counting "official" SEC team championships in baseball, men's and women's basketball, soccer, softball, men's and women's tennis, and volleyball, the SEC currently only includes regular season team championships, not tournament championships. The Gators have won an additional 67 SEC tournament titles in these sports which are not included in Florida's total of 261 SEC team championships.

Baseball

Coach Andy Lopez took over the Gators baseball program in 1994, one season after leading the

Pepperdine Waves The Pepperdine Waves are the athletics teams of Pepperdine University, located outside the city of Malibu, California. They compete at the NCAA Division I, Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA. The school is a me ...

to their first

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

championship. In 1996, he coached the Gators to a fifty-win season and a College World Series bid. By 2000, the program had seemingly hit a plateau and Lopez was replaced. Pat McMahon became the Gators' head coach in 2001 after coaching the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The Gators' 2005 baseball season was the most successful to date, with the team winning the SEC title, and earning a place in the

for the fifth time in school history. The team advanced to the championship round against the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

, ultimately losing two games to none. Following their 2005 College World Series run, the Gators opened the 2006 season ranked number one in the polls, but struggled to finish 28–28 record (10–20 SEC), and failed to qualify for the NCAA Regionals. After missing the NCAA Regionals again in 2007, McMahon was dismissed. Former

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the sport, athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level (NCAA Divis ...

associate head coach Kevin O'Sullivan became the Gators' new head baseball coach on June 13, 2007. O'Sullivan's Gator teams showed immediate improvement and the Gators finished the 2008 regular season with a 30–24 record (17–13 SEC), and received an invitation to the NCAA Regional in Tallahassee. The 2009 squad finished the regular season with a 38–18 record (19–11 SEC), won the NCAA Regional in Gainesville, and advanced to the Super Regional before losing to the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles. O'Sullivan's 2010 and 2011 Gators finished their SEC regular season play with identical 22–8 records, won the program's eleventh and twelfth SEC championships, earned a berth in the College World Series in both years, and advanced to the College World Series final in 2011 before getting swept by SEC foe South Carolina in two games. The Gators returned to the College World Series in 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2023, and 2024. In June 2017, Florida won their first College World Series championship, sweeping fellow SEC rival LSU in two games in the best-of-three finals. In the CWS championship rematch six years later, the Gators, though they set a new program record with 54 wins, lose to the Tigers in three games. Since 2021, the Gators baseball team plays its home games at Condron Ballpark at Alfred A. McKethan Field.

Men's basketball

Florida enjoyed limited success in men's basketball before the mid-1980s. Coach Norm Sloan's Gators were invited to the

National Invitation tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

(NIT)—only the second time the team had been invited to a post-season tournament. They returned to the NIT in 1985 and 1986, and made their first appearance in the NCAA basketball tournament in

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

, when

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

Vernon Maxwell led the team to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. The Gators received invitations to the NCAA tournament in 1988 and 1989, but Sloan was forced to resign at the outset of the 1989–90 season as a result of NCAA infractions. Coach

Lon Kruger Lonnie Duane Kruger (born August 19, 1952) is an American former college and professional basketball coach (sport), coach who was most recently the men's basketball head coach of the University of Oklahoma. Kruger played college basketball for K ...

brought renewed success, and his Gators reached the NIT final four in 1991–92. During the 1993–94 season, Andrew DeClercq and Dametri Hill led the Gators to their first NCAA tournament Final Four following a dramatic overtime victory over the

Connecticut Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, with its main campus located in Storrs, Connecticut. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big Eas ...

in the NCAA regional semifinal, and a 74–66 win over

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

in the NCAA Regional Final. Florida Gators 2006 championship team

Athletic Director Jeremy Foley hired

Billy Donovan William John Donovan Jr. (born May 30, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Before moving to the NBA, he served as the head ...

as Kruger's replacement in 1996. Donovan's recruiting prowess was evident early, as he landed recruiting classes with future NBA players Mike Miller,

Udonis Haslem Udonis Johneal Haslem ( ; born June 9, 1980) is an American professional basketball executive and former player. He is the vice president of basketball development for the Miami Heat, where he List of NBA players who have spent their entire caree ...

and Matt Bonner. Donovan's Gators advanced to the NCAA tournament final before losing to the

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 Varsity team, varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan Army, Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the sc ...

in 2000, and demonstrated a consistency previously unknown to the program as they received invitations to the NCAA tournament every year from 1999 through 2007, a team-record eight-year streak. Under Donovan, Florida won its first

SEC men's basketball tournament The SEC men's basketball tournament is the conference tournament in basketball for the Southeastern Conference (SEC). It is a single-elimination tournament that involves all league schools (currently 16). Its seeding is based on regular season re ...

in 2005, when they beat the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30, ...

in the SEC title game. The 2005–06 team's 17–0 start was the best in team history, surprising many with a young, selfless squad led by four sophomores. The team began the season unranked, but won its second consecutive SEC Tournament championship. On April 3, 2006, the Gators defeated the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

73–57 in the NCAA tournament championship game to win Florida's first men's national basketball championship. Within days, all five starters announced they would return for another season to try to win back-to-back championships. At the outset of the 2006–07 season, the Gators were ranked No. 1 in both major polls for the first time. The Gators won their second consecutive NCAA national men's basketball championship on April 2, 2007, defeating the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

84–75. They became the first team since Duke in 1991–92 to win back-to-back tournaments and the first in NCAA history to do so with the same starting line-up. Afterward, Florida's four-star juniors— Joakim Noah,

Al Horford Alfred Joel Horford Reynoso (born June 3, 1986), nicknamed Big Al, is a Dominican professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a five-time NBA All-Star and won the NBA championship wi ...

Taurean Green Taurean James Green (born November 28, 1986) is a Georgian-American professional basketball player who last played for Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski of the Polish Basketball League (PLK). Green played college basketball for the University of Flori ...

, and Corey Brewer—announced their decision to enter the

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

Donovan's Gators returned to championship form in 2010–11, winning the program's fifth regular season SEC championship and fighting their way to the NCAA regional semifinals (the "Elite Eight") before losing 74–71 to the Butler Bulldogs in overtime. In 2011–12, the Gators received a No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament, exceeded expectations, and advanced to the Elite Eight, headlined by the play of star freshman Bradley Beal and point guard Erving Walker, before falling to Louisville. During the 2013–14 season, the Gators were ranked No. 1 in the nation, won the SEC championship with 36 straight wins during the regular season and tournament games, went on a school-record 30 game winning streak, and advanced to the NCAA Final Four, headlined by the play of four senior veterans: Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, Will Yeguete and Casey Prather. Donovan left at the end of the 2014-2015 to take the head coaching job for the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Confer ...

. That season, the Gators went 16-17, earning their first losing record in 17 seasons. Louisiana Tech head coach Mike White was then hired on, and during his eight-year tenure, the Gators appeared in the NCAA tournament four times, including an Elite Eight appearance in 2017. However, at the end of the 2021-2022 season, White left to become the head coach at Georgia. On March 18th, 2022, San Francisco head coach Todd Golden was hired to lead the team. Although the Gators missed the NCAA tournament in 2023, falling in the first round of the NIT, Golden led the Gators to the championship game of the 2024 SEC tournament, where the Gators lost to Auburn, before losing in the first round of the 2024 NCAA tournament to Colorado, 102-100. The 2024-2025 season started with the Gators being ranked No. 21 in preseason polls. The Gators went undefeated in non-conference play, winning 13 straight games as well as the ESPN Events Invitational, and started conference play being ranked No. 6 in the country. The Gators ended up suffering all four of their season losses in conference play, falling to Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, and Georgia respectively. Entering the 2025 SEC tournament as the two-seed, they beat Missouri, Alabama, and Tennessee to win their first tournament title since 2014. The Gators were seeded as a number one seed (fourth overall) in the West region of the NCAA tournament. They beat Norfolk State in the First Round and the defending back-to-back champions UConn in the Second Round, giving the Huskies their first NCAA tournament loss in three years. They bested Maryland in the Sweet Sixteen and came back from a nine-point deficit with three minutes left to defeat Texas Tech in the Elite Eight, earning their first Final Four bid since 2014. Another come-from-behind win against No. 1 overall seed Auburn granted Florida their first title berth since 2007, where they defeated Houston 65–63 for their third title.

Women's basketball

Women's basketball was approved as a new women's varsity sport by Florida in March 1972, but began play in 1973 as a club team. In 1975, the Lady Gators debuted as a varsity program under head coach Dr. Paula Welch. The Gators made local headlines in 1976 by winning the "state championship", beating the other three women's college teams located in the state at that time. While traditionally being overshadowed by conference and national basketball powers Tennessee and Georgia, the Lady Gators have made several NCAA tournament appearances and sent players to the WNBA, including DeLisha Milton-Jones. Carol Ross compiled more wins than any other women's basketball coach in Florida's history, and guided the team for twelve seasons from 1991 to 2003, but left to accept the head coaching job at her alma mater,

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

. From 2002 through 2006, the women's basketball team was coached by Carolyn Peck, a former WNBA coach who won a national title with

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

. Peck was fired midway through the 2006 season (though allowed to finish the season) after enduring the worst losing streak of any Gator sport. Former Gator player and previous Charlotte coach Amanda Butler was named the new women's basketball coach on April 13, 2007. During the 2008–09 season, the Lady Gators received an NCAA tournament bid, and won a first-round game before being defeated by eventual tournament champion

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

in the second round. Butler resigned after the 2016–17 season. The Gators women's basketball team is currently coached by Kelly Rae Finley, and plays its home games in the O'Connell Center.

Cross country

The Florida Gators men's cross country team has won three Southeastern Conference championships (SEC), and has competed in eight National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournaments. The women's cross country team has also won five SEC Championships (including the most recent), and competed in ten NCAA tournaments. In 2009, the Lady Gators placed seventh at the NCAA cross country championship; in 2010, they won the SEC championship for the second consecutive year. Coach Mike Holloway is the head coach of the men's and women's cross country teams.

Football

The University of Florida fielded an official varsity football team for the first time in 1906, defeating the Gainesville Athletic Club 6–0 in its first game. Since then, the Gators have played in thirty-seven bowl games, won three national championships (1996, 2006, 2008) and eight

championships, and produced 138 All-Americans, forty-two

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) first-round draft choices and three

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

winners. The Gators' most prominent current football rivals are SEC Eastern Division foes

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, annual SEC Western Division opponent

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, and in-state rival

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

from the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC). Florida has historically shared rivalries with Auburn and

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, too, but those games are no longer played annually and have lessened in intensity. Since 1990, when

-winning quarterback

Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former football player and coach. He played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL) before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often referred to by his nicknam ...

returned to his alma mater as head coach, the Gator football team has won more games than any other program in the NCAA's

Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

(FBS). The 1996 team, coached by Spurrier and led by another Gator Heisman-winner,

Danny Wuerffel Daniel Carl Wuerffel (born May 27, 1974) is an American former American football, football quarterback who played college football for the Florida Gators football, Florida Gators and professional football in the National Football League (NFL). ...

, finished with a 12–1 record and won the national championship in the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...

, beating rival Florida State 52–20. This win was not without controversy from FSU fans who thought they should not have had to play Florida again. FSU won in the regular season match up 24–21. Swamp-panoramic

Urban Meyer Urban Frank Meyer III (born July 10, 1964) is an American Sports commentator, sportscaster and former college football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green F ...

became Florida's head football coach in December 2004, and his six teams had great success from 2005 to 2010. The 2006 team won the school's second national championship on January 8, 2007, defeating the number one-ranked

41–14. Quarterback

Tim Tebow Timothy Richard Tebow (; born August 14, 1987) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons, primarily with the Denver Broncos. Tebow played college football for t ...

won the Heisman Trophy in 2007, and Florida's Tebow-led 2008 team won the 2009 BCS National Championship Game on January 8, 2009, beating the top-ranked

24–14, for the Gators' third national championship. The Gators have won the

SEC Championship Game The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992. For its first 32 seasons, the championship game pitted the Eastern Division regular season champion again ...

seven times in eleven appearances since the SEC instituted the championship game in 1992. The Gators won their first official conference title in 1991, the year before the first SEC conference championship game was played, for a total of eight SEC championships in the last twenty-four seasons. The Gators football team plays its home games in Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, more popularly known as The Swamp, the team's home field since 1930. Billy Napier is the current head coach of the Florida Gators football.

Men's golf

The men's golf team has won five NCAA Championships (1968, 1973, 1993, 2001, 2023), and has produced three individual NCAA champions, Bob Murphy in 1966, Nick Gilliam in 2001, and Fred Biondi in 2023. The men's golf team has also won sixteen Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships: 1955–56, 1968, 1973–75, 1985, 1989, 1991–94, 1999, 2003, 2011, 2023. Numerous former Gator golfers have represented the University of Florida on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

, and the program has produced over thirty male athletes who have competed professionally. Buddy Alexander, the long-time head coach for the men's golf team, retired after the 2013–14 season. J. C. Deacon was hired in June 2014, and the 2022–23 season was his ninth. The Gators men's golf team plays its home matches at the Mark Bostick Golf Course (formerly known as the "University Golf Course").

Women's golf

The women's golf team has won two NCAA team championships (1985, 1986), and has produced one individual NCAA champion, Page Dunlap. The women's golf team has also won eight Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships. Former Lady Gator golfers have regularly represented the University of Florida on the

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly ...

, and the program has produced over twenty female athletes who have competed in the professional ranks. Emily Glaser is the head coach for the women's team. The Gators women's golf team plays its home matches at the Mark Bostick Golf Course (formerly known as the "University Golf Course").

Women's gymnastics

Gymnastics was one of the first women's sports added at the University of Florida and achieved early success by winning the 1982

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...

national championship. Since the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

assumed sponsorship of the national gymnastics championships in 1982, Florida has typically earned invitations to the NCAA national championships (top twelve teams nationally), and advanced to the NCAA "Super Six" eighteen times. Florida won the 2013, 2014 and 2015 NCAA national championships, finished in second-place in 1998 and 2012, and the team has only failed to qualify for the NCAA championships once in the past thirty-three seasons. The Gators have won a total of nine SEC gymnastics championships since 1982. The team's biggest SEC rivals are

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

and

, both of which are also perennial national contenders. Coach Rhonda Faehn's Gator gymnasts were the SEC champions in both 2012 and 2013, and won the NCAA national team championships in 2013, 2014 and 2015 (the 2014 was as co-champions with Oklahoma). Faehn coached the Gators gymnastics team from 2003 to 2015. Under Faehn, the Gator gymnasts have been nationally competitive and remarkably consistent—finishing in the top seven every year and winning three NCAA national championships. The Gators gymnastics team is now coached by Jenny Rowland. The Gators hold their home meets at the O'Connell Center.

Women's lacrosse

In June 2006, the University Athletic Association announced the creation of the new Gators

program, citing the growth of high school

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

across the country and the increased availability of Division I competition. Florida became the second Southeastern Conference member university to offer lacrosse as a varsity sport, following

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

, and played its inaugural 2010 season in the American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) together with the Commodores. The Gators and Commodores continued to play in the ALC until conference realignment led to the demise of the ALC following the 2014 season, after which both programs became single-sport members of the

. The Gators and Commodores played in the Big East through the 2018 season, after which they became charter members of the new women's lacrosse league of the

(The American). After the 2024 season, the Gators left The American to become inaugural members of

women's lacrosse. The lacrosse team is the only Gators team that does not compete in the SEC. The Gators lacrosse team has had success from its establishment, including four ALC regular-season championships (2011–2014); two ALC tournament titles (2012, 2014); both regular-season and tournament titles in all of its four Big East seasons (2015–2018); the regular-season and tournament championships in four of its five completed seasons as a member of The American (2019, 2021, 2022, 2024); the regular-season and tournament championships in 2025 as a member of the Big 12; eight appearances in the NCAA tournament national quarterfinals ("Elite Eight"); and three appearances in the NCAA tournament national semifinals ("Final Four") in 2012, 2024, and 2025. The Gators have been ranked among the top ten women's lacrosse teams in the country each of the last five seasons, and have been ranked as high as No. 1.

Amanda O'Leary Amanda Moore O'Leary (born 1967), née Amanda Moore and also known by her nickname Mandee O'Leary (and formerly, Mandee Moore), is an American college lacrosse coach and former player. O'Leary was an All-American lacrosse midfielder for the Te ...

is the Gators' head coach. Before she was named to jump-start Florida's new program, O'Leary was the head coach at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

for 14 seasons, and was honored as a two-time All-American midfielder at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

, where she led her team to an NCAA championship in 1988. In only the second season of the Gators lacrosse program, the mostly-sophomores team defeated the defending ALC champion

Northwestern Wildcats The Northwestern Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern University, located in Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and one of two private universities in the conference, the other ...

to win their first regular season conference championship. The Gators completed a perfect 5–0 season three days later by defeating the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville. The Gators women's lacrosse team plays its home games in the 1,500-seat Donald R. Dizney Stadium.

Women's soccer

Becky Burleigh was hired to be the first head coach since the women's soccer team began play a varsity sport in 1995. Under Burleigh's leadership, the team quickly became a national contender. In 1998, in the program's fourth season, the Gators won their only NCAA national championship by defeating the defending national champion

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels (also Carolina Tar Heels) are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to ...

1–0 in the national finals of the NCAA tournament. The women's soccer team has also won thirteen Southeastern Conference regular season championships and ten SEC tournament titles in its eighteen seasons of play. In 2021, Burleigh retired as women's soccer coach. Notable former Gator soccer players include

Abby Wambach Mary Abigail Wambach (born June 2, 1980) is an American retired Association football, soccer player, coach, and member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. A six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award, Wambach was a regular on ...

, who was a member of the U.S. women's national team and scored the game-winning goal in the final game of the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

in Athens, Greece; Heather Mitts, who played for the gold medal U.S. national team in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China; Melanie Booth, who currently plays for the

Canadian women's national soccer team The Canada women's national soccer team () represents Canada in international soccer competitions. They are overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association, the governing body for soccer in Canada. The team reached international prominence at the ...

; and Danielle Fotopoulos, who played professionally with the Carolina Courage. Savannah Jordan plays for the Portland Thorns and ranks second in Gators history behind Wambach for goals scored. The Gators women's soccer team is coached by Samantha Bohon and rotates most of its home games between James G. Pressly Stadium and Donald R. Dizney Stadium.GatorZone.com, Soccer Facilities
James G. Pressly Stadium
Retrieved July 12, 2009.

Softball

The University Athletic Association decided to create the women's varsity softball program in 1995, and the Florida Gators softball team officially started competing in the Southeastern Conference in 1997 under former head coach Larry Ray. Since the beginning of the program, the Florida Gators have had several notable successes, including four SEC championships, 12 appearances in the

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States and is held annually in Oklahoma City, OK. The event is held at Devon Park (stadium), Devon Park loca ...

(2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2024), and back-to-back WCWS national championships (2014 & 2015). The Gators won nine SEC regular season championships (1998, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021), as well as six SEC tournament titles (2008, 2009, 2013, 2018, 2019, and 2024). In 2009, they played for the NCAA softball championship in the Women's College World Series, losing to the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) N ...

in the final round. The Gators again advanced to the finals of the 2011 Women's College World Series before falling to the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the sport, athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's Varsity team, varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Divisi ...

. In 2014, the Gators defeated the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the Na ...

in the first two games of the three-game Women's College World Series to win their first NCAA national championship. In 2015, the Gators repeated as national champions by defeating the Michigan Wolverines in the full three games. The Gators would return to the WCWS finals in 2017 before losing to the Oklahoma Sooners in two games. The current head coach is Tim Walton; the 2023–2024 season was his 18th as the Gators' coach.GatorZone.com, Softball, Roster/Bios
Tim Walton
. Retrieved August 15, 2009. He was previously the head coach at

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

and he played baseball for the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

and a minor league team affiliated with the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

. Through the end of the 2023 season, Walton has acquired a 926–223 (.806) record, while at Florida. Following the conclusion of the 2018 season, Walton was given a 10-year contract extension. The Gators softball team plays its home games at the Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium.

Swimming and diving

The Florida Gators men's

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

and

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

teams have won NCAA national championships in 1983 and 1984, and has also won 41 Southeastern Conference team championships – including a stretch of 13 straight from 1956 to 1968.
Florida Swimming & Diving 2013–14 Media Supplement
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida (2013). Retrieved July 26, 2014. The women's swimming and diving team has won AIAW and NCAA national championships in 1979, 1982 and 2010, and has also won seventeen SEC team championships. The Florida Gators' notable female swimmers include three-time Olympic gold medalist Tracy Caulkins, three-time Olympic gold medalist Nicole Haislett, and four-time Olympic gold medalist Dara Torres, who is also the first American swimmer to compete in five

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. The Gators' notable male swimmers include Olympic gold medalists Matt Cetlinski, Mike Heath, David Larson, Ryan Lochte, Caeleb Dressel, Anthony Nesty and Martin Zubero. The Gators have had an international flavor since the 1980s, when the Olympic success of Gator swimmers began to attract Canadian, European and Latin American swimmers to train under coach Randy Reese. That tradition continues in the present day under Gregg Troy, the head coach of the Gators men's and women's swimming teams. Troy served as the head coach of the U.S. Olympic men's swim team in 2012. Dale Schultz is the new head coach of the men's and women's diving teams, succeeding long-time coach Donnie Craine in 2014. The Gators swimming and diving teams hold their home meets at the O'Connell Center Natatorium and train in the Carse Swimming Complex.

Tennis

The Florida Gators have one of the strongest and most storied women's

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

programs in NCAA history, and the women's tennis team has won seven NCAA team championships (1992, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2011, 2012, 2017).
Florida Women's Tennis 2013–14 Media Supplement
', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida (2013). Retrieved July 26, 2014. The team has also produced three individual Gators who have won four NCAA singles championships: Shaun Stafford (1988),

Lisa Raymond Lisa Raymond (born August 10, 1973) is an American former professional tennis player who has achieved notable success in doubles tennis. Raymond has eleven major titles to her name: six in women's doubles and five in mixed doubles. On June 12, ...

(1992, 1993), and

Jill Craybas Jill N. Craybas (born July 4, 1974) is an American former professional tennis player. From the 2000 US Open to the 2011 US Open, Craybas competed in 45 consecutive Grand Slam tournament main draws; her best result coming in the 2005 Wimbledon C ...

(1996). In NCAA championship doubles play, four Gators doubles pairs have won five NCAA doubles championships: Jillian Alexander and

Nicole Arendt Nicole J. Arendt (born August 26, 1969) is an American retired professional tennis player. Arendt won sixteen doubles titles in her career. The left-hander reached her highest singles ranking on the WTA Tour on June 16, 1997, when she was ranke ...

(1991); Dawn Buth and Stephanie Nickitas (1996, 1997); Whitney Laiho and Jessica Lehnhoff (2001); and Brooke Austin and Kourtney Keegan (2016). The Gator women have also won seven

Intercollegiate Tennis Association The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) is the governing body and coaches' association of United States college tennis, both an advocate and authority, overseeing men's and women's varsity tennis at all levels – NCAA Division I, NCAA Divi ...

(ITA) national indoor championships (1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2017), and twenty-nine SEC team championships. The Gators have also claimed six SEC Tournament titles (1994, 2000, 2005, 2011, 2016, and 2022) in Men's Tennis and 20 in Women's Tennis (1982, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2016). The Gators men's tennis team has a winning tradition and has won 12 Southeastern Conference team championships as of 2022.
Florida Men's Tennis 2013–14 Media Supplement
', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida (2013). Retrieved July 26, 2014. In 2021, the men's tennis program won its first-ever NCAA team championship. The Gator men have also produced four NCAA singles champions: Mark Merklein (1993),

Jeff Morrison Jeffrey Alan Morrison (born February 4, 1979) is a retired American professional tennis player. Morrison was the last American male left in the singles draw at Wimbledon in 2002, going on to defeat future World No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero en rout ...

(1999),

Sam Riffice Sam Riffice (born 1 March 1999) is an American tennis player. Early life and career His mother, Lori Riffice, is a national coach with USTA Player Development. The family relocated to Central Florida to be a part of the USTA National Campus sta ...

(2021), and Ben Shelton (2022). Merklein and partner David Blair combined to win an NCAA doubles championship (1994). Adam Steinberg is the head coach of the men's tennis team, and coach Roland Thornqvist leads the women's tennis team. The Florida Gators tennis teams play their home matches at Linder Stadium at the Ring Tennis Complex on the university's campus.

Track and field

The Florida Gators men's

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

team has won six Southeastern Conference indoor championships, and four SEC outdoor championships. After finishing as the runner-up in both the NCAA indoor and outdoor meets in 2009, the men's team went on to win three consecutive NCAA indoor titles (2010-2012) and its first NCAA outdoor title (2012) over the next three years. The men's team then went on their own "three-peat" of NCAA outdoor titles in 2022, 2023, and 2024. The women's track and field team won the NCAA indoor championships in 1992 and 2022. The women's team won its first NCAA outdoor title in 2022. In addition, the women's team has won six SEC indoor championships, and four SEC outdoor championships. The head coach for the track and field program is Mike Holloway, and he is responsible for both the men's and women's teams. The assistant coaches are Steve Lemke, Adrain Mann, Nic Petersen, Chris Solinsky, & Mellanee Welty. The Gators men's and women's track and field teams hold their outdoor home meets at Percy Beard Track, which is part of James G. Pressly Stadium.

Volleyball

The Gators began competing in women's volleyball in 1984 under coach Marilyn McReavy, but did not become nationally competitive until coach Mary Wise assumed control of Florida's program in 1991. During her 30 seasons as Florida's head coach, Wise has compiled a 979–168 win–loss record (.854), and her Gators teams have won nineteen SEC regular season titles and twelve SEC Tournament titles in her twenty seasons. The Gators have made nineteen trips to the NCAA tournament, including eight NCAA Final Four appearances (1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2017). In 2003 and 2017, they advanced to the NCAA national championship final, where they lost to the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

and

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

, respectively. Florida landed the nation's top 2008 recruiting class, as ranked by Prepvolleyball.com and ''Volleyball Magazine'', and signed the nation's top recruit and Gatorade National Player of the Year, Kelly Murphy, as well as four other recruits ranked among the top fifty. Murphy garnered First-Team All SEC and a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team with fellow Gators Colleen Ward and Kristy Jaeckel. Murphy would also gain the SEC Freshman of the Year, AVCA All-South Region Freshman of the Year, the AVCA National Freshman of the Year, and ''Volleyball Magazine'' Freshman of the Year. She was also honored as an AVCA Third-Team All-American and a ''Volleyball Magazine'' Second-Team All-American. The Gators volleyball team plays its home matches in the O'Connell Center.

Former varsity sports

In the past, the Florida Gators fielded varsity teams in men's boxing and men's

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

. Gator boxer John Joca, a "Gator Great" member of the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame, won the NCAA national boxing championship in the 135-pound weight class in 1940.E.C. Wallenfeldt,
The Six-Minute Fraternity:The Rise and Fall of NCAA tournament Boxing, 1932–60
', Praeger Publishers, Westport, Connecticut, pp. 111–113 (1994). Retrieved July 30, 2010. The Gators boxing team, however, was discontinued in 1943 during World War II, and was never revived after the war. The Gators men's wrestling team was an SEC-sponsored sport from 1970 to 1979; the team won the 1975 SEC championship tournament and placed second during four other seasons. The wrestling team was eliminated as a result of cost-cutting and

Title IX Title IX is a landmark federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receiv ...

compliance issues in 1979. The University Athletic Association, under athletic director Ray Graves and associate director Ruth Alexander, desired to take a proactive role in Title IX compliance by balancing the number of available men's and women's athletic scholarships, and the resulting tight athletic budgets ultimately resulted in the elimination of men's wrestling program.

Athletic facilities

The University of Florida has invested significant capital and effort in the construction, expansion and betterment of its major sports facilities, including the following outdoor stadiums, indoor arenas, and training and practice facilities:

Condron Ballpark at Alfred A. McKethan Field

*Completed in 2020, Condron Ballpark plays host to the Gators

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

team's home games. Seating 7,000 spectators (with an expandable capacity of 10,000), Condron Ballpark replaced McKethan Stadium at Perry Field.GatorZone.com, Baseball Facilities
McKethan Stadium at Perry Field
Retrieved July 12, 2009.

Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium

*The Gators

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team plays its home games in Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The stadium was originally constructed in 1930, and was known simply as "Florida Field." In 1989, it was renamed in honor of Ben Hill Griffin, Jr., an alumnus and generous donor to the university and its athletic programs. Since the arrival of coach Steve Spurrier in 1990, the stadium has become nationally known as the "Swamp." The Swamp has been renovated and expanded several times, and has included a natural grass surface since 1990. With the latest expansions, the stadium has an official capacity of 88,548 people, but routinely accommodates more than 90,000 fans for the Gators' home football games. The Swamp is the 12th largest college football stadium in America as measured by official

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

Carse Swimming Complex

*Built in 1998 at a cost of $2 million, Carse Swimming Complex is a two-story, facility that includes locker rooms, offices, and direct access to the UAA training pool. The swimming complex is located adjacent to the O'Connell Center.

Florida Basketball Practice Complex

*Completed in 2001, the Basketball Practice Complex is a two-story, structure that includes multiple practice gyms, a training room, and a weight room.

Donald R. Dizney Stadium

*Completed during the summer of 2009, the Florida Lacrosse Facility began hosting the women's

team with its first season in 2010. The 1,500-seat stadium runs the length of the game field, and the facility includes a second practice field. The facility also includes concessions, ticket offices, locker rooms and a training room.

James G. Pressly Stadium and Percy Beard Track

*Pressly Stadium is a combined

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

and

facility that includes Percy Beard Track. The facility was renovated in 1995, when 2,500 bench seats were added to the existing 2,000-seat concrete

grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators, typically at sports stadiums and including both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium i ...

, increasing the total

to more than 4,500 spectators. The stadium is located on campus, between the Heavener Complex and Linder Stadium, and was renamed in honor of James G. Pressly, Jr., a University of Florida alumnus and benefactor. The women's soccer team plays its home games in Pressly Stadium. *Percy Beard Track was renovated in 1995 at a cost of $750,000, and the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

and

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

pits were moved from the infield to an area outside the track to accommodate the new soccer field. The men's and women's track and field teams host their home meets and the annual Florida Relays on Percy Beard Track during the outdoor track season.

Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium

*Constructed in 1996 at a cost of $2.6 million, Pressly Softball Stadium is the home field of the Gators women's

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

team. The facility is located on campus, seats approximately 1,200 fans, includes a clay infield and a grass outfield, and complies with NCAA and Olympic specifications. The stadium is named for benefactor Katie Pressly. The Gators played their first game in the stadium against

Stetson University Stetson University is a private university in DeLand, Florida, United States. Established in 1883 as DeLand Academy, it was later renamed John B. Stetson University in honor of John B. Stetson. The university's main campus in DeLand spans 175 ...

on February 8, 1997.

Lemerand Center

*Built in 1995 and named in honor of donor Gale Lemerand, the Lemerand Center is a all-sports facility that includes locker rooms, storage, and training equipment, and is used by all varsity athletes at the University of Florida.

Mark Bostick Golf Course and Guy Bostick Clubhouse

*Designed by golf course architect Donald Ross and originally developed in 1963, the eighteen-hole Mark Bostick Golf Course is the official golf course of the University of Florida. The men's and women's

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

teams play their home matches on the course, and the course also hosts the Gator and Lady Gator Golf Day Pro-Am. The course is 6,701 yards in length, and is rated as a par 70. In 2001, Bobby Weed renovated the course with a $4 million donation from benefactor Mark Bostick. *The Guy Bostick Clubhouse is equipped with numerous amenities and includes over of interior space.

Steinbrenner Band Hall

*Finished in 2008, Steinbrenner Band Hall is The Pride of the Sunshine's rehearsal hall, and also houses offices, instrument storage, the band library and an instrument issue room. Construction of the band hall was made possible by a generous gift from

George Steinbrenner George Michael Steinbrenner III (July 4, 1930July 13, 2010) was an American businessman who was the principal owner and managing partner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees from 1973 until his death in 2010. He was the longest-serving own ...

and his wife Joan in 2002.

Scott Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex

*Originally constructed in 1987, Linder Stadium serves as the home court of the men's and women's

teams. The facility was renovated at a cost of $1.7 million in 1999, when the building interior space was expanded to , and includes coaches' offices, a training room, locker rooms, and a exterior courtyard. The stadium includes a 1,000-seat grandstand overlooking the six lighted main courts, and also includes a second row of nine practice courts. The complex is located on campus, adjacent to the College of Law and James G. Pressly Stadium.

Stephen C. O'Connell Center

*Constructed from 1977 to 1980, the O'Connell Center is a multi-purpose arena that is home to the men's and women's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, women's

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

, men's and women's indoor

, and women's

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

teams. It is commonly known as the "O'Dome." In its major interior space, the O'Connell Center can accommodate over 12,000 sports fans, and the university also uses the facility for graduation ceremonies and a variety of concerts, lectures and shows. The O'Dome also includes the Natatorium, where the Gators

and

teams compete. The O'Dome underwent a major renovation 2016 with upgraded luxury suites, concession stands, locker rooms, and a new main entrance facing

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (in full Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium), File:Dsg UF Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Inside Stands 20050507.jpg, Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium File:UF Pressly Stadium.JPG, James G. Pressly Stadium File:Dsg UF O Dome 20050507.jpg, O'Connell Center File:University of Florida Golf Course.jpg, Mark Bostick Golf Course File:Gville UF basketball complex01.jpg, Basketball Complex File:UF LemerandCenter.jpg, Lemerand Center File:UF BandHall.jpg, Steinbrenner Band Hall File:UF-StadiumAndOdome.JPG, Aerial shot of The Swamp, O'Dome, and Perry Field.

Athletic program culture and traditions

Colors and mascot

The University of Florida began its sports program soon after it was established in Gainesville in 1906, and its teams adopted orange and blue as their official colors soon thereafter. These colors are a probably a combination of the colors of the two primary institutions that merged to form the university, as the East Florida Seminary used orange and black and the Florida Agricultural College used blue and white. As with the school colors, the exact origin of the

alligator An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus ''Alligator'' of the Family (biology), family Alligatoridae in the Order (biology), order Crocodilia. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mis ...

(almost always shortened to "gator") as the school mascot is not well documented. It likely originated in 1908, when Gainesville merchant Phillip Miller chose the animal to adorn pennants he designed for sale to students. The school did not yet have a mascot, and Miller chose the alligator because it is native to Florida and was not claimed by any other school. The football team subsequently adopted the "Gators" nickname in

1911 Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * January 3 ** 1911 Kebin earthquake: An earthquake of 7.7 m ...

.University of Florida, History
1906–1927: Early Gainesville
. Retrieved July 12, 2009. There are two theories as how the name become synonymous with the university's athletic programs. One theory is that the 1911 football squad began calling themselves the Gators in honor of team captain Neal "Bo Gator" Storter. Storter himself refuted this explanation, saying that it originated when a sportswriter in South Carolina described Florida's 1911 road upset of Clemson as an "invasion of alligators from Florida" and the players adopted the name. Whatever its origins, the nickname "Gators" (and for a time, "Lady Gators" for women's sports) has been used by the University of Florida's athletic program for over a century.

Albert and Alberta

Albert and Alberta are the official costumed mascots of the Florida Gators. Many variations of Albert have been present at sporting events over the decades, and a live alligator was used for many years. The current version of Albert was introduced in the early 1980s, and Alberta joined him in 1984. They are unique among the SEC's mascots as the only male-and-female pair, and are featured together in a life-sized statue outside of UF's Alumni Affairs Building.

Other traditions

The University of Florida's marching band is known as " The Pride of the Sunshine", and plays at every home football game, and also performs at various events such as Gator Growl and parades. Florida's fight song is '' The Orange and Blue''. The Gatorettes are the baton-twirlers, or majorettes, for the marching band. The University of Florida dance team that performs at home basketball games and other sports events is known as the Dazzlers. The "Gator Chomp" is a gesture made by Florida Gators fans and players to show their support of the Florida Gators sports teams. The UF band originated in 1981 and is performed by fully extending one's arms, one over the other, in front of the body with the palms facing each other, and then moved apart and together to symbolize an alligator's mouth. When performed by fans at home football or basketball games, the chomp is often accompanied by Florida's marching band or pep band playing the two-note shark motif from the film '' Jaws''. Another football fan tradition, both for home and road games, is playing and singing of " We Are the Boys from Old Florida" at the end of every third quarter. Following the death of Gainesville native

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the leader and frontman of the Rock music, rock bands Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch and a member of the late 1980s sup ...

in October 2017, his song "

I Won't Back Down "I Won't Back Down" is a song by American rock musician Tom Petty. It was released in April 1989 as the lead single from his first solo album, '' Full Moon Fever''. The song was co-written by Petty and Jeff Lynne, his writing partner for the alb ...

" is also played right after "We Are the Boys" while the entire stadium sings along. "Orange and blue" is a fan cheer that is popular at home sports events, with alternate stadium sections yelling "Orange!", and answering back with their loudest "Blue!" This can go back and forth for several minutes, with both sections competing to be the louder. The football team had a long-time tradition of having George Edmondson Jr. — better known as " Mr. Two Bits"— wandering through the stands with a sign and a whistle to pump up the crowd to the "Two Bits" cheer. Edmondson officially retired in 2008, and was made an honorary alumnus in 2005. His final appearance as Mr. Two Bits was at the last home game of the 2008 season against

The Citadel The Citadel Military College of South Carolina (simply known as The Citadel) is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Established in 1842, it is the third oldest of the six senior military colleges ...

. In June 2020, then university president Kent Fuchs announced that the

University Athletic Association The University Athletic Association (UAA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. Member schools are highly selective universities located in Georgia, Illino ...

and the Gator Band would cease the use of the "Gator Bait" cheer at UF sporting events. While the university found no direct link between its usage of the phrase at sporting events and historical depictions of black children being used as alligator bait, it decided to end the chant due to "horrific racist imagery" associated with the phrase. The decision was reached amid a growing demand for

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

in the United States following the

murder of George Floyd On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...

by Minneapolis police and the ensuing protests.

Notable Gator athletes and benefactors

University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame

Over 250 notable former Gators athletes and coaches have been inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame. Hall of Fame inductees fall into three categories: "Gator Greats"; "Distinguished Letterwinners"; and "Honorary Letterwinners." Gator Greats are those former athletes who distinguished themselves during their undergraduate sports careers, and include former All-Americans, all-conference selections, winners of major national awards, individual national champions, and those who significantly contributed to national team championships. Distinguished Letterwinners are those former Gators athletes who achieved distinction after graduation, as athletic coaches or administrators, professional athletes, or in public service or other career activities. Honorary Letterwinners are those persons who are not University of Florida alumni and former undergraduate athletes, but have distinguished themselves by their significant contributions to the success of Florida Gators sports teams, including former championship Gators coaches. Gator Greats include Heisman Trophy winners

, and

; Pro Football Hall of Fame members Jack Youngblood and Emmitt Smith; Olympic gold medal swimmers Tracy Caulkins, Nicole Haislett and Dara Torres; individual NCAA golf champions Page Dunlap, Nick Gilliam and Bob Murphy; Olympic gold medal soccer players Heather Mitts and

; and individual NCAA tennis champions

and

. Distinguished Letterwinners include head coaches Doug Dickey, Lindy Infante and Dutch Stanley, as well as U.S. Senator George Smathers. Honorary Letterwinners include former Gators national championship coaches Buster Bishop, Andy Brandi, Randy Reese and Mimi Ryan, former football coach and four-star general

James Van Fleet General (United States), General James Alward Van Fleet (19 March 1892 – 23 September 1992) was a United States Army officer who served during World War I, World War II and the Korean War. Van Fleet was a native of New Jersey, who was raised i ...

, as well as medical professor Robert Cade, who invented the sports drink

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...

at UF in the mid-1960s as a rehydration aid to assist Gators athletes.

Gators in the Olympic Games

The University of Florida has a reputation and long history of producing athletes who compete in the

. Over 160 university alumni, including Florida Gators athletes from over 35 countries, have competed in the Games, winning fifty Olympic

gold medals A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

, twenty-nine silver medals and thirty bronze medals (through the end of the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

).GatorZone.com
Gators in the Olympics
Retrieved January 27, 2015. The list of notable Gator Olympians and gold medalists includes sprinters Kerron Clement,

Dennis Mitchell Dennis Allen Mitchell (born February 20, 1966) is an American former college and international track and field athlete, who was a member of the gold medal-winning team in the 4 × 100 metres relay race at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Athletics car ...

, and

Bernard Williams Sir Bernard Arthur Owen Williams (21 September 1929 – 10 June 2003) was an English Ethics, moral philosopher. His publications include ''Problems of the Self'' (1973), ''Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy'' (1985), ''Shame and Necessit ...

; marathon runner Frank Shorter; baseball outfielder Brad Wilkerson; basketball forward DeLisha Milton-Jones; soccer forward

; and swimmers Tracy Caulkins, Nicole Haislett and Ryan Lochte. Former Gator Dara Torres is the only American swimmer to compete in five Olympic Games (1984, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2008).USA Swimming
Dara Torres
Retrieved July 28, 2009. At the age of 41, Torres became the oldest swimmer to win an Olympic medal when she won a silver medal in her inclusion in three events in 2008, finishing her career with a total of twelve Olympic medals (including four gold).

Notes

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , titlestyle = {{CollegePrimaryStyle, Florida Gators, color=white , list = {{Southeastern Conference navbox {{Big 12 Conference navbox {{Divison1floridacolleges {{Florida College Sports