Florida Gators

Florida Gators
University	University of Florida
Conference(s)	Southeastern Conference American Lacrosse Conference
NCAA	Division I / FBS
Athletic director	Jeremy Foley
Location	Gainesville, FL
Varsity teams	21
Football stadium	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Basketball arena	O'Connell Center
Baseball stadium	McKethan Stadium
Other arenas	Donald R. Dizney Stadium James G. Pressly Stadium Pressly Softball Stadium Mark Bostick Golf Course Scott Linder Stadium
Mascot	Albert and Alberta
Nickname	Gators
Fight song	"The Orange and Blue"
Colors	Blue and Orange
Homepage	GatorZone.com

The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The "Lady Gators" is an alternative nickname sometimes used by the Gators women's teams. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as the "Gator Nation."

Overview

The Florida Gators athletic program has been recognized as the best overall in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) over the past two decades, and consistently as one of the best in the nation. During the 2011–12 school year, the Gators men's and women's teams combined to win the Southeastern Conference All-Sports Trophy for the twenty-second time in the past twenty-five years.^[1] Every year since 1983, 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.^[2] The Florida Gators men's athletic program won the inaugural Capital One Cup in 2011, awarded annually based on the performances of all the teams in the program.^[3]

Among the Gators' recent national championships, the Florida Gators men's basketball team won the 2006 and 2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournaments, and the Florida Gators football team won 2007 BCS National Championship Game in football, all in the space of 366 days.^[4] Florida is the only school in NCAA history to hold the men's basketball and football championships during the same school year.^[4] In January 2009, the Florida Gators football team won the 2009 BCS National Championship Game with a 24–14 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners.^[5] The Gators won the NCAA men's indoor track and field championship in three consecutive seasons in 2010, 2011 and 2012,^[6] the NCAA women's swimming and diving team national championship in 2010,^[7][8] the NCAA women's tennis championship in 2011 and 2012,^[9] the NCAA men's outdoor track and field championship in 2012 and 2013, and the NCAA women's gymnastics championship in 2013, earning the university a total of thirty-one national team championships.^[10] Individual Gator athletes have won 249 individual NCAA championships in boxing, golf, gymnastics, swimming and diving, tennis, and track and field.^[11]

All Gators sports teams compete in NCAA Division I,^[12] and twenty of the twenty-one Gators teams compete in the SEC.^[13] The University of Florida was one of the thirteen charter members who joined together to form the new Southeastern Conference on December 8 and 9, 1932.^[14] Previously, the university was a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association from 1912 to 1921,^[15] and the Southern Conference from 1922 until the SEC began play in the fall of 1933.^[16]

The University of Florida sports teams adopted orange and blue as their official colors in 1910, purportedly representing a combination of the main colors of the two primary institutions that merged to form the university in 1905.^[17] The alligator, or "gator," was incidentally chosen as Florida's mascot when a Gainesville merchant sold school pennants with an alligator emblem in 1911.^[17][18] Albert and Alberta are the official costumed mascots of the Florida Gators.^[19] Albert and Alberta are unique among the SEC's mascots as the only male-and-female pair.

All Florida Gators sports teams have on-campus facilities, and most are located on Stadium Road, including Ben Hill Griffin Stadium for football,^[20] the O'Connell Center for basketball,^[21][22] gymnastics,^[23] swimming and diving,^[24] indoor track and field,^[25] and volleyball,^[26] Alfred A. McKethan Stadium for baseball,^[27] and James G. Pressly Stadium for soccer^[28] and outdoor track and field.^[29] The Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium and the Florida Lacrosse Facility are located on Hull Road on the southwestern side of the campus.^[30][31] 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.^[32][33][34]

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.^[35] For the 2009–10 school year, the UAA has an operating budget of $85,832,812, projected revenues of $90,744,037, and will make a $6 million contribution to the university's general fund.^[36]

Jeremy Foley is Florida's athletic director, having served in his present position since 1992.^[37] Foley guided the searches that resulted in the hiring of national-championship coaches Becky Burleigh (women's soccer), Billy Donovan (men's basketball), Mike Holloway (track and field), Urban Meyer (football), Roland Thornqvist (women's tennis), and Gregg Troy (women's swimming). He was also fortunate to inherit national-championship men's golf coach Buddy Alexander and SEC-dominant volleyball coach Mary Wise, the only two current Florida coaches who predate Foley's tenure as athletic director. He has guided the successful expansion of Florida's varsity sports program over the past two decades, with the addition of women's soccer in 1995, softball in 1997, and women's lacrosse in 2010. The University of Florida currently fields teams in nine men's sports and twelve women's sports, including:^[38]

Women's sports Gators women's basketball Gators women's cross country Gators women's golf Gators gymnastics Gators women's lacrosse Gators women's soccer Gators softball Gators women's swimming and diving Gators women's tennis Gators women's track and field Gators volleyball

Men's sports Gators baseball Gators men's basketball Gators men's cross country Gators football Gators men's golf Gators men's swimming and diving Gators men's tennis Gators men's track and field

The Gators men's and women's track and field teams are counted twice in the total number of Florida's sports teams because Gators track and field athletes compete in the separate indoor and outdoor track and field seasons sanctioned by the NCAA.

Baseball

Coach Andy Lopez took over the Gators baseball program in 1994, one season after leading the Pepperdine Waves to their first College World Series 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 College World Series for the fifth time in school history. The team advanced to the championship round against the Texas Longhorns, 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.^[39]

Former Clemson Tigers associate head coach Kevin O'Sullivan became the Gators' new head baseball coach on June 13, 2007.^[40] 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 Series final in 2011.

The Gators baseball team plays its home games at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium at Perry Field.^[27]

Men's basketball

Florida enjoyed very limited success in men's basketball before the mid-1980s. Coach Norm Sloan led the program to its first post-season appearance in 1984 when the Gators made the National Invitation Tournament. They again competed in the NIT in 1985 and 1986 and made their first appearance in the NCAA Basketball Tournament in 1987, when star guard Vernon Maxwell led the team to the Sweet Sixteen. The Gators made the NCAA Tournament again the following two years. But after a scandal broke involving alleged NCAA rules violations and pregame drug use by Maxwell, Sloan resigned during the 1989-90 season and the program was placed on NCAA probation. Maxwell was retroactively declared ineligible by the school and his statistics were erased from Florida official athletic records.

Coach Lon Kruger brought renewed success and reached the NIT final four in his second year. During the 1993–94 season, Andrew DeClercq and Dametri Hill led the Gators to their first NCAA Final Four following a dramatic victory over Connecticut in the Regional Final. Two years later, Kruger's final Gator squad had a losing record and he left to coach at Illinois.

Athletic Director Jeremy Foley, looking for a young coach with a proven track record, hired Billy Donovan, then the head coach at Marshall University, as Kruger's replacement. Donovan's recruiting prowess was evident early, bringing future NBA star Jason Williams with him from Marshall and having early recruiting classes with future NBA players Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem and Matt Bonner. The Gators received invitations to the NCAA Tournament every year from 1999 through 2007, an eight-year streak that is a school record.

Despite several regular-season titles under Donovan, Florida had never won the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament until the 2004–05 season, when they beat the rival Kentucky Wildcats in the SEC title game.

The 2005–06 team's 17–0 start was the best in school history, surprising many with a young, selfless squad led by four sophomores. The team started the season unranked, but managed to win its second consecutive SEC Tournament championship. On April 3, 2006, the Gators defeated the UCLA Bruins 73–57 in the NCAA Tournament championship game to win the school's first men's national basketball championship. All five starters announced they would return for another season to try to win back-to-back championships.

Before the start of the 2006–07 basketball season, the Gators were ranked first in both major preseason media polls for the first time in school history. The Gators won their second consecutive NCAA National Men's Basketball Championship on April 2, 2007, defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes 84–75. They became the first team since the 1991–92 Duke Blue Devils to win back-to-back tournaments and the first in history to do so with the same starting line-up. After the 2007 National Championship game, Florida's four star juniors announced they would enter the NBA draft.

After accepting the head coaching job with the NBA's Orlando Magic on June 1, 2007, Donovan asked to be released by the Magic and return to Florida. On June 6, 2007, the Orlando Magic released Donovan, and he signed a new contract with Florida on June 7, 2007 to become the highest-paid coach in college basketball.

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. Incidentally, the 2010-2011 Gators were the only team in the nation not to have a single player foul out throughout the course of the entire season. In the 2011-2012 season, the Gators earned a 7 seed in the NCAA tournament. They beat all odds and prognosticators who predicted early exits for the guard-oriented national leader in 3-point baskets made and advanced all the way to the Elite 8, headlined by the play of star freshman Bradley Beal and the fearlessness of 5'7 point guard "Big Shot Erv" Erving Walker, before succumbing to Louisville.

The Gators men's basketball team plays its home games in the O'Connell Center.^[21]

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.^[41]

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.

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. 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 in the second round.

The Gators women's basketball team plays its home games in the O'Connell Center.^[22]

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 Southeastern Conference Championships, and produced 138 All-Americans, forty-two National Football League (NFL) first-round draft choices and three Heisman Trophy winners.

The Gators' most prominent current football rivals are SEC Eastern Division foes Georgia and Tennessee, annual SEC Western Division opponent LSU, and in-state rival Florida State from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Florida has historically shared rivalries with Auburn and Miami, too, but those games are no longer played annually and have lessened in intensity.

The Gator football team has obtained more victories than any other program in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS)^[42] since 1990, the year Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Steve Spurrier returned to his alma mater as head coach. The 1996 team, coached by Spurrier and led by another Gator Heisman-winner, Danny Wuerffel, finished with a 12–1 record and won the national championship in the Sugar Bowl, dismantling rival Florida State 52-20.

Urban Meyer 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 Ohio State Buckeyes 41–14. Quarterback Tim Tebow 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 Oklahoma Sooners 24–14, for the Gators' third National Championship. Meyer resigned as the Gators head coach in December 2010, and was replaced by Will Muschamp following the Gators' January 1, 2011 victory over Penn State in the Outback Bowl.

The Gators have won the SEC Championship Game a record seven times in ten tries 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-one seasons.

The Gators football team plays its home games in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field, also known as "The Swamp", the team's home field since 1930.^[20]

Men's golf

The men's golf team has won four NCAA Championships (1968, 1973, 1993, 2001), and has produced two individual NCAA champions, Bob Murphy in 1966 and Nick Gilliam in 2001. The men's golf team has also won fifteen Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships: 1955–56, 1968, 1973–75, 1985, 1989, 1991–94, 1999, 2003, 2011.

Numerous former Gator golfers have represented the University of Florida on the PGA Tour, and the program has produced over thirty male athletes who have competed professionally.

Buddy Alexander is the head coach for the men's golf team. Alexander is the dean of Florida Gators coaches, having served in his current head coaching position since 1988—longer than any other Gator coach. The Gators men's golf team plays its home matches at the Mark Bostick Golf Course (formerly known as the "University Golf Course").^[32]

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, and the program has produced over twenty female athletes who have competed in the professional ranks.

Jan Dowling 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").^[32]

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 National Championship. Since the NCAA 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 NCAA national championship, finished in second-place in 1998 and 2012, and the team has only failed to qualify for the NCAA championships once in the past twenty-eight seasons.

The Gators have won a total of nine SEC gymnastics championships since 1982. The team's biggest SEC rivals are Alabama and Georgia, both of which are also perennial national contenders. Coach Rhonda Faehn's Gator gymnasts are the current reigning SEC champions, having won their conference in both 2012 and 2013.

Faehn has coached the Gators gymnastics team since 2003. Under Faehn, the Gator gymnasts have been nationally competitive and remarkably consistent—finishing seventh, fifth, seventh, fourth, third, fourth, fourth, second and, in 2013, first at the NCAA National Championships over the past nine seasons.

The Gators gymnastics team holds its home meets at the O'Connell Center.^[23]

Women's lacrosse

In June 2006, the University Athletic Association announced the creation of the new Gators women's lacrosse program, citing the phenomenal growth of high school lacrosse across the country and the increased availability of Division I competition. Florida became the second Southeastern Conference school to offer lacrosse as a varsity sport, following Vanderbilt University,^[43] and played its inaugural 2010 season in the American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) together with Vanderbilt.

Amanda O'Leary 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 for 14 seasons, and was honored as a two-time All-American midfielder at Temple University, where she led her team to an NCAA Championship in 1988.

The Gators' first recruiting class of twenty-four freshmen featured seven US Lacrosse high school. All-Americans^[44] and six Under Armour high school All-Americans.^[45] In only the second season of the Gators lacrosse program, the mostly-sophomores team defeated the defending ALC champion Northwestern Wildcats to win their first regular season conference championship.^[46] The Gators completed a perfect 5–0 season three days later by defeating the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nasvhille.^[47]

The Gators women's lacrosse team plays its home games in the 1,500-seat Donald R. Dizney Stadium.^[31]

Women's soccer

Becky Burleigh has been the head coach since the women's soccer team first 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 the NCAA national championship by defeating the defending national champion University of North Carolina Tar Heels. The women's soccer team has also won eleven SEC Championships and nine SEC tournament titles in its sixteen seasons of play.^[48]

Other notable former Gator soccer players include Abby Wambach, who is 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 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, and Danielle Fotopoulos, who played professionally with the Carolina Courage.

The Gators women's soccer team plays its home games at James G. Pressly Stadium.^[28]

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 two SEC championships and four consecutive appearances in the Women's College World Series in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011.^[49]

The Gators won the SEC regular season championships in 1998, 2008 and 2009, as well as the SEC tournament titles in 2008 and 2009. During the 2009 season, they also played for the NCAA softball championship on the biggest stage in all of college softball, the Women's College World Series, losing to the University of Washington Huskies in the final game.

The current head coach is Tim Walton, who is in his fourth year with the team.^[50] He was previously the head coach at Wichita State University and he played baseball for the University of Oklahoma and a minor league team affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies.^[50] Through the conclusion of the 2009 season, Walton has coached his Gators team to a record of 226–57 in four seasons, and he has an overall win-loss record of 349–121 during his seven seasons as a head coach.^[50]

The Gators softball team plays its home games at the Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium.^[30]

Swimming and diving

The Florida Gators men's swimming and diving teams have won two NCAA national championships (1983 and 1984), and has also won thirty-three Southeastern Conference Championships.^[51] The women's swimming and diving team has won three NCAA national championships (1979, 1982, and 2010), and has also won seventeen SEC Championships.^[51]

The Florida Gators' famous 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 United States swimmer to compete in five Olympic Games. Some of the Gators' most notable male swimmers are Ryan Lochte, Matt Cetlinski, Mike Heath, David Larson, Anthony Nesty and Martin Zubero.

The head coach of the men's and the women's swimming teams is Gregg Troy; Donnie Craine is the head coach of the men's and women's diving teams.

The Gators swimming and diving teams hold their home meets at the Natatorium and the Carse Swimming Complex.

Tennis

Florida has one of the strongest and most storied women's tennis programs in NCAA history, producing such former greats as Lisa Raymond and Jill Craybas. Only the Stanford University women's tennis team has won more NCAA Championships than the Gators.^[52] The women's tennis team has won six NCAA championships (1992, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2011, 2012)^[53] and six Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national indoor championships (1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1997, 1999),^[54] and twenty-five SEC Championships.^[55]

The men's tennis team has won nine SEC Championships,^[56] and two singles and one doubles championships in the annual NCAA tournament.^[57]

Andy Jackson is the head coach of the men's tennis team, and coach Roland Thornqvist leads the women's tennis team.

The Gators men's and women's tennis teams play their home matches at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.^[58]

Track and field

The Florida Gators men's track and field team has won six Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships, and four SEC Outdoor Championships. After being the runner-up in both the NCAA indoor and outdoor meets in 2009, the men's team won both the 2010 and 2011 NCAA men's indoor track and field championships.

The women's track and field team won the NCAA Indoor Championship in 1992. 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, Todd Morgan and Brian O'Neal.

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.^[29]

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 twenty seasons as Florida's head coach, Wise has compiled a 632–69 win-loss record (.902), 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 seven NCAA Final Four appearances (1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003). In 2003, they advanced to the NCAA National Championship final, where they lost to the undefeated USC Trojans.

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.^[59] 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's 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.^[26]

Former varsity sports

In the past, the Florida Gators fielded varsity teams in men's boxing, men's wrestling and men's volleyball. Gator boxer John Joca, a "Gator Great" member of the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame,^[60] won the NCAA national boxing championship in the 135-pound weight class in 1940.^[61][62] The Gators boxing team, however, was discontinued in 1943 during World War II, and was never revived after the war.^[62] 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 and men's volleyball teams were eliminated as a result of cost-cutting and Title IX compliance issues in 1979.^[63] The University Athletic Association, under athletic director Ray Graves, desired to take a proactive role in Title IX compliance by balancing the number of available men's and women's athletic scholarships, and this ultimately resulted in the elimination of two men's varsity sports programs.

Marching band, cheerleading and fan traditions

The "Gator Chomp" is a gesture made by Florida Gators fans and players to show their support of the Florida Gators sports teams. The chomp originated in 1981. The chomp 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.^[64] 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.^[65]

"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 1998, 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 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. The Gatorettes are the baton-twirlers, or majorettes, for the marching band.^[66]

Another football fan tradition, at home and on the road, is the Gator fans' linking arms, swaying, and singing "We Are the Boys from Old Florida" at the end of every third quarter. The University of Florida's fight song, "The Orange and Blue," is played frequently at all Florida Gators athletic events.

The Pride of the Sunshine plays the University of Florida Alma Mater at Florida Field before the start of every home football game. Following every home game, the entire football team gathers on Florida Field and joins fans in singing the Alma Mater while the band plays. Florida alumnus and former head football coach Steve Spurrier re-introduced this tradition to Florida Gators football games in 1990.

The University of Florida dance team that performs at home basketball games and other sports events is known as the Dazzlers.

Fans of the Gators baseball and basketball teams often use the "Left-Right" chant. Believed to have been borrowed from fans of the West Palm Beach Expos in 1994,^[67][68] it was first adopted by the baseball team, but was rapidly adopted by the men's basketball team as well, from which it has spread to college basketball teams nationwide.^{[citation needed]}

All-sports program rankings

NACDA Directors' Cup

The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) has recognized the University of Florida as being among the top ten NCAA Division I athletic programs in the country every year since 1983–84. The 2011–12 academic year marked the Gators' twenty-ninth consecutive year among the nation's top ten best overall collegiate athletic programs.^[2] 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.^[2] In the initial twenty-nine years of the NACDA Directors' Cup, the Gators have finished fifth or better in twenty years, and have never finished lower than ninth, a claim only Stanford University's athletic program can better.

NACDA All-Sports Rankings^[2]

SEC All-Sports Trophy

Through the end of the 2011–12 school year, the Florida Gators have won 204 Southeastern Conference (SEC) team championships, the most in conference history.^[69][70]

The SEC All-Sports Trophy began in 1973 as the Bernie Moore Trophy and tabulated the league's best men's sports program.^[71] 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.^[72] In 1994, the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group assumed responsibility for awarding the trophies.^[1] In the 39-year history of the awards, Florida has won nineteen Women's Trophies, sixteen Men's Trophies, and twenty-two Overall SEC All-Sports Trophies (including twenty-two of the last twenty-five).^[1]

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).^[1] Florida reclaimed the SEC All-Sports Trophy for the 2006–07 school year, and the Gators again swept the overall, men's, and women's all-sports trophies in every year since.^[1] The Gators are the only SEC sports program to earn all three SEC all-sports trophies in a single year, and have swept all three trophies twelve times.^[1]

National championships

In their 107-year history of intercollegiate competition, the University of Florida's varsity athletic teams have won thirty-one national team championships (including twenty-six sponsored by the NCAA, two by the AIAW, two by the BCS, and one by the Bowl Alliance), and its individual athletes have won 256 individual NCAA national championships.^[11][73][74] Florida is the only Division I school to hold both major men's championships at the same time (as the 2006 BCS football champions and the 2006 and 2007 NCAA men's basketball champions). The Gators men's basketball team's back-to-back NCAA national championships in 2006 and 2007 made the Gators the first "repeat champions" in men's basketball since the Duke University Blue Devils won back-to-back NCAA tournament championships in 1991 and 1992.^[75]

Men's National Championships

• Basketball (2): 2006 • 2007^[75]
• Football (3): 1996 • 2006 • 2008^[76]
• Golf (4): 1968 • 1973 • 1993 • 2001^[77]
• Indoor Track and Field (3): 2010 • 2011 • 2012^[8]
• Outdoor Track and Field (2): 2012 • 2013
• Swimming and Diving (2): 1983 • 1984^[78]

Women's National Championships

• Golf (2): 1985 • 1986^[79]
• Gymnastics (2): 1982 • 2013^[80]
• Indoor Track and Field (1): 1992^[81]
• Soccer (1): 1998^[82]
• Swimming and Diving (3): 1979 • 1982 • 2010^[83]
• Tennis (6): 1992 • 1996 • 1998 • 2003 • 2011 • 2012^[84]

The national intercollegiate sports championships listed above were sponsored by the NCAA unless otherwise noted in the footnotes.

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 twenty of the twenty-one Gators sports teams compete in the SEC. Since the SEC began play in 1933, Florida's varsity athletic teams have won 214 SEC team championships, more than any other conference member.^[70][85] Among the other eleven current members of the SEC, the University of Tennessee has won the next highest number of SEC team championships, with 153.^[86] The women's lacrosse team plays in the single-sport American Lacrosse Conference (ALC), and has won three regular season ALC championships. Through the spring 2013 sports season, Florida's 214 SEC and three ALC team championships include:

Men's conference championships

• Baseball (12): 1952 • 1956 • 1962 • 1981 • 1982 • 1984 • 1988 • 1996 • 1998 • 2005 • 2010 • 2011 • Tournament (5): 1981 • 1982 • 1984 • 1988 • 1991 • 2011^[87][88]
• Basketball (6): 1989 • 2000 • 2001 • 2007 • 2011 • 2013 • Tournament (3): 2005 • 2006 • 2007^[89]
• Cross country (3) 1955 • 1986 • 1987^[90]
• Football (8): 1991 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 2000 • 2006 • 2008^[91]
• Golf (15): 1955 • 1956 • 1968 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1985 • 1989 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1999 • 2003 • 2011^[92]
• Swimming and diving (34): 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^[93]
• Tennis (9): 1950 • 1961 • 1968 • 1969 • 1975 • 1994 • 2000 • 2003 • 2005 • Tournament (4): 1994 • 2000 • 2005 • 2011^[94]
• Indoor track and field (6): 1975 • 1976 • 1987 • 1988 • 2004 • 2011^[95]
• Outdoor track and field (4): 1953 • 1956 • 1987 • 2010^[96]
• Wrestling (1): 1975

Women's conference championships

• Cross country (6) 1984 • 1996 • 1997 • 2009 • 2010 • 2012^[97]
• Golf (8): 1981 • 1982 • 1984 • 1986 • 1987 • 1991 • 1995 • 2008^[98]
• Gymnastics (9): 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1989 • 2007 • 2010 • 2012 • 2013^[99]
• Lacrosse (3): 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • Tournament (1): 2012
• Soccer (13): 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2004 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2012 • 2013 • Tournament (10): 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2004 • 2007 • 2010 • 2012^[100]
• Softball (4): 1998 • 2008 • 2009 • 2013 • Tournament (2): 2008 • 2009 • 2013^[101]
• Swimming and diving (17): 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 2002 • 2009^[102]
• Tennis (27): 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 • Tournament (10): 2000 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013^[103]
• Indoor track and field (7): 1990 • 1992 • 1997 • 2002 • 2004 • 2010 • 2012^[104]
• Outdoor track and field (5): 1992 • 1997 • 1998 • 2003 • 2009^[105]
• Volleyball (20): 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2010 • 2012 • Tournament (12): 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2005^[106]

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 forty-six SEC tournament titles in these sports which are not included in Florida's total of 232 SEC team championships.

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:

Alfred A. McKethan Stadium at Perry Field

• Originally built in 1988, McKethan Stadium has played host to the Gators baseball team's home games as well as NCAA regional baseball tournaments for more than two decades.^[27] Renovated in 2007, the facility was expanded to seat up to 6,000 fans, and the locker rooms and offices were also upgraded.^[27]

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field

• The Gators football team plays its home games in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.^[20] The stadium was originally constructed in 1930, and was known simply as "Florida Field."^[20] In 1989, it was renamed in honor of Ben Hill Griffin, Jr., an alumnus and generous donor to the university and its athletic programs.^[20] Since the arrival of coach Steve Spurrier in 1990, the stadium has become nationally known as the "Swamp."^[20] The Swamp has been renovated and expanded several times, and has included a natural grass surface since 1990.^[20] 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.^[20] The Swamp is the 12th largest college football stadium in America as measured by official seating capacity.^[20]

Carse Swimming Complex

• Built in 1998 at a cost of $2 million, Carse Swimming Complex is a two-story, 7,000-square-foot (650 m²) 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, 47,505-square-foot (4,413.4 m²) structure that includes multiple practice gyms, a training room, and a 1,900-square-foot (180 m²) weight room.^[107]

Donald R. Dizney Stadium

• Completed during the summer of 2009, the Florida Lacrosse Facility will host the new women's lacrosse team when it begins play in January 2010.^[31] The 1,500-seat stadium runs the length of the game field, and the facility includes a second practice field.^[31] The facility also includes concessions, ticket offices, locker rooms and a training room.^[31]

James G. Pressly Stadium and Percy Beard Track

• Pressly Stadium is a combined soccer and track and field facility that includes Percy Beard Track.^[28] The facility was renovated in 1995, when 2,500 bench seats were added to the existing 2,000-seat concrete grandstand, increasing the total seating capacity to more than 4,500 spectators.^[28] The stadium is located on campus, between McKethan Stadium and Linder Stadium, and was renamed in honor of James G. Pressly, Jr., a University of Florida alumnus and benefactor.^[28] The women's soccer team plays its home games in Pressly Stadium.^[28]

• Percy Beard Track was renovated in 1995 at a cost of $750,000, and the pole vault and long jump pits were moved from the infield to an area outside the track to accommodate the new soccer field.^[29] 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.^[29]

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 team.^[30] 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.^[30] The stadium is named for benefactor Katie Pressly.^[30] The Gators played their first game in the stadium against Stetson University on February 8, 1997.^[30]

Lemerand Center

• Built in 1995 and named in honor of donor Gale Lemerand, the Lemerand Center is a 43,000-square-foot (4,000 m²) 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.^[32] The men's and women's golf teams play their home matches on the course, and the course also hosts the Gator and Lady Gator Golf Day Pro-Am.^[32] The course is 6,701 yards in length, and is rated as a par 70.^[32] In 2001, Bobby Weed renovated the course with a $4 million donation from benefactor Mark Bostick.^[32]

• The Guy Bostick Clubhouse is equipped with numerous amenities and includes over 8,000 square feet (740 m²) of interior space.^[32]

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 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 tennis teams.^[33][34] The facility was renovated at a cost of $1.7 million in 1999, when the building interior space was expanded to 7,163 square feet (665.5 m²), and includes coaches' offices, a training room, locker rooms, and a 3,000-square-foot (280 m²) exterior courtyard.^[34] The stadium includes a 1,000-seat grandstand overlooking the six lighted main courts, and also includes a second row of nine practice courts.^[33] The complex is located on campus, adjacent to the College of Law and James G. Pressly Stadium.^[34]

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,^[21][22] women's gymnastics,^[23] men's and women's indoor track and field,^[25] and women's volleyball teams.^[26] 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 swimming and diving teams compete.^[24]

• 

  Ben Hill Griffin Stadium

• 

  James G. Pressly Stadium

• 

  O'Connell Center

• 

  Mark Bostick Golf Course

• 

  Basketball Complex

• 

  Lemerand Center

• 

  Steinbrenner Band Hall

Gator athletes in the Olympic Games

The University of Florida has a reputation and long history of producing athletes who compete in the Olympic Games. Hundreds of University of Florida alumni have competed or coached in the Olympic Games. In total, over 150 Gator athletes from over thirty different countries have competed in the Games, winning forty-four Olympic gold medals, twenty-three silver medals and twenty-three bronze medals (through the end of the 2008 Summer Olympics).^[108]

The list of notable Gator Olympians and gold medalists includes sprinters Kerron Clement, Dennis Mitchell, and Bernard Williams; marathon runner Frank Shorter; baseball outfielder Brad Wilkerson; basketball forward DeLisha Milton-Jones; soccer forward Abby Wambach; and swimmers Tracy Caulkins, Nicole Haislett and Ryan Lochte.

Former Gator Dara Torres became the first American swimmer to compete in five Olympic Games (1984, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2008).^[109] At the age of forty-one, Torres swam in the 2008 Olympic Games in the 50-meter freestyle, 4×100-meter medley relay, and 4×100-meter freestyle relay, and won the silver medal in all three events.^[109] Torres has won a total of twelve Olympic medals (including four gold) over her career.^[109]

List of notable Gators athletes

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 Steve Spurrier and Danny Wuerffel; consensus first-team All-Americans Carlos Alvarez, Wilber Marshall 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 Abby Wambach; and individual NCAA tennis champions Jill Craybas, Jeff Morrison and Lisa Raymond.

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, as well as medical professor Robert Cade, who invented the sports drink Gatorade as a rehydration aid to assist Gators athletes.

List of notable Gator sports benefactors

The Florida Gators sports team have been fortunate to receive the financial support of many individuals, but some stand out by the magnitude of their contributions.^[110] Among those who have made notably large contributions to the university's sports programs are:

Mark Bostick Wayne Carse Jerry Chicone Donald and Irene Dizney John Frost II

Ben Hill Griffin, Jr. Ben Hill Griffin III Stumpy Harris Bill Heavener Hjalma Johnson

Gale Lemerand Paul and Sande McDonald Alfred McKethan Steve Melnyk Jeffery Parks

James Pressly Katie Pressly Danny Ponce Alfred Ring George Steinbrenner

See also

• Gatorade
• Gator Chomp
• History of the University of Florida

References

External links

• GatorZone.com – Official website of the Florida Gators athletic program
• GatorSports.com – Gators sports news from The Gainesville Sun

v t e Florida Gators Arenas and stadiums Alfred A. McKethan Stadium (Baseball) Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (Football) Donald R. Dizney Stadium (Lacrosse) James G. Pressly Stadium (Soccer, Track and field) Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium (Softball) Mark Bostick Golf Course (Golf) Scott Linder Stadium (Tennis) Stephen C. O'Connell Center (Multipurpose) Sports Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Cross country Football Men's golf Women's golf Women's gymnastics Women's lacrosse Women's soccer Softball Swimming and diving Men's tennis Women's tennis Track and field Women's volleyball Athletic director Jeremy Foley Athletic association University Athletic Association Current head coaches Buddy Alexander (Men's golf) Becky Burleigh (Women's soccer) Amanda Butler (Women's basketball) Billy Donovan (Men's basketball) Emily Bastel (Women's golf) Rhonda Faehn (Women's gymnastics) Mike Holloway (Cross country, Track and field) Bryan Shelton (Men's tennis) Will Muschamp (Football) Amanda O'Leary (Women's lacrosse) Kevin O'Sullivan (Baseball) Roland Thornqvist (Women's tennis) Gregg Troy (Swimming and diving) Tim Walton (Softball) Mary Wise (Women's volleyball) Athletes Baseball players Basketball players Football players Golfers Tennis players Olympians UF Athletic Hall of Fame National championships 1968 Men's golf 1973 Men's Golf 1979 Women's swimming 1982 Women's gymnastics 1982 Women's swimming 1983 Men's swimming 1984 men's swimming 1985 Women's golf 1986 Women's golf 1992 Women's indoor track 1992 Women's tennis 1993 Men's golf 1996 Women's tennis 1996 Women's soccer 1996 Football 1998 Women's tennis 2001 Men's golf 2003 Women's tennis 2006 Men's basketball 2006 Football 2007 Men's basketball 2008 Football 2010 Men's indoor track 2010 Women's swimming 2011 Men's indoor track 2011 Women's tennis 2012 Men's indoor track 2012 Women's tennis 2012 Men's outdoor track Conference championships Baseball (12) Men's basketball (5) Men's cross country (3) Women's cross country (6) Football (8) Men's golf (15) Women's golf (8) Women's gymnastics (8) Women's lacrosse (2) Women's soccer (12) Softball (3) Men's swimming (33) Women's swimming (17) Men's tennis (9) Women's tennis (26) Men's indoor track (6) Women's indoor track (6) Men's outdoor track (4) Women's outdoor track (5) Women's volleyball (20) Conference affiliations Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1912–1921) Southern Conference (1922–1932) Southeastern Conference (1932– ) American Lacrosse Conference (2010– ) Culture and lore Albert and Alberta "The Orange and Blue" "We are the Boys" Gatorade Gator Chomp The Pride of the Sunshine Robert Cade University of Florida Gainesville, Florida

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