The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, 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 (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (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.
William John Donovan Jr. is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He coached previously for the Oklahoma City Thunder from 2015 to 2020. Before moving to the NBA, he served as the head basketball coach at the University of Florida from 1996 to 2015, and led his Florida Gator teams to back-to-back NCAA championships in 2006 and 2007, as well as an NCAA championship appearance in 2000.
Robert Michael Stanley is an American former college and professional baseball player who was a catcher in Major League Baseball for fifteen years. Stanley played college baseball for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he played professionally with the Texas Rangers (1986–1991), New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays (1998) and Oakland Athletics (2000).
The 2007 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gators competed in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and played their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus. It was the third season for head coach Urban Meyer, who led the Gators to a Capital One Bowl berth and an overall win–loss record of 9–4 (.692).
The Florida–Florida State football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the teams of the two oldest public universities of the U.S. state of Florida: the University of Florida (UF) Gators and Florida State University (FSU) Seminoles. Both universities participate in a range of intercollegiate sports, and for the last several years, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has sponsored a "Sunshine Showdown" promotion that tallies the total number of wins for each school in head-to-head sports competition. However, the annual football game between the Gators and Seminoles has consistently been the most intense and notable competition between the in-state rivals.
Matthew Vincent LaPorta is an American former professional baseball first baseman and left fielder who played for the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2009 to 2012. LaPorta played college baseball for the University of Florida.
Kevin Michael O'Sullivan is an American college baseball coach and former player. O'Sullivan is the current head coach of the Florida Gators baseball team of the University of Florida. O'Sullivan is best known for leading the Gators to the program's first College World Series national championship win in 2017. O'Sullivan also led the program to three consecutive appearances in the College World Series from 2010 to 2012 and four consecutive appearances from 2015 to 2018. He became the winningest coach in program history in 2021, surpassing Dave Fuller's 1975 record of 557 wins.
The Florida–Tennessee football rivalry, also called the Third Saturday in September, is an American college football rivalry between the Florida Gators football team of the University of Florida and Tennessee Volunteers football team of the University of Tennessee, who first met on the football field in 1916. The Gators and Vols have competed in the same athletic conference since Florida joined the now-defunct Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1910, and the schools were founding members of the Southeastern Conference in 1932. Despite this long conference association, a true rivalry did not develop until the early 1990s due to the infrequency of earlier meetings; in the first seventy-six years (1916–91) of the series, the two teams met just twenty-one times. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) expanded to twelve universities and split into two divisions in 1992. Florida and Tennessee were placed in the SEC's East Division and have met on a home-and-home basis every season since. Their rivalry quickly blossomed in intensity and importance in the 1990s and early 2000s as both programs regularly fielded national championship contending teams under coaches Phil Fulmer of Tennessee and Steve Spurrier at Florida.
The Florida Gators baseball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of baseball. Florida competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They play their home games in Condron Ballpark on the university's Gainesville, Florida, campus, and are currently led by head coach Kevin O'Sullivan. In the 105-season history of the Florida baseball program, the team has won 16 SEC championships and has appeared in 12 College World Series tournaments. The Gators won their first national championship in 2017.
The Florida Gators softball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of softball. Florida competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Gators play their home games at Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus, and are currently led by head coach Tim Walton. In the twenty-six year history of the Florida Softball program, the team has won two Women's College World Series (WCWS) national championships, nine SEC regular season championships, five SEC tournament championships, and have made eleven WCWS appearances.
Christopher Brian Johnson is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox. Listed at 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) and 235 pounds (107 kg), he both throws and bats left-handed. Johnson was the 2012 recipient of the John Olerud Award.
The University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame includes over 300 former Florida Gators athletes who represented the University of Florida in one or more intercollegiate sports and were recognized as "Gator Greats" for their athletic excellence during their college sports careers. The University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, is a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and fields twenty-one intercollegiate sports teams, all of which compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
Michael Accorsi Zunino is an American professional baseball catcher for the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays.
Dawn Alexis Buth is an American former college and professional tennis player. As a collegiate player, she played for the University of Florida and won two national doubles championships. As a professional, she played on the ITF Women's Circuit (ITF) and WTA Tour (WTA) from 1998 to 2001. She served as head coach of the women's tennis team at George Washington University (GWU) from 2004 to 2013. She is currently the Director for Government Relations at the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA).
The 2012–13 Florida Gators men's basketball team represented the University of Florida in the sport of basketball during the 2012–13 college basketball season. The Gators competed in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by head coach Billy Donovan, and played their home games in the O'Connell Center on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus.
The 2013 Florida Gators baseball team represented the University of Florida in the sport of baseball during the 2013 college baseball season. The Gators competed in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They played their home games at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium, on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus. The team was coached by Kevin O'Sullivan, who was in his sixth season at Florida. The Gators entered the season looking to build upon their appearance in the 2012 College World Series, where they were eliminated after two consecutive losses to South Carolina and Kent State.
Jeffrey James Schwarz is an American professional baseball catcher in the Oakland Athletics organization. He played college baseball for the Florida Gators.
The history of Florida Gators football began in 1906, when the newly established "University of the State of Florida" fielded a football team during its first full academic year of existence. The school's name was shortened to the University of Florida in 1908, and the football team gained the nickname "Gators" in 1911. The program started small, usually playing six to eight games per season against small colleges and local athletic club teams in north Florida and south Georgia. The Orange and Blue developed early rivalries with the Stetson Hatters from nearby Deland and Mercer Bears from Macon. During the 1910s, Florida began playing a wider range of opponents from more established football programs across the southeastern United States and faced off against several future rivals - such as Georgia, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, and Auburn - for the first time.
Brady Alan Singer is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2020. The Royals selected him in the first round of the 2018 MLB draft. Prior to his professional career, Singer played college baseball for the Florida Gators, and won the Dick Howser Trophy and Baseball America's College Player of the Year Award.
Jonathan Joseph India is an American professional baseball infielder for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB).
