Florida Gators

Infobox college athletics
name = Florida Gators

---

university = University of Florida
conference = Southeastern Conference
division = Division I
director = Jeremy Foley
city = Gainesville
state = Florida
stateabb = FL
teams = 18
stadium = Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
baseballfield = McKethan Stadium
arena = Stephen C. O'Connell Center
mascot = Albert and Alberta
nickname = Gators
fightsong = [http://www.gatorzone.com/multimedia/index.php?sport=footb&year=1997&media=audio&page=archive#band The Orange and Blue]
color1 = Orange
color2 = Blue
hex1 = FF4A00
hex2 = 0011cc
pageurl = http://gatorzone.com/
pagename = GatorZone.comThe Florida Gators are the athletic teams that collectively represent the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Lady Gators is an alternative often used for the women's teams. The sum of the program and its followers is referred to collectively as the Gator Nation.

All Gator athletic teams compete in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference, of which they are charter members, in NCAA Division I.

The athletic department is run by the University Athletic Association (UAA), a private non-profit organization that was established in 1929. Jeremy Foley has been the athletic director since 1992.

All athletic teams have on-campus facilities. Most are located on Stadium Drive, including Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field (dubbed The Swamp) for football; the Stephen C. O'Connell Center (also known as the O-Dome) for men's and women's basketball, women's volleyball and gymnastics; McKethan Stadium for baseball, Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium for softball and Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex for men's and women's tennis.

The athletic program is one of the best in the nation and has been arguably the best overall in the SEC for the past two decades. The men's and women's teams have combined to win the Southeastern Conference All-Sports Trophy in every year but one since its inception. The Gators have also been in the top ten of the National All Sports rankings every year for the past two decades.

Most recently, the Gators won back to back Division I Men's basketball championships while sandwiching a BCS National Title in football in between, all in 366 days.

Overview

The University of Florida was one of the charter members in the Southeastern Conference. Previously the Gators were in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association from 1912 to 1921, and in the Southern Conference from 1922 until the SEC was founded in 1932.

Orange and blue were officially adopted as the school colors in 1910 from the main colors of the two institutions that had united to form UF in 1903. [cite web |url=http://www.ufl.edu/history/1906.html |title=1906-1927: Early Gainesville |authors=University of Florida |accessdate=2007-07-13]

With the state of Florida being home to an estimated million alligators, the American Alligator ,often just called a "Gator" for short, was chosen as the mascot to represent the University of Florida in 1911. The official costumed mascots of the Florida Gators are Albert (Albert E. Gator) and Alberta.

The Gators' most prominent current rivals are SEC Eastern Division foes, the Georgia Bulldogs and Tennessee Volunteers, and the ACC's Florida State Seminoles. Florida has also shared past rivalries with the Auburn Tigers and Miami Hurricanes which have lessened in intensity in recent years.

There are 7 men's athletic teams and 10 women's teams currently fielded by the UAA. They are:

Florida has finished in the top 10 in national all sports rankings every year since 1983-84. UCLA is the only other program that has matched that feat. Perhaps more impressive is that Florida has managed this accomplishment while fielding fewer sports than other perennial top athletic programs.

In the 2007-08 academic year, Florida finished sixth place in the NACDA Directors' Cup. The finish marks Florida's 25th consecutive position among the nation's top-10 programs. The following programs finished in the top 10 in 2007-08:

· Women's golf (No. 9)
· Softball (No. 3)
· Women's tennis (No. T-3)
· Men's tennis (No. T-9)
· Women's outdoor track & field (No. 9)
· Women's gymnastics (No. 4)
· Men's swimming & diving (No. 6)
· Men's swimming & diving (No. 8)
· Women's indoor track & field (No. 8)
· Men's indoor track & field (No. 8)
· Women's soccer (No. T-9)
· Volleyball (No. T-9)

2007-08 NACDA Top Ten

#Stanford - 1,461
#UCLA - 1,182
#Michigan - 1,160
#Arizona State - 1,146
#Texas - 1,129.50
#Florida - 1,126.75
#California - 1,119
#LSU - 1,081.66
#Penn State - 1,041
#Georgia - 1,040

SEC All-Sports Trophy

At the end of the 2005-06 season, Florida has claimed 168 SEC titles, the most in conference history. The next closest program is Tennessee with 141 titles.

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 calculating the best women's sports program in the conference, as well as tabulating an overall champion. In 1994, the "New York Times" Regional Newspaper Group took over the awarding of the trophy.

In the history of the award, Florida has won 13 Women's Trophies, 11 Men's Trophies, and 16 Overall Trophies.

Georgia won the 2005-06 All-Sports trophy to snap Florida's record streak at 14 straight (1990-91 through 2004-05).

Florida reclaimed the SEC All-Sports Trophy for the 2006-07 athletic year. The Gators won in the overall, men's, and women's sports trophies. They are the only SEC program to earn all 3 in a single year, and had last accomplished the feat in 2000-01. [http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070520/GATORS01/705200357/-1/sports]

National Championships

In its history, Florida has won 27 total team titles, 16 of which are NCAA championships, and 185 individual national championships. Florida is also the only team to hold both major championships at the same time (as the 2006 BCS Champions and the 2006 and 2007 NCAA Men's Basketball Champions). The Gators basketball team repeated in NCAA Men's Basketball in the 2005-2006 season and in the 2006-2007 season being the first time since Duke in the early 90's.
*Men's
**Basketball - 2006, 2007
**Football - 1996*, 2007
**Golf - 1968, 1973, 1993, 2001
**Swimming & Diving - 1983, 1984
**Outdoor Track & Field - 2004^, 2005^
*Women's
**Golf - 1985, 1986
**Gymnastics - 1982*
**Soccer - 1998
**Swimming & Diving - 1979*, 1982
**Tennis - 1988*, 1991*, 1992 (ITA & NCAA), 1996 (ITA & NCAA), 1997*, 1998, 2003

* indicates a non-NCAA championship.^ indicates not an official championship; finished second both years when Arkansas was stripped of its championships for recruiting violations.

Notable alumni

*University of Florida Athletic Association

References

External links

* [http://www.gatorzone.com Gatorzone.com] - Official website of the Florida Gators.

* [http://www.uaa.ufl.edu/ University Athletic Association] - Official site of UF's athletics board.