![New UF head football coach Jon Sumrall speaks during a press conference at the James W. “Bill” Heavener Football Training Center in Gainesville, FL on Monday, December 1, 2025. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_2536,h_1426/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01kdwyawv0bek7eaxgnv.jpg "New UF head football coach Jon Sumrall speaks during a press conference at the James W. “Bill” Heavener Football Training Center in Gainesville, FL on Monday, December 1, 2025. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]")
It is officially 2026, and Florida Gator fans are looking around, wondering if fortunes will change with the new year. It wasn’t all bad for Florida fans in 2025 as men’s basketball won a national title and softball made it to the WCWS, but football was a dumpster fire, and baseball got blown out at regionals in the NCAA Tournament.
In the spirit of the calendar flipping back to January, these are the New Year’s Resolutions that we expect every program at the University of Florida to try to set for 2026.
Baseball - Be more consistent
We all remember last year when Florida started SEC play 1-11, only to rally and finish 15-15, only to then get bounced by ECU at regionals.
Kevin O’Sullivan has his work cut out for him but the goal needs to be better consistency from weekend to weekend.
Men’s Basketball - Start making threes
Florida’s front court is as good as anyone in the country, and the Gators should be contenders to win the SEC and beyond in 2026.
But, there is this nagging flaw that Florida can’t shoot threes. Xaivian Lee is at least starting to come along in this department, but Boogie Fland is still just shooting 22% from three.
Florida is still just 339th in three-point shooting.
Men’s Cross Country - Finish top half SEC
We’ll get to the women’s team, but the men’s cross country team has been lagging the past couple of years and has finished in the bottom half of the SEC the past two years. So as a starting point, let’s finish in the top half for 2026.
Football - Beat Auburn
There are a million directions to go with this one, but the first major test of the Jon Sumrall Era will be the week three matchup against Auburn. The Tigers also have a new coach and will have a roster that gets turned over via the transfer portal.
Beat Auburn, and the 2026 season has a chance to be alright.
Lose to Auburn, and the wheels could come off right away.
Men’s Golf - Win Nationals
Last year, men’s golf made it to the national semifinals before losing to Virginia. This year, Florida has already beaten Virginia in a match-play setting, so the ceiling is there for the Gators to win it all in 2026.
Men’s Swimming - Repeat Top Four At Nationals
One of the more consistent programs in Gainesville, men’s swimming finished 4th last year at nationals and has been ranked in the top five all year so far this year. They might not have enough firepower to win it all, but they should be in the running for another podium finish.
Men’s Tennis - Win 20 Matches
After winning the national title in 2021 and going 26-3 in 2022, men’s tennis has fallen back to being a .500 program over the past three years. Last year, the Gators went 15-12 and lost to UCF in the NCAA Tournament. 20 wins would be a good benchmark for this program to hit in 2026.
Men’s Track and Field - Win Nationals
After winning the outdoor title in 2022, 23, and 24, the Gators slipped back to 8th in 2025. Mike Holloway is the GOAT of Gainesville and will hopefully get Florida back in the rightful spot in 2026.
Women’s Basketball - Make The NCAA Tournament
Don’t look now, but women’s basketball is 12-3 on the season and starts SEC play against Tennessee on New Year’s Day. The catch is that Florida has played an almost exclusive Quad 4 schedule in the non-conference, and their NET is 61st entering SEC play.
With a solid SEC showing, the goal for Florida needs to be to make the NCAA Tournament in 2026.
Women’s Cross Country - Make The Podium At Nationals
Women’s cross country has morphed into one of the more successful programs at Florida, and in 2025, they tied the best finish in school history when they came in 5th. The top four make the podium so the goal for 2026 is going to be walking away from nationals with a trophy.
Women’s Golf - Make Match Play At Nationals
Women’s golf also made nationals in 2025 and finished 17th after a team score of +21. Top eight make the match play portion of nationals, so that is the mark to shoot for in 2026.
Gymnastics - Don’t Fall Apart At Nationals
It was going to be tough for Florida to knock off eventual national champion Oklahoma, especially considering the favorable judging the Sooners always seem to get, but the Gators did themselves no favors when they fell apart in the semifinal round and didn’t even make the Final Four.
Lacrosse - Beat UNC
Last year, lacrosse went 20-3 and reached the Final Four. Two of their losses were against UNC. The first was a respectable 14-9 loss in the regular season, but then the Gators were trounced 20-4 at the Final Four. Florida plays UNC this year on March 17.
Soccer - Have A Winning Season
You want to talk about a program that was once a proud program in Gainesville that has completely fallen apart, then look no further than soccer. The last five years have been a complete train wreck, and the program still hasn’t won three games in a row since 2019.
Nick Zimmerman has come over from Mississippi State to try to turn things around for 2026.
Softball - Hit Decent Pitching
Every year, softball has a familiar cycle where they crush everyone in the non-conference and run rule every game, only for the hitting to fall off a cliff at times once decent pitching opposes them. Last year, Florida was 5th in total runs scored, but lost 3-0 to Texas and were run ruled by Tennessee at the WCWS.
Women’s Swimming - Make The Podium At Nationals
Like the men's swim squad, the women’s swim squad tends to be one of the more consistent programs at Florida. Last year the women finished 6th at nationals, so the goal this year will be to move up to at least 4th.
Women’s Tennis - Have A Winning Season
The women’s tennis team had a decent year in 2024, going 17-9, before a down 2025 season saw them go 9-14 and have their season end getting swept by Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament.
Women’s Track and Field - Finish Top Ten At Nationals
The women won a national title in 2022, but last year they were back in 15th at nationals, but they did finish 3rd at the SEC Championships. A top ten finish would be a good mark for this program, especially considering some of the points they should be able to pick up in the distance events this year.
Volleyball - Make It To The Sweet 16
It’s tough to replace a legend, and this past year was the first time since 1990 the Gators didn’t have Mary Wise as a head coach. But 2025 was just the 4th time since 2005 that Florida didn’t make it out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Florida’s nine wins in SEC play were also the lowest in program history.