Back during the 2006-07 school year, Gainesville, Florida became known as “Title Town” after its men’s basketball team won back-to-back national championships and the football team captured the coveted pigskin crown.
The 2024-25 season produced another NCAA trophy as the Gators swept to their third national championship in basketball. Their other titles were earned in 2006 and 2007.
The men’s basketball team topped Florida’s overall athletic efforts in a wide variety of sports. Overall, it was a pretty good year to be a Gator.
UF finished first in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, earned the No. 1 seed for March Madness, and then beat Houston 65-63 for the title. The Gators finished the season with an overall record of 36-4.
“It's a heck of an accomplishment,” Gator Head Coach Todd Golden said after cutting down the net. “I'm super proud of everybody in my program, top to bottom. My staff, been together for three years, worked incredibly hard to help get our players to this point.
Florida Football and Baseball trying to catch back up to Basketball
Florida’s football and baseball teams started off slowly but rallied in the second half of the season to renew optimism for the 2025-26 season.
The Gators football team had an inauspicious start to their season, losing to intrastate rival Miami 41-17, followed by key SEC losses to Texas A&M, Tennessee, Georgia, and Texas. After losing to Texas 49-17 on November 9, Florida was 4-4 with LSU, Ole Miss, and FSU left on the regular season schedule. It won all three games, then whomped Tulane 33-8 in the Gasparilla Bowl to finish the season at 8-5.
Florida Head Coach Billy Napier knows the importance of Gator sports and football in particular. How serious? The UF Athletics page has a countdown clock to kickoff of its first football game in the fall.
“The team represents a great university,” Napier said last year. “There's significant history. You think about all the Gators that came before us, the championship culture of our athletic department.”
Gator baseball, which won the 2017 National Championship, stumbled out of the gate but rallied to get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. They didn’t make it out of Regional play but got a moral victory by making the playoffs.
Nobody thought the Gators would reach the Tournament after a dismal 1-11 record in rugged Southeastern Conference play. The Gators won 14 of their final 18 conference games (19 of 27 overall) to turn their season around. They finished at 39-21.
“Well, every year I say the same thing,” said O’Sullivan. “How could the league get any better?”
Another bright spot for the Gators was the men’s golf team, which nabbed the SEC title and finished third nationally. It was the same story for UF Lacrosse, which competes in the Big 12 Conference. The Gators went 20-3 and finished third in the nation.
On the women’s side of the aisle, the Gators basketball team went 19-18 and finished third in the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament. The softball team posted a 48-17 mark while the volleyball squad ran up a 23-8 record. The gymnastics team went 22-7. The swimming and diving team was 6-2.
There were a few blips in the Gators' athletic program. The women’s soccer squad and women’s tennis team had losing records.
With one title in hand and Florida’s football and baseball teams surging to close the season, expectations are high going into 2025-26 play.