Florida Gators football

The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Southeastern Conference. They play their home games on Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the university's Gainesville campus.
Florida's football program was established along with the university in 1906. It took on the "Gators" nickname in 1911, began playing in newly constructed Florida Field in 1930, and joined the Southeastern Conference as a founding member in 1932. On the field, the Gators found intermittent success during the first half of the 20th century, with a highlight being the 1928 squad that went 8–1 and led the nation in scoring. Florida football enjoyed its first sustained success in the 1960s under head coach Ray Graves. After having appeared in only two sanctioned bowl games up to that time, Grave's Gators won four during the decade, and quarterback Steve Spurrier became the school's first Heisman Trophy winner in 1966.
Spurrier returned to his alma mater as the Gators' "head ball coach" in 1990, and the program has been among the top in college football since then. Since 1990, Florida has won three [College football College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS|national championships in NCAA Division I FBS|national championships], eight conference titles, fifteen SEC East division titles, and seventeen bowl games, and Florida squads have finished the season ranked in the top-10 fifteen times. In addition, quarterbacks Danny Wuerffel and Tim Tebow won the Heisman in 1996 and 2007, respectively.

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History

The University of Florida was established in Gainesville in 1906 and fielded its first official varsity football team that fall. Since then, Florida Gator football squads have played in over 40 bowl games; won three national championships and eight Southeastern Conference championships and have produced three Heisman Trophy winners, over 90 first-team All-Americans and 50 National Football League first-round draft choices.
Discounting interim coaches, there have been twenty-five head coaches in program history, including three who were inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame for their coaching success. Florida's first head coach was Pee Wee Forsythe, and the most recent coach was Billy Napier.

Conference affiliations

Florida competed for its first several seasons as an independent before joining the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1912. They moved to the Southern Conference in 1922, then joined with a dozen other schools to establish the Southeastern Conference in 1932, where it has remained ever since.

Yearly schedule

The SEC allowed considerable leeway with regard to conference schedules for several decades after its founding in 1932. Like most members, Florida played a few conference foes every season but would not play other schools for several years at a time until the conference attempted to balance schedules by establishing a rotation of sorts in the late 1960s and formalizing it in 1972.
Schedules were further standardized in 1992 when the SEC expanded to twelve teams, established two divisions, and set eight team conference schedule plus a championship game between the two division winners. Florida was placed in the SEC Eastern Division and played every division foe every season. From 2012 until 2023, the Gators' annual conference slate consisted of Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri and Vanderbilt along with permanent Western Division opponent LSU plus another Western Division team on a rotating schedule.
In 2024, the SEC expanded to 16 schools and abolished divisions, though it temporarily retained the eight-game conference schedule. Beginning in 2026, the league will move to a nine-game conference schedule which will controversially end some annual rivalries, including some involving Florida.
Florida's key conference rivals include Georgia, Tennessee, and LSU. These contests were played annually for many years, but once the SEC moves to a nine-game conference schedule in 2026, Florida will play LSU and Tennessee every other year.
Florida has played in-state rival Florida State every year since 1958 except for the pandemic-altered 2020 season. The Gators and Seminoles have faced off around Thanksgiving since the 1970s, and their emergence as perennial football powers during the 1990s helped build the Florida–Florida State rivalry into a game that often had national-title implications. In-state rival Miami was once another annual opponent. However, the rivalry was dropped when the SEC expanded its yearly schedule in the late 1980s, and the Florida–Miami rivalry has been renewed on an infrequent basis since then, and will be scheduled even less frequently due to the SEC and ACC each expanding to nine conference games in 2026. The remaining dates on Florida's regular schedule are filled by non-conference opponents which vary from year to year.

Home fields

The University of Florida's campus did not include sports facilities when it opened in 1906, so UF's first several football and baseball squads played their home games at The Ballpark, a primitive municipal facility near downtown Gainesville. In 1911, the school purchased the bleachers from the city and moved them to University Athletic Field, a newly cleared patch of land on the west side of campus along University Avenue. Larger bleachers were installed in 1915, when the facility was renamed Fleming Field.
The football program first gained national recognition in the late 1920s, prompting UF president John J. Tigert to initiate plans for a modern stadium. A shallow ravine just south of Fleming Field was the chosen site, and 20,000 seat Florida Field opened in 1930. The facility underwent major expansions in the mid-1960s, early 1980s, and early 1990s to increase stadium capacity to about 90,000, the largest in the state. Its name was extended to "Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium" in 1989 to honor
UF benefactor Ben Hill Griffin, and the field was rechristened "Steve Spurrier-Florida Field" in 2016 to honor Gator player and coach Steve Spurrier. Spurrier also coined the stadium's nickname of "The Swamp" in 1992, early in his tenure as head football coach.

Conference affiliations

Florida's football program is a charter member of the Southeastern Conference, which began play in 1933. Before that, the Gators were affiliated with two different conferences after having founded the program without a conference affiliation.

Championships

National championships

The Florida Gators have been named national champions five times by NCAA-designated major selectors.

Claimed national championships

Florida claims three national championships, for the 1996, 2006 and 2008 seasons. At the end of each season the Gators were ranked No. 1 in both the final AP and Coaches polls and were recognized as consensus national champions after winning a designated national championship bowl game.

1996	Steve Spurrier	AP, Coaches	12–1	Sugar Bowl	Florida State	W 52–20	No. 1	No. 1
2006	Urban Meyer	AP, Coaches, BCS	13–1	BCS National Championship Game	Ohio State	W 41–14	No. 1	No. 1
2008	Urban Meyer	AP, Coaches, BCS	13–1	[2009 Bowl Championship Series\|BCS National Championship Game\|BCS National Championship Game]	Oklahoma	W 24–14	No. 1	No. 1

Unclaimed national championships

Florida has been named national champion by NCAA-designated "major selectors" in two additional years, 1984 and 1985. Partially because the football program was on NCAA probation in the mid-1980s, the university has never claimed a share of the national championship for either season.

1984	Charley Pell, Galen Hall	DeS, DuS, MGR, NYT, R, SN, SR	9–1–1	No. 3	No. 7
1985	Galen Hall	SR	9–1–1	No. 5

Conference championships

Florida has won eight officially recognized SEC football championships. The Gators won their first championship with a conference record of 5–0–1 in 1984, but the title was vacated several months after the season by the SEC university presidents because of NCAA infractions by the Florida coaching staff under Charley Pell. The 1985 and 1990 teams also finished atop the standings with conference records of 5–1 and 6–1, respectively, but Florida was ineligible for the championship due to its NCAA probation for rule violations by previous coaching staffs. The Gators won their first official SEC football championship in 1991.

1991	SEC	Steve Spurrier	10–2	7–0
1993	SEC	Steve Spurrier	11–2	7–1
1994	SEC	Steve Spurrier	10–2–1	7–1
1995	SEC	Steve Spurrier	12–1	8–0
1996	SEC	Steve Spurrier	12–1	8–0
2000	SEC	Steve Spurrier	10–3	7–1
2006	SEC	Urban Meyer	13–1	7–1
2008	SEC	Urban Meyer	13–1	7–1

Division championships

With the addition of Arkansas and South Carolina to the Southeastern Conference in 1992, the conference split into eastern and western divisions and a game between the division winners determined the SEC champion. Florida has made thirteen appearances in the SEC Championship Game, most recently in 2020. The Gators have a 7–6 record all-time in SEC Championship Games as of 2020. With the additions of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC in 2024, the conference eliminated divisions that year.

1992†	SEC East	Steve Spurrier	[1992 Alabama Crimson Tide football\|Alabama Crimson Tide football team\|Alabama]	L 21–28
1993	SEC East	Steve Spurrier	Alabama	W 28–13
1994	SEC East	Steve Spurrier	Alabama	W 24–23
1995	SEC East	Steve Spurrier	Arkansas	W 34–3
1996	SEC East	Steve Spurrier	Alabama	W 45–30
1999	SEC East	Steve Spurrier	Alabama	L 7–34
2000	SEC East	Steve Spurrier	[2000 2000 Auburn Tigers football team\|Auburn Tigers football team\|Auburn]	W 28–6
2003†	SEC East	Ron Zook	–	–
2006	SEC East	Urban Meyer	Arkansas	W 38–28
2008	SEC East	Urban Meyer	Alabama	W 31–20
2009	SEC East	Urban Meyer	Alabama	L 13–32
2012†	SEC East	Will Muschamp	–	–
2015	SEC East	Jim McElwain	Alabama	L 15–29
2016	SEC East	Jim McElwain	Alabama	L 16–54
2020	SEC East	Dan Mullen	Alabama	L 46–52

†Florida tied with [1992 Florida–Georgia football rivalry|Georgia Bulldogs football team|Georgia] atop the SEC east during the 1992 season and played in the 1992 SEC Championship Game by virtue of its head-to-head victory.
Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee ended the regular season in a 3-way tie in 2003, but Georgia advanced to the 2003 SEC Championship Game due to its higher BCS ranking.
Florida and Georgia again tied atop the SEC East in 2012 but Georgia advanced to the 2012 SEC Championship Game by virtue of its head-to-head victory.

Bowl games

Florida has appeared in 49 NCAA-sanctioned bowl games, garnering a 25–24 record. This includes a streak of 22 consecutive bowl-game appearances from 1991 through 2012, the fifth-longest in college football history. Four of their bowl games were for a National Championship, with two under the Bowl Alliance and two in the Bowl Championship Series. Florida is 3–1 in national championship games.

1912	George E. Pyle	Bacardi Bowl†	Vedado Athletic Club	W 28–0
1952	Bob Woodruff	Gator Bowl	Tulsa	W 14–13
1958	Bob Woodruff	Gator Bowl	Mississippi	L 3–7
1960	Ray Graves	Gator Bowl	Baylor	W 13–12
1962	Ray Graves	Gator Bowl	Penn State	W 17–7
1965	Ray Graves	Sugar Bowl	[1965 Missouri Tigers football\|Missouri Tigers football team\|Missouri]	L 18–20
1966	Ray Graves	Orange Bowl	Georgia Tech	W 27–12
1969	Ray Graves	Gator Bowl	Tennessee	W 14–13
1973	Doug Dickey	Tangerine Bowl	[1973 Miami Hurricanes football\|Miami Redskins football team\|Miami (OH)]	L 7–16
1974	Doug Dickey	Sugar Bowl	Nebraska	L 10–13
1975	Doug Dickey	Gator Bowl	Maryland	L 0–13
1976	Doug Dickey	Sun Bowl	Texas A&M	L 14–37
1980	Charley Pell	Tangerine Bowl	Maryland	W 35–20
1981	Charley Pell	Peach Bowl	West Virginia	L 6–26
1982	Charley Pell	Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl	Arkansas	L 24–28
1983	Charley Pell	Gator Bowl	Iowa	W 14–6
1987	Galen Hall	Aloha Bowl	UCLA	L 16–20
1988	Galen Hall	All-American Bowl	Illinois	W 14–10
1989	Gary Darnell	Freedom Bowl	Washington	L 7–34
1991	Steve Spurrier	Sugar Bowl‡	Notre Dame	L 28–39
1992	Steve Spurrier	Gator Bowl	NC State	W 27–10
1993	Steve Spurrier	Sugar Bowl‡	West Virginia	W 41–7
1994	Steve Spurrier	Sugar Bowl‡	[1994 1994 Florida State Seminoles football team\|Florida State Seminoles football team\|Florida State]	L 17–23
1995	Steve Spurrier	Fiesta Bowl‡	Nebraska	L 24–62
1996	Steve Spurrier	Sugar Bowl‡	Florida State	W 52–20
1997	Steve Spurrier	Florida Citrus Bowl	Penn State	W 21–6
1998	Steve Spurrier	Orange Bowl‡	Syracuse	W 31–10
1999	Steve Spurrier	Florida Citrus Bowl	Michigan State	L 34–37
2000	Steve Spurrier	Sugar Bowl‡	Miami (FL)	L 20–37
2001	Steve Spurrier	Orange Bowl‡	Maryland	W 56–23
2002	Ron Zook	Outback Bowl	Michigan	L 30–38
2003	Ron Zook	Outback Bowl	Iowa	L 17–37
2004	Charlie Strong	Peach Bowl	Miami (FL)	L 10–27
2005	Urban Meyer	Outback Bowl	Iowa	W 31–24
2006	Urban Meyer	BCS National Championship Game‡	Ohio State	W 41–14
2007	Urban Meyer	Capital One Bowl	Michigan	L 35–41
2008	Urban Meyer	BCS National Championship Game‡	Oklahoma	W 24–14
2009	Urban Meyer	Sugar Bowl‡	Cincinnati	W 51–24
2010	Urban Meyer	Outback Bowl	Penn State	W 37–24
2011	Will Muschamp	Gator Bowl	Ohio State	W 24–17
2012	Will Muschamp	Sugar Bowl‡	Louisville	L 23–33
2014	D. J. Durkin	Birmingham Bowl	East Carolina	W 28–20
2015	Jim McElwain	Citrus Bowl	Michigan	L 7–41
2016	Jim McElwain	Outback Bowl	Iowa	W 30–3
2018	Dan Mullen	Peach Bowl‡	Michigan	W 41–15
2019	Dan Mullen	Orange Bowl‡	Virginia	W 36–28
2020	Dan Mullen	Cotton Bowl‡	Oklahoma	L 20–55
2021	Greg Knox	Gasparilla Bowl	UCF	L 17–29
2022	Billy Napier	Las Vegas Bowl	Oregon State	L 3–30
2024	Billy Napier	Gasparilla Bowl	Tulane	W 33–8

† The 1912 Bacardi Bowl held in Havana, Cuba was not sanctioned by the NCAA and was intended to be one half of a two-game event which was not completed due to a dispute over the rules of the game. As such, the University of Florida Athletic Association does not include the contest in the Gators' official bowl record.
‡ Coalition, Alliance, BCS or New Year's Six Bowl game.

Bowl	Record	Appearances	Last appearance	Winning %
All-American Bowl	1–0	1	1988
Aloha Bowl	0–1	1	1987
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl	0–1	1	1982
BCS National Championship Game	2–0	2	2008
Birmingham Bowl	1–0	1	2014
Citrus Bowl	2–4	6	2015
Cotton Bowl	0–1	1	2020	.000
Fiesta Bowl	0–1	1	1995
Freedom Bowl	0–1	1	1989
Gasparilla Bowl	1–1	2	2024
Gator Bowl	7–2	9	2011
Las Vegas Bowl	0–1	1	2022
Outback Bowl	3–2	5	2016
Orange Bowl	4–0	4	2019
Peach Bowl	1–2	3	2018
Sugar Bowl	3–6	9	2012
Sun Bowl	0–1	1	1976

Records against SEC and in-state opponents

All-time record against current SEC teams

The Southeastern Conference was established in 1932. For the next several decades, member schools arranged their own football schedules, resulting in situations in which some played yearly while others seldom met on the gridiron. In Florida's case, the Gators began an annual rivalry with Georgia in the early 1930s, and LSU, Auburn, and Kentucky became regular opponents after World War 2. However, due to various factors including issues with train travel, Florida's schedule rarely included SEC foes Tennessee, Alabama, or Mississippi over the first 50 years of league play.
In 1992, the SEC expanded to 12 teams, split into two divisions, and established a standardized eight game league schedule. Florida was placed in the East Division along with Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt. For the next twenty seasons, Florida's schedule included games against all five division opponents, annual match-ups with cross-division rivals Auburn and LSU, and a game against another West Division opponent on a multi-year rotation. When the conference expanded to 14 teams in 2012, new East Division member Missouri was added to Florida's annual slate and Auburn was dropped as a yearly opponent.
In 2024, the SEC expanded to 16 teams, eliminated divisions, and announced an eight-game football slate which attempted to preserve most traditional conference rivalries. The 2025 conference schedule kept the same matchups, with the sites reversed to create home-and-home competitions over the course of two seasons. As of June 2025, future SEC schedules are uncertain, with league officials still deciding on whether to play an eight or a nine-game conference slate while weighing changes to the conference championship format.
The table below includes non-conference meetings played either before the founding of the SEC or before Florida's opponent joined the conference.

Alabama	14	28	0	Lost 9	1916	2021	TBD
Arkansas	10	3	0	Lost 1	1982	2023	TBD
Auburn	39	43	2	Won 1	1912	2019	TBD
Georgia	44	55	2	Lost 3	1915	2024	2025
Kentucky	53	21	0	Won 1	1917	2024	2025
LSU	34	34	3	Won 1	1937	2024	2025
Mississippi State	35	19	2	Won 2	1923	2024	2025
Missouri	6	7	0	Lost 1	1966	2023	TBD
Oklahoma	1	1	0	Lost 1	2009	2020	TBD
Ole Miss	13	12	1	Won 3	1926	2024	2025
South Carolina	31	10	3	Won 1	1911	2023	TBD
Tennessee	32	22	0	Lost 1	1916	2024	2025
Texas	1	3	1	Lost 3	1940	2024	2025
Texas A&M	3	4	0	Lost 1	1962	2024	2025
Vanderbilt	44	11	2	Won 1	1945	2023	TBD

Records as of the end of the 2024 season.

All-time record against former SEC teams

The Southeastern Conference was founded in 1932 by thirteen member institutions. Three original members had left by 1966 and six were added from 1992 onwards. The following table includes some games played before, during, and after the opponents' SEC tenure.

Georgia Tech	1964	9	23	6	Won 1	1912	1981	TBD
Sewanee	1940	7	2	0	Won 7	1914	1938	N/A
Tulane	1966	14	6	2	Won 12	1915	2024	TBD

Records as of the end of the 2024 season.

All-time record against in-state opponents

Between the establishment of the university's athletic program in 1906 and the beginning of SEC play in 1933, Florida football teams played irregular schedules which mostly featured contests against in-state private colleges, some of which became rivals. Of those early opponents, Southern College, Tampa U, and Rollins no longer sponsor intercollegiate football programs, and after dropping the sport for half a century, Stetson competes in a lower division. Florida also scheduled occasional games against teams organized by amateur athletic clubs or military bases during the first half of the 20th century, but the Gators have not faced off against a non-collegiate opponent since 1945.
Florida began an annual rivalry with the University of Miami Hurricanes in 1938 that continued uninterrupted until 1987. The teams have met on an occasional basis since then and are still considered rivals. Florida State (FSU) established a football program in 1947 and first faced Florida in 1958, beginning an annual series that has been uninterrupted except for the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season.

Central Florida	3	1	0	Won 1	1999	2024	2030
Florida Atlantic	4	0	0	Won 4	2007	2021	TBD
Florida A&M	1	0	0	Won 1	2003	2003	2030
Southern College	13	1	0	Won 7	1913	1930	N/A
Florida State	38	28	2	Won 1	1958	2024	2025
Florida International	1	0	0	Won 1	2009	2009	TBD
U of Miami	27	30	0	Lost 1	1938	2024	2025
Rollins	13	2	1	Won 11	1906	1948	N/A
South Florida	4	1	0	Lost 1	2010	2022	2025
Stetson	19	15	2	Won 3	1908	1953	N/A
U of Tampa	5	0	0	Won 5	1938	1942	N/A

Records as of the end of the 2024 season.

Rivalries

Alabama

Although the series started in 1916, many consider the rivalry between Florida and Alabama to have started in 1992, with the advent of the SEC Championship Game. Florida has appeared in 13 of the 30 conference championship games with Alabama appearing in 14. 10 of those matches were against each other, the most common matchup so far. Alabama leads the conference championship match-up 6–4, following the most recent match-up between both programs, the 2020 SEC Championship Game, which saw Alabama beat Florida 52–46.
Alabama leads the series 28–14 since the end of the 2021 season.

Auburn

Auburn and Florida played annually from 1945 to 2002. In the overall series won-lost record, Auburn is Florida's most evenly matched SEC opponent. Beginning in the 1980s, one team was usually highly ranked coming into the game and it had conference- and national-title implications. The series has had several notable upsets. Auburn defeated previously unbeaten Florida teams in 1993, 1994, 2001, 2006 and 2007, although the Gators won SEC championships in 1993, 1994 and 2006.
The annual series ended in 2002, when the SEC adjusted its football schedules so each team played one permanent and two rotating opponents from the opposite SEC division every year. Due to Auburn having a much longer history vs. Georgia, the Tigers and Bulldogs kept each other as their permanent crossover foe.
When Texas A&M and Missouri joined the conference in 2012, the schedule was changed again; each team played one permanent and one rotating opponent from the opposite division every year. LSU was designated as Florida's annual SEC Western Division opponent, and Florida and Auburn play two regular-season games every 12 years. Auburn leads the series 43–39–2 through the 2023 season.

Florida State

The University of Florida and the Florida State College for Women became co-educational in 1947. The new Florida State Seminoles football team began playing small colleges, moving up to the major-college ranks in 1955. Almost immediately, Florida State students and supporters called for the teams of Florida's two largest universities to play each other annually.
Contrary to popular belief, Florida's state legislature did not decree that Florida and Florida State should meet on the field; a bill mandating the game was rejected by the Florida Senate. Prodding by Florida governor LeRoy Collins facilitated an agreement between the two universities to begin an annual series in 1958. Due to Florida State's smaller stadium, the first six games were played at Florida Field. The series has alternated between the campuses since 1964, when Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee was expanded. The Florida–Florida State game has had national-championship implications since 1990, and both teams have entered the game with top-10 rankings thirteen times. Among these was the Sugar Bowl rematch at the end of the 1996 season, when Florida avenged its only regular-season loss and won its first national championship 52–20.
Florida dominated the early series with a 16–2–1 record through 1976. Both teams have produced significant winning streaks, and the series is nearly tied over the past four decades; Florida State holds a 21–20–1 advantage since 1980. Since 2000, the teams share 10-10 records against one another. Florida leads the all-time series 37–28–2 through the 2023 season.

Georgia

Historically, Florida's most hated and fierce rival has been the Georgia Bulldogs. Previously known as "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party," and now most commonly called the "Florida–Georgia game" by Gator fans, this rivalry often decides the SEC East and has national implications. The game is held at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, usually on the last Saturday in October or the first Saturday in November. The designated "home" team alternates, with ticket distribution split evenly between the schools. Since 2009, the Okefenokee Oar has been awarded to the winner of the Florida-Georgia game.
In the rivalry's early years, games rotated among locations in Savannah, Tampa, Jacksonville and, occasionally, Gainesville and Athens. Since 1933 the game has been played in Jacksonville, except for 1994 and 1995. Georgia had early success in the rivalry, winning the first six games and holding a 21–5–1 series lead before 1950. After the 2018 game Florida has won 21 out of the most-recent 29 games, and holds a 38–30–1 advantage in the series since 1950. Georgia lead the series overall 56–44–2 through the 2024 season.

Kentucky

When the Southeastern Conference split into geographical divisions in 1992, Florida and Kentucky were both placed in the SEC East. This guarantees that both teams play each other every season, which they have done consecutively since 1967. The Gators and Wildcats will meet in 2024 despite the end of SEC divisions after the 2023 season. The two teams have played 74 times, with Florida holding a 53–21 lead in the series. From 1987 to 2017, Florida won every single game between the two schools. This 31-year streak was the third longest in FBS history, and the longest in the Southeastern Conference's history. Since 2017, the series has become incredibly competitive with a 4–3 split between the two teams with the winning margin being 11.4 points on average. Because of these factors, this rivalry is relatively new even though the series dates back to 1917.
Former Florida head coach Steve Spurrier was notable for having a particular disdain for Kentucky. During his tenure at Florida, he was known for running up the score in non-competitive games. In his 12 years coaching the Gators, Spurrier never lost to Kentucky, winning by an average score of 32.7 points. Spurrier was famous for the comments he made about his opponents but he poked fun at Kentucky the most. Even after leaving Florida, Steve Spurrier would go out of his way to make comments at Kentucky's expense. In November 2004, Steve Spurrier accepted the head coaching job at the University of South Carolina. In 2006, the South Carolina Gamecocks upset their rival, the Clemson Tigers. In the following week, Clemson would go on to lose to Kentucky in the 2006 Music City Bowl. Following the bowl game, Steve Spurrier said" ''"We thought we had done something good beating Clemson. And then Kentucky beat 'em."''

LSU

Florida and LSU first met on the football field in 1937, and have been annual opponents since 1971. From 1992-2023, LSU was Florida's permanent inter-divisional rival from the SEC Western Division. The winner of the Florida–LSU game went on to win the Bowl Championship Series national championship game in the 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2019 seasons. This rivalry has been known recently for close games, with both teams highly ranked. Florida leads the all-time series 34–32–3 through the 2025 season; the series will take a year off in 2026 and return in 2027. Three LSU wins were vacated in 2023.

Miami

Miami is Florida's only pre-World War II in-state rival that still plays major college football. The schools first met on the gridiron in 1938 and again every season until 1987, when the SEC's expansion of its conference schedule to seven games precluded the annual matchup. A contract to renew the annual rivalry in the 1990s fell through when the SEC expanded its schedule again to eight games, and the Florida and Miami did not play again until the 2001 Sugar Bowl. The home and home series briefly resumed in 2002 and 2003, and they played again in the 2004 Peach Bowl. Since then, the schools have played intermittently during the regular season, with home and home series split across several years.
Miami leads the series 30–27 through the 2024 season.
The next scheduled matchup between the schools will be in Miami Gardens on September 20, 2025.

Tennessee

Although Florida and Tennessee are charter members of the SEC, irregular conference scheduling resulted in the teams meeting infrequently for many years. Tennessee won the first ten games between 1916 and 1954, when Florida finally defeated the Volunteers. In 1969, Florida hired Tennessee head coach Doug Dickey to replace the retiring Ray Graves immediately after their teams met in the Gator Bowl.
The rivalry reached a peak during the 1990s. In 1992, the SEC expanded to twelve schools and split into two divisions. Florida and Tennessee have met every year since, usually in mid-September for both teams' first conference game of the season. Led by coaches Steve Spurrier and Phillip Fulmer and featuring players such as Danny Wuerffel and Peyton Manning, both teams were regularly ranked in the top 10 when they met, giving the rivalry conference and national title implications. Florida and Tennessee combined to win six SEC titles and two national championships during the 1990s.
Since becoming annual opponents in 1992, the Gators and Volunteers have combined to represent the Eastern Division in the SEC Championship Game 16 times. Florida had an 11-game winning streak against Tennessee and leads the series 33–21 following the 2024 season.

Future opponents

Conference opponents

Starting in 2026, the SEC will move to a 9-game conference schedule, with three permanent opponents.
The SEC announced the opponents and sites for Florida's conference games for the 2026–2029 seasons. Florida's annual opponents through the 2029 season are Georgia, South Carolina, and Kentucky. The other six conference games will rotate through other conference opponents, playing each opponent at least once every two years.

Non-conference opponents

Florida has played a continuous series against in-state rival Florida State (FSU) since 1958. While the eight game SEC slate plus the annual matchup with FSU are set years in advance, the schedule allows for two additional non-conference games against various opponents that are usually played in Gainesville for revenue purposes. In recent years, Florida has been also invited to participate in several season opening non-conference neutral-site games which do not count against the NCAA cap on regular season games.
Announced opponents and dates are as of June 2, 2025. One scheduled non-conference game in 2028 must be postponed.

Florida Atlantic Sep 5	South Alabama Sep 4	Furman Sep 2	at Colorado Sep 8	Florida A&M Aug 31	Arizona State Sep 13	Notre Dame Sep 11	UCF Sep 3
Campbell Sep 12	Charleston Southern Sep 11	Colorado Sep 9		at UCF Sep 14	at Notre Dame Nov 15
		at Arizona State Sep 16
at Florida State Nov 28	Florida State Nov 27	at Florida State Nov 25	Florida State Nov 24	at Florida State Nov 30	Florida State Nov 29	at Florida State Nov 27	Florida State Nov 26

Individual award winners

College Football Hall of Fame members

Thirteen people associated with Florida have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, four as head coaches and ten as players.

Carlos Alvarez	WR	1969–1971	2011
Charlie Bachman	Coach	1928–1932	1978
Lomas Brown	OT	1981–1984	2020
Wes Chandler	WR	1974–1977	2015
Doug Dickey	Coach	1970–1978	2003
Ray Graves	Coach	1960–1969	1990
Marcelino Huerta	Coach	1947–1949	2002
Wilber Marshall	LB	1980–1983	2008
Emmitt Smith	RB	1987–1989	2006
Steve Spurrier	QB, Coach	1963–1966 1990–2001	1986 2017
Dale Van Sickel	End	1927–1929	1975
Tim Tebow	QB	2006-2009	2023
Danny Wuerffel	QB	1993–1996	2013
Jack Youngblood	DE	1967–1970	1992

Steve Spurrier was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986 for his record as Florida's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from 1964 to 1966 and again in 2017 for his head coaching achievements at Duke, Florida, and South Carolina. He is one of four members of the College Football Hall of Fame inducted as both a player and a coach.
Doug Dickey, Florida's quarterback in 1951 and 1952, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003 for his record as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers from 1964 to 1969 and the Gators from 1970 to 1978.
Marcelino Huerta, a standout Gator lineman from 1947 to 1949, was inducted in 2002 for his record as head coach of the Tampa Spartans, Wichita State Shockers and Parson Wildcats.

All-Americans

Since Florida's first season in 1906, 89 players have received one or more selections as first-team All-Americans. This includes 32 consensus All-Americans, of which six were unanimous. The first Florida first-team All-American was end Dale Van Sickel, a member of the 1928 team. Florida's first consensus All-American was quarterback Steve Spurrier, the winner of the Heisman Trophy for the 1966 Gators.

SEC Legends

Since 1994, the Southeastern Conference has annually designated one former football player from each SEC member school as an "SEC Legend." Through 2023, the following Gators have been named SEC Legends:

Fergie Ferguson Award

The Fergie Ferguson Award is given in memory of one of the University of Florida's finest athletes, Forest K. Ferguson. Ferguson was an All-SEC end for Florida in 1941 and state boxing champion in 1942. Subsequently, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, he led an infantry platoon during the D-Day landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944. Ferguson helped clear the way for his troops to advance on the Axis position, and was severely wounded leading his men in the assault. A recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions, he died from war-related injuries in 1954. The award, a trophy, is given to the senior football player who most displays "leadership, character, and courage."

Ring of Honor

The University of Florida Athletic Association established the Florida Football Ring of Honor in 2006 to recognize the program's greatest players and coaches during the 100th year of Gator football. and Scot Brantley's
Originally, members of the Ring of Honor had their jersey painted on the endzone facade at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. When expanded video screens were installed in that location a few years later, inductees were each recognized with an 18-foot wide sign perched atop the north endzone grandstand. Five honorees were inducted in 2006 and 2007, with Tim Tebow added in 2018. To date, the only person who meets the Ring of Honor criteria and has not yet been inducted is two-time national championship winning former head coach Urban Meyer.

Emmitt Smith	RB	22	1987–1989	2006
Steve Spurrier	QB	11	1964–1966 1990–2001	2006
Danny Wuerffel	QB	7	1993–1996	2006
Jack Youngblood	DE	74	1967–1970	2006
Wilber Marshall	LB	88	1980–1983	2007
Tim Tebow	QB	15	2006–2009	2018

To be considered for induction into the Ring of Honor, a former player or coach must be absent from the university for five seasons, be in good standing, and meet at least one of the following criteria:

Heisman Trophy winner
Former All-Americans inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as players
Former All-Americans who are NFL career category leaders
College-career category leaders
Coaches with one or more national championship
Coaches with three or more SEC championships
Players with two or more consensus All-America honors who were also named national offensive or defensive player of the year

All-Time teams

A Florida Football All-Time Team was compiled by the Florida Alumnus, the official publication of the Florida alumni, in 1927.
First team

QB – Rammy Ramsdell

HB – Dummy Taylor

HB – Ed Jones

FB – Bill Middlekauff

E – Ferdinand H. Duncan

T – Cy Williams

G – Goldy Goldstein

C – Bo Gator Storter

G – Tootie Perry

T – Jim Coarsy

E – Joe Swanson

Second team

QB – Bob Shackleford

HB – Ark Newton

HB – Harvey Hester

FB – Ray Dickson

E – G. P. Wood

T – Pus Hancock

G – Arthur Doty

C – Lamar Sarra

G – Ed Meisch

T – Robbie Robinson

E – Frank Oosterhoudt

Another University of Florida all-time team was chosen by the Miami Herald according to a fan vote in August 1983.
First Team Offense

QB – Steve Spurrier

RB – Larry Smith

RB – Nat Moore

WR – Cris Collinsworth

WR – Wes Chandler

TE – Jim Yarbrough

OT – Randy Jackson

OT – Mike Williams

OG – Burton Lawless

OG – Guy Dennis

C – Bill Carr

PK – David Posey
First Team Defense

DL – Jack Youngblood

DL – Scott Hutchinson

DL – David Galloway

DL – Charlie LaPradd

LB – Ralph Ortega

LB – Scot Brantley

LB – Wilber Marshall

LB – Glenn Cameron

DB – Steve Tannen

DB – Jackie Simpson

DB – Bernie Parrish

P – Bobby Joe Green

Second Team Offense

QB – John Reaves

RB – Rick Casares

RB – James Jones

WR – Carlos Alvarez

WR – Charles Casey

TE – Chris Faulkner

OT – Mac Steen

OT – Charlie Mitchell

OG – Larry Beckman

OG – John Barrow

C – Steve DeLaTorre

PK – Brian Clark
Second Team Defense

DL – Robin Fisher

DL – Joe D'Agostino

DL – Lynn Matthews

DL – Vel Heckman

LB – David Little

LB – Fred Abbott

LB – Sammy Green

DB – Bruce Bennett

DB – Tony Lilly

DB – Hagood Clarke

P – Don Chandler

All-Century Team

The Florida Football All-Century Team, chosen by Gator fans, was compiled by The Gainesville Sun in the fall of 1999.
First Team Offense
QB – Danny Wuerffel
RB – Neal Anderson
RB – Emmitt Smith
WR – Carlos Alvarez
WR – Wes Chandler
TE – Jim Yarbrough
OT – Lomas Brown
OT – David Williams
OG – Burton Lawless
OG – Donnie Young
OC – Jeff Mitchell
PK – Judd Davis
KR – Jacquez Green

First Team Defense
DE – Jack Youngblood
DE – Kevin Carter
DT – Brad Culpepper
DT – Ellis Johnson
LB – Wilber Marshall
LB – Scot Brantley
LB – David Little
CB – Steve Tannen
CB – Jarvis Williams
S – Louis Oliver
S – Bruce Bennett
P – Bobby Joe Green
Second Team Offense
QB – Steve Spurrier
RB – Rick Casares
RB – James Jones
WR – Reidel Anthony
WR – Ike Hilliard
TE – Kirk Kirkpatrick
OT – Jason Odom
OT – Mike Williams
OG – Larry Gagner
OG – Jeff Zimmerman
OC – Phil Bromley
PK – David Posey
KR – Jack Jackson

Second Team Defense
DE – David Ghesquiere
DE – Lynn Matthews
DT – David Galloway
DT – Charlie LaPradd
LB – Sammy Green
LB – Alonzo Johnson
LB – Ralph Ortega
CB – Fred Weary
CB – Richard Fain
S – Tony Lilly
S – Wayne Fields
P – Ray Criswell

100th-Anniversary Team

The 100th-Anniversary Florida Team was selected in 2006 to celebrate a century of Florida football. Fans voted by mail and online.
Offense

QB – Danny Wuerffel

RB – Errict Rhett

RB – Emmitt Smith

RB – Fred Taylor

WR – Carlos Alvarez

WR – Cris Collinsworth

WR – Chris Doering

WR – Ike Hilliard

OL – Lomas Brown

OL – Mike Degory

OL – Jeff Mitchell

OL – Jason Odom

PK – Jeff Chandler

Defense

DL – Trace Armstrong

DL – Alex Brown

DL – Kevin Carter

DL – Brad Culpepper

DL – Jack Youngblood

LB – Scot Brantley

LB – Channing Crowder

LB – Jevon Kearse

LB – Wilber Marshall

DB – Louis Oliver

DB – Lito Sheppard

DB – Fred Weary

P – Shayne Edge

Uniforms

The Florida football team has worn a home uniform of blue jerseys with white pants for most of the program's history. The most notable exception was a decade-long period from 1979 until 1989, when at the suggestion of coach Charlie Pell, the Gators switched to orange home jerseys. For road games, Florida wears white jerseys with blue, orange, or white pants, depending on the colors of the opponent or the choice of the players that week.
Steve Spurrier restored the home blue jerseys when he became the Gators' head ball coach in 1990. From 1990 until 2014, Florida's primary home uniforms were blue jerseys with white pants, with blue pants an option for high-profile games, especially at night. Former coach Jim McElwain usually allowed his senior players to decide which uniform combination the team wore for each game. Since this practice began during the 2015 season, the Gators have worn many different combinations of blue or orange jerseys along with blue, orange, or white pants.
Florida has occasionally worn alternative uniforms, which are usually similar to current or former uniforms and used an orange and blue color scheme. One exception were the "swamp green" uniforms used at a home game against Texas A&M in October 2017. These used a dark green theme for the entire uniform from shoes to helmet that was inspired by the appearance of actual alligators. The uniform marked the 25th anniversary of former coach Steve Spurrier introducing the Swamp nickname for Florida Field.
For the first time in program history, Florida debuted an all black uniform on November 4, 2023 in its contest against the Arkansas Razorbacks to honor members of the armed forces, veterans and local first responders. In lieu of their names, each player's nameplate displayed one of five words that are "synonymous with the principles embodied by those who serve." The five words were Commitment, Courage, Excellence, Honor and Integrity.

Helmets

Florida has had a number of helmet designs, especially early in the program's history. Since the end of the leather helmet era, base colors have alternated between orange, white, and blue, and logos have included the “Gators” script font, an interlocking "UF", a simple "F", and the player number.
From 1979 until 2006, Florida wore orange helmets with a script "Gators" logo in all contests. To commemorate the 100th year of the football program in 2006, the Gators played one game wearing throwback uniforms modeled after their mid-1960s uniforms which included white helmets with a simple "F" logo. In 2009 the Gators participated in Nike's Pro Combat uniform campaign, wearing specially designed blue uniforms and white helmets with a slant-F logo. These uniforms were worn for the last regular-season game against Florida State, and the white helmets were worn again the following week against Alabama in the SEC Championship Game with white jerseys and pants. Florida introduced a different white alternative helmet in 2015 which featured the script "Gators" logo on one side and the slant-F logo on the other, and in 2018 replaced the slant-F with script "Gators" on both sides. In 2017, the Gators wore "swamp green" helmets for one game. These dark green helmets featured a color-altered Gator head logo on one side and the player's number in orange on the other.
For the 2019 homecoming game versus Auburn, Florida wore the same mid-1960s throwback uniforms, including the white helmets with the blue "F" logo within an orange circular outline. The Gators wore the blue helmets for two games in 2020: the tweaked 1960s version with the orange "F" logo within an orange circular outline for their home game against Missouri, and the traditional version with the "Gators" script in orange font for their road game at Tennessee. The team wore the 1960s throwback uniforms again for their 2021 homecoming game versus Vanderbilt, but with orange helmets including the interlocking "UF" logo.
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the Gators wore white helmets with the red, white, and blue American flag styled "Gators" script for their 2021 road contest at the University of South Florida.