Florida Gators is a term used for the intercollegiate sports teams of the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. Women’s teams could are also called “Lady Gators”. The Florida Gators athletic program is lauded for being the best in the Southern Conference in over the past two years. It is also considered to be among the best in the nation.
The Florida Gators compete in NCAA’s Division 1. Twenty of the 21 teams compete in the Southern Conference’s Eastern Division. The teams all use the school colors – orange and blue – in their uniform while two alligators – Albert and Alberta – are the official mascots chosen in 1911 when a vendor sold school pennants with the gator emblem.
All the teams have their own on-campus facilities – including courts, fields, and pools for basketball, swimming and diving, football, soccer, both indoor and outdoor facilities for track and field, and for other sports.
The Florida Gators also produced many outstanding athletes for the Olympic Games – with 150 athletes competing and winning 44 gold, 23 silver, and 23 bronze medals up until the end of the 2008 Summer Olympics.
The different teams have won several championships – from Southern Conference to nationals. The team currently has the following championship standings for the men’s team in the nationals: 2 in basketball, 3 in football, 4 in golf, and 2 in swimming and diving; the women have: 2 in golf, 1 in gymnastics, 1 in indoor track and field, 1 in soccer, 2 in swimming and diving, and 4 in tennis.