University of Florida Gators Football at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
The University of Florida has a football team it can be proud to call its own in the Florida Gators. Florida competes in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference, and they're coached by Dan Mullen, who led the Gators to a 10-3 record, a Peach Bowl victory and a Top 10 finish in his first season in 2018. The Gators play at what is officially known as Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium — far more commonly known as "The Swamp." Ben Hill Griffin Stadium was originally built in 1930, and renovations have increased its capacity to 88,548, growing with the team over the decades.
Florida Gators Football History
The University of Florida has continuously fielded a football team since its inception in 1906, with the notable exception of the 1943 season due to the outbreak of World War II. As charter members of the Southeastern Conference in 1932, the Florida Gators have long-standing rivalries against such schools as Auburn, LSU and Tennessee. The Gators have won three national titles (in 1996, 2006 and 2008) in addition to eight SEC titles and 16 divisional titles since 1991. Three quarterbacks have won the Heisman Trophy for the Gators, including future legendary Florida coach Steve Spurrier in 1966, Danny Wuerffel in 1996 and Tim Tebow in 2007.
The Florida Gators have intense rivalries against in-state non-conference schools Florida State and the University of Miami, along with other schools in the SEC, but their archnemeses are the University of Georgia's Bulldogs, who face Florida annually at Jacksonville's TIAA Bank Field. The Florida-Georgia rivalry is so bitter that neither school can agree on when it started, with Georgia contending that a game played against a predecessor in 1904 was the beginning, and Florida stating that the two schools first officially met in 1915. Florida-Georgia is one of the few remaining neutral site rivalry games in college football, and with divisional, conference and national title hopes often hanging in the balance, it remains one of the most important rivalries in the sport.
