Josh Liendo, pictured in the men’s 100-meter butterfly final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games, totaled a Florida-high six medals and was named the SEC Men's Swimmer of the Meet last weekend. — Florida has won a national championship in at least one sport every year since 2007. (Grace Hollars-USA TODAY Sports)

What to Watch After Gators Basketball Collapse: Yes, Florida Has Other Sports

While Florida basketball’s season might be over after its heartbreaking loss to Iowa in the Round of 32, that doesn’t mean Gator sports are over.

Florida has a wide variety of sports, and a lot are active throughout the rest of the spring. So as a highlight to the lesser known sports, and as a way to get over basketball’s loss, it’s only right that UF’s other athletes get their time in the sun.

To start off, Gators men’s and women’s swimming and diving competed in the NCAA tournament this weekend. The Gators have been historically dominant in the pool, the men’s team especially, as it won every SEC title from 2015 to 2024. Florida women’s swimming and diving has won two SEC championships as well in 2023 and 2024.

During the NCAA tournament, women’s swimming and diving placed 10th with 125.5 points. That marked Florida’s fourth-consecutive year in the top 10. The men’s team sent 12 swimmers and three divers to the postseason tournament. Freshman Ahmed Jaouadi set a new 1,650-free NCAA record of 14:10.03 and was crowned national champion. Senior Josh Liendo became the fastest 100-yard fly swimmer, breaking the NCAA, program, meet and U.S Open records with a final time of 42.49. In turn, Liendo won the 100-yard fly national championship. And men’s swimming and diving placed second at the tournament.

Gators baseball is attempting to get its act together after being swept by Alabama during the weekend. With that disaster, Florida dropped out of the top 25 and fell to No. 8 in the SEC. A win over No. 10 Florida State on Tuesday could be a sign of good things to come, but its series against No. 4 Arkansas this weekend is going to be a test of whether it can keep the momentum.

In the other diamond, Florida softball will tee off its own SEC series this weekend against No. 10/9 Arkansas. Florida managed to get a nail-biting 2-1 series win over No. 1 Tennessee, and while it has only faced a handful or ranked opponents, it has looked strong to the tune of a 32-2 record. If Florida wins, it’ll be its first series win over Arkansas since 2019 and its first series win in Fayetteville since 2017. But with sophomore Taylor Shumaker, the reigning SEC Player of the Week who’s riding a career-high 16-game hitting streak, Florida’s odds of winning the series are looking good.

Florida men’s and women’s tennis is looking up despite a poor start to both of their seasons. The men’s team is currently on a three-game streak, with a double header against Oklahoma and North Carolina A&T on Sunday. The men will have to ramp up a bit in SEC play, though, if they want a shot at winning the SEC tournament. Women’s tennis is 5-2 since the beginning of March, its only losses coming against No. 4 LSU and No. 1 Georgia. The women have a match against Mississippi State on Saturday, and will play SEC opponents for the entirety of the rest of the season.

The Gators’ men’s golf team will play in the Calusa Cup against Iowa starting April 5. After that, it’ll tee off in the SEC championship on April 22. Women’s golf is getting ready for the Clemson Invitational starting on March 27. Florida won the previous tournament it played in, that being the Gators Invitational, and player Paula Franciso got an individual win during the tournament as well.

Yes, Florida has lacrosse. And yes, it’s very good at it. While these women unfortunately play in the Big 12 due to the SEC lacking enough lacrosse-sponsoring schools, the conference affiliation doesn’t matter with how well the Gators play. Currently, the Gators are 7-2 and are on a four-game win streak. Nationally, the Gators are No. 12 and are No. 1 in the Big 12. They’ll play their next game, and first Big 12 opponent in Arizona State, on Saturday.

And though Florida men’s basketball may be done, Florida women’s basketball is still making moves. After the unsurprising firing of coach Kelly Rae Finley, Florida decided to grab Rhode Island coach Tammi Reiss to be its next women’s basketball coach. How she’ll do — having only brought Rhode Island to a single NCAA Tournament — still remains to be seen.

So while men’s basketball might be over, there are enough Gator sports to keep your attention for the rest of the spring season. Give them a watch once in a while. They might surprise you.

Category: Gator Sports