Gators ranked the No. 4 program in college baseball

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Kevin O’Sullivan’s baseball program has been one of the best since he took over the program in 2008. Monday, D1baseball.com put that into perspective, ranking the Florida Gators as the No. 4 program in the country.

Monday concluded the publication’s bi-annual Top-100 Programs series. D1Baseball rolled out teams No. 1-5 on Monday with the Gators making the top five for the second-straight time. In 2019, Florida was ranked as the No. 1 program in the country by D1Baseball.

With these rankings, D1Baseball’s ultimate goal is to identify the programs in the best shape right now, with an eye toward the next five to 10 years.

Since 2008, the Gators have made the NCAA Tournament every season for a program-record 14 consecutive appearances. During that stretch, no program has more top-eight national seeds (nine), Super Regionals hosted (eight), and College World Series appearances (seven) than Florida.

Across the last 15 seasons under O’Sullivan, Florida posted a 627-302 record (.675) including 257-162 in Southeastern Conference play en route to five SEC Championships. The Gators’ .613 SEC winning percentage since 2008 is the top mark in the conference.

Florida’s success on the diamond has even spilled over from the college ranks and into Major League Baseball. Since 2008, 33 former Gators have debuted in the MLB – more than any college program. 29 of those players were coached by O’Sullivan during his tenure at UF.

As for the MLB Draft, 215 individual Gators have been selected across team history. In the last 15 seasons alone, Florida’s 11 first-round draft picks rank second nationally. On top of that, 20 Florida pitchers have been chosen in the first five rounds since 2008, which ranks third in the country. The Orange & Blue also boast 99 MLB Draft picks under O’Sullivan – the third-highest total in the SEC in that time.

With a top-five national program ranking in hand, the Gators are looking to add to their resume during the 2023 campaign. Florida’s upcoming season begins on Friday, Feb. 17 against Charleston Southern at Condron Family Ballpark. 

Florida’s fall season kicks off this Sunday, Oct. 9, and features exhibition games against Georgia in Jacksonville (Oct. 28) and Stetson at Condron Family Ballpark (Nov. 6). The Gators will also revive the Orange & Blue Series, which is scheduled for Nov. 10, 11 and 13.

What D1 Baseball said about the Gators

“The last time we did this exercise, the Gators had the top spot in all the land. That is no longer the case as Vanderbilt has taken over the top spot. The fact of the matter is that the Gators have been a bit wobbly over the past few seasons. The good news? The Gators have been wobbly, yet, Kevin O’Sullivan’s club has still hosted Regionals in each of the last two seasons.

That’s when you know you have a truly premier program. The Gators started this five-year run with a national title back in 2017 with a 52-win campaign. The next year, the Gators had hoped to repeat as champions but fell just short with 49 wins and a national semi-finalist finish. Then, they had a down year in 2019 with a regional appearance on the road before going 38-22 two seasons ago and hosting .. but playing poorly in the process.

This past season, the Gators didn’t have a great showing in SEC play, but once again finished strong enough to host in Gainesville. They fell just short to eventual national runner-up Oklahoma, but won 42 games and seemed to have recalibrated the program’s momentum a bit. The trajectory for this program is still strong as UF is expected to be a national title contender in ’23.

There are plenty of other boxes being checked with the Gators, too. For instance, you will not find a better-recruiting landscape than what the Gators have in the State of Florida. They pretty much have the top-tier talent in the Sunshine State on lockdown most years. Florida now has a premier facility and Kevin O’Sullivan, despite making two assistant changes over the past few seasons, is still an outstanding coach with a bright vision. In closing, has UF lost some luster as of late? Sure. But this is a program a great year away from restoring order as one of the elite teams in our sport.