The Florida Gators placed fifth in the 2020-21 Learfield IMG College Sports Directors' Cup standings. It is the 12th consecutive year that Flordia has finished in the top five in the all-sports rankings and the Gators are the only program to finish among the nation's top 10 in each of the last 37 national all-sports standings.
Florida's men's tennis team claiming the school's first-ever National Championship led the way for the University of Florida.
"Florida's first NCAA men's tennis title led many strong Gator finishes in this unprecedented and challenging season," Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin said. "Another top-five finish in the Learfield IMG College Directors' Cup is a tribute to the effort and competitive spirit of our student-athletes, coaches, and fans. Gators can take pride in UF standing among the nation's top in both public universities and athletics rankings."
Men's Tennis was the only team National Championship won but five individual championships.
Bobby Finke claimed his first NCAA title with a time of 3:36.90 in the 400 individual medley. The following evening on the meet's final day, Finke set the meet record with his winning time of 14:12.52 in the 1650 freestyle.
Kieran Smith used a time of 1:30.10 to become the sixth Gator to win the NCAA 200 freestyle. In June, the junior won the 200 and 400 freestyle events at the U.S. Olympic Trials to punch his ticket to Tokyo.
Thomas Mardal is the first since 2010 to sweep the NCAA weight (indoor) and hammer (outdoor) throws in a single season. He set Florida's indoor record (24.46) to win the NCAA indoor title, which is No. 3 all-time collegiately. He capped off his Gator career by resetting his own school record for the third time in 2021 with a hammer throw of 76.74 - the sixth-best in NCAA history.
Joseph Fahnbulleh closed his first collegiate outdoor track season by winning the 200 meters in a personal record time of 19.91 - the 10th fastest in collegiate history.
Sam Riffice won the NCAA Singles crown at the USTA National Campus in Orlando –less than a two-minute drive from his family's home. Riffice defeated the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds en route to claiming Florida's third NCAA singles crown.
The Gators had 10 teams finish inside the top-10 in their respective sports — 19th consecutive complete season 10 or more Gator teams among final top 10. Florida also won five conference titles.
