Florida wins another SEC combined all-sports title

University of Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley oversaw an athletic department that won several Southeastern Conference championships in 2014-15.
University of Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley oversaw an athletic department that won several Southeastern Conference championships in 2014-15.

Despite disappointing seasons in football and men's basketball, the University of Florida managed to win the Southeastern Conference's combined all-sports title for a ninth consecutive year and the 25th time overall.

Florida earned SEC titles in men's indoor track and field, men's outdoor track and field, men's swimming and diving, softball, women's tennis and volleyball in 2014-15. The Gators were 7-5 overall and 4-4 in conference play for football; they were 16-17 and 8-10 in men's basketball.

"The SEC is such a challenging league, with so many teams across all the sports ranking among the nation's best," Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley said in a statement. "This overall Southeastern Conference all-sports trophy is the result of so much hard work and effort by all of our student-athletes and coaches."

Florida has won combined titles 22 times in the last 23 years.

The SEC all-sports award, known for years as the Bernie Moore trophy, was first presented for men's programs in 1973-74. Women's titles and combined titles have been recognized since 1983-84.

Before Florida began its lengthy run of combined championships, LSU won six SEC all-sports trophies, with Alabama claiming five, Tennessee four, Auburn two and Georgia one.

In the GateHouse Media All-Sports SEC rankings for 2014-15, Florida won the combined title over Texas A&M, LSU, Georgia and Alabama. Tennessee finished 12th in the combined standings, ahead of Missouri and Mississippi State.

LSU won its first men's all-sports title since 1996-97, with the Tigers followed by Florida, Ole Miss, Georgia and Texas A&M. Tennessee finished 14th for the first time, with losing records in conference play for its football (3-5), basketball (7-11) and baseball (11-18) programs.

In just its third year of SEC membership, Texas A&M won the women's all-sports title, with Florida, LSU, Alabama, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee rounding out the top eight.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

Upcoming Events