It's that time of the year again.
I always start to get a little nostalgic when the Summer B semester starts. It's when I started here at UF two years ago, and it's a few weeks after I started working at the Alligator last year.
Clearly, we get that same kind of nostalgia here at alligatorSports, as you can see from the list Phil announced. Before we start looking ahead to the 2009-10 sports season and moving on, we're going to look back at the year that was.
The 2008-09 sports year was full of ups and downs for UF - mostly ups, considering the Gators had a school record-tying 12 top-10 finishes.
As a result of that program-wide success, UF finished third in the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup Standings, which is presented annually by the nation's athletics directors and recognizes the schools with the best overall sports performances in an academic year, well behind Stanford but close to second-place North Carolina.
The positives from last year outweigh the negatives, although another disappointing men's basketball season and the continued number of football players being arrested left something of a black mark on an otherwise outstanding record.
And while it's easy to look back and point out what could have been - the softball team was two wins away from the program's first national championship, the men's track and field team came up short of a national title twice and the baseball team's run to the College World Series was brought to a close by underdog Southern Miss - it's worth looking back on the success each program enjoyed. At least while I'm feeling nostalgic.
The football team's national championship over Oklahoma was obviously the highlight of the year, and I could probably write a full page worth of what that championship did for the coaches, players and the school.
"The Gator football team's national championship was truly a highlight for this season, but there was plenty to be proud about when looking at the entire Gator athletic program," Athletics Director Jeremy Foley said in a statement.
And as much as I think putting "The Promise" on the wall of the football complex like it's the Ten Commandments was not a wise move, it quickly became one of the most famous speeches in sports history and was recently nominated for an ESPY for "Best Moment."
As Foley said, the rest of the year saw plenty of other successes. The fall sports season alone included a NCAA Tournament second-round finish by the soccer team and a surprisingly successful season by a young volleyball team.
While the men's basketball team finished in the NIT for the second straight year, Amanda Butler emerged as UF's next great young coach, leading the women's team to the NCAA Tournament after a season that included the program's third-ever victory against Tennessee and spent a few weeks in the AP Poll's Top 10.
Despite a series of injuries that forced inexperienced athletes to compete on a larger stage than they were used to, the gymnastics team finished fourth in the nation after another Super Six appearance.
Both Gators teams had successful years on the diamond, with the young baseball team announcing its arrival with a run to the NCAA Super Regionals and the experienced softball team, led by a group of seniors the program won't soon forget, falling just short of its season-long goal of a national title.
And between the track and field teams and the swimming teams, the Gators claimed nine individual NCAA titles.
So there you go. Not a bad year, eh? Look forward to the next three weeks of the Alligator, as we'll relive some of the greatest moments by counting down the top 10 athletes of the year.
After that, I think we'll all be ready to move on.
