Description
The 2006 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2006 college football season. The Gators competed in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and played their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the university’s Gainesville, Florida campus. The season was the second for head coach Urban Meyer, who led the Gators to an SEC Championship, a BCS National Championship, and an overall win-loss record of 13–1 (.929).
Florida overcame the toughest schedule in the nation by opponent winning percentage to become national champions. The Gators won their seventh SEC title by defeating the Arkansas Razorbacks 38–28 in SEC Championship Game on December 2, 2006,then defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes 41–14 in the BCS National Championship Game on January 8, 2007, beginning the SEC’s streak of seven consecutive national championships.
During the 2006 season, the Gators also celebrated two milestones in their history: the tenth anniversary of their first national football championship in 1996, and 100 years of Florida football dating to their first season in 1906.
In addition, with the men’s basketball team winning the 2006 and 2007 NCAA men’s basketball national championships, the University of Florida became the first Division I school to ever win the football and men’s basketball titles during the same year. Coincidentally, the Gators again faced and defeated Ohio State in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, also marking the first time in college sports history that identical matchups and results have occurred in both football and basketball championships.
