Last season’s College World Series champion opened preseason practice last month in an unfamiliar position.
Florida, despite all its dominance over the past decade, had recently become the program that kept falling short of the end goal. Year after year.
The Gators made five trips to Omaha between 2010 and 2016. They left without a trophy each time.
But Florida finally earned the ultimate prize last June, sweeping LSU in the CWS title series for its first NCAA crown. So instead of ruminating over the missed opportunities on baseball’s biggest stage, the Gators got to revel a bit — there was a celebration at their home ballpark, they went to the White House and they were honored on the field at football games and during pep rallies.