The 2017 Florida Gators entered the College World Series in a familiar spot, with a high seed and high expectations.
This time, the Gators lived up to them to capture the school’s first national championship in baseball and cement their status in the sport.
Coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s program had been among the nation’s elite for some time but had come up short during the postseason. A runner-up finish in the 2011 CWS and stumbles as the top seed in 2012 and 2016 were beginning to give the Gators a reputation as a team that could not finish.