Florida Gators make NCAA Tournament 12th straight year

The Florida Gators have not missed the NCAA Tournament since Kevin O’Sullivan took over the team in 2008 and that won’t change in 2019.

The Gators (33-24/13-17 SEC) made it close but ultimately their strength of schedule (3) and RPI (27) helped them make a 12th consecutive NCAA Regional. Unlike the previous five seasons the Gators will have to hit the road for the post season. Florida will travel to Lubbock, Texas where Texas Tech hosts for the fourth consecutive season.

The Red Raiders will open the regional against Army on Friday at 4 pm ET. Florida will play Dallas Baptist at 8 pm.

Texas Tech and the Gators met last year in Omaha, Nebraska in the College World Series. Florida and Texas Tech met in the CWS opener with the Red Raiders taking the game, which Brady Singer started, 6-3. The two met again in an elimination game that Florida won 9-6.

The Lubbock Regional is paired with the Oklahoma City Regional, which features No. 1 Oklahoma State, No. 2 UConn, No. 3 Nebraska and No. 4 Harvard.

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC