Florida State Seminoles

Overview

Florida State Athletics were founded in 1902 when the then-Florida State College football teams played three seasons. The 1905 Buckman Act reorganized the existing seven Florida colleges into three institutions, segregated by race and gender. As a result of this reorganization, the coeducational Florida State College was renamed the Florida State College for Women. The Florida State University again became a co-ed institution in 1947 with most of the newly enrolled male students back from service in World War II. Athletic programs resumed and Florida State fielded its first football team in 43 years with FSU facing Stetson on October 18, 1947.

Florida State was a founding member of the Dixie Conference, in 1948, when other southern institutions sought to create a "purely amateur" athletic conference based on the principle of complete amateurism, with no athletic scholarships. Three years later, Florida State left the conference to become an independent, having won ten conference titles including three in football and two in men's track and field.

In 1976, Florida State joined the Metro Conference for all sports except football, which remained independent. For fifteen years FSU competed and won sixty-eight conference titles as well as five national titles including two in softball, two in women's track and field, and one in women's golf.

Since 1991, Florida State has been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Since joining the conference, FSU has won ninety-six ACC titles and nine national titles including three in football, three in men's track and field, two in soccer, and one in softball. After the 2005 conference expansion was finished, FSU was placed in the newly formed Atlantic Division. The ACC discontinued divisions in 2023.

Florida State's school colors of garnet and gold are a merging of the university's past. In 1904 and 1905, the Florida State College won football championships wearing purple and gold uniforms. When FSC became Florida State College for Women in 1905, the FSCW student body selected crimson as the official school color. The administration in 1905 took crimson and combined it with the recognizable purple of the championship football teams to achieve the color garnet. The garnet and gold colors were first used on an FSU uniform in a 14–6 loss to Stetson on October 18, 1947.

Mascot

The name "Seminoles" was chosen by students in 1947 on a vote, it alludes to Florida's Seminole people who in the early nineteenth century resisted efforts of the United States government to remove them from Florida. Since 1978 the teams have been represented by the symbols Osceola and Renegade. The symbol represents an actual historical figure, Seminole war leader Osceola, whose clothing represents appropriate period dress. The athletic logo, in use since the early 1970s, shows a profile of a shouting Seminole warrior in circle. The model for the logo was Florida State music faculty member Thomas Wright, composer of the Florida State University Fight Song and Victory Song.

The university maintains that they do not officially have a mascot, but use the Seminole name in "admiration" of the unconquered tribe. However, the figures of Osceola and Renegade, as well as the athletic logo, are used in a way that is indistinguishable from other mascots; they are used to rally the crowd at sporting events, and emblazoned on T-shirts and other merchandise.

Renegade and Osceola are reserved for football games; therefore, the Seminoles use a different symbol for other athletic events. This symbol, referred to by the university as an "ambassador" rather than a mascot, is an anthropomorphic horse named Cimarron. The name Cimarron comes from a term used by Spanish colonizers to describe independent indigenous tribes.

The use of names and images associated with Seminole history is officially sanctioned by the Seminole Tribal Council of Florida. In 2005, the Tribal Council produced a written resolution affirming their support for the use of their symbolism, and FSU states that they take pride in their "continued collaboration with the tribe".

In 2005, the NCAA adopted a policy intended to prevent their schools and athletic programs from using mascots and imagery that are "hostile or abusive" to racial and ethnic minorities. This included Native American mascots, and FSU was specifically flagged by the NCAA as a university with potentially offensive imagery. However, Florida State challenged the policy and was granted a waiver based on their "unique relationship" with the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The NCAA allows the use even though the NCAA "continues to believe the stereotyping of Native Americans is wrong."

Rivalries

Florida State maintains two traditional rivalries in all sports with the Florida Gators and the Miami Hurricanes. Florida State is the only school in the state to play both Florida and Miami each year in all sports.

Florida State developed a football rivalry with Clemson after joining the Atlantic Coast Conference. Tommy Bowden was named the head coach at Clemson prior to the 1999 season, and with his father Bobby Bowden the head coach at Florida State, the game was nicknamed the Bowden Bowl for the duration of his tenure.

Florida State University was founded with money donated by Francis Eppes VII, a grandson of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States (1801–1809), principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and founder of the University of Virginia. As a result, both teams play for the Jefferson-Eppes Trophy in football. With the realignment of the ACC, the Seminoles and Cavaliers found themselves in different divisions and no longer play annually.

Florida State has baseball rivalries with its traditional opponents, as well as with the Jacksonville University Dolphins.

Athletic directors

Florida State has had 18 athletic directors in its history.

Teams

Florida State University sponsors teams in eight men's and eleven women's NCAA sanctioned sports, generally as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Florida State competes as a member of the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association in beach volleyball.

Baseball

Florida State's baseball program is one of the most successful in collegiate sports, having been to twenty-four College World Series (CWS) in sixty-two Tournament appearances, and having appeared in the national championship final on three occasions, (falling to the USC Trojans in 1970, the Arizona Wildcats in 1986, and the Miami Hurricanes in 1999).

Under the command of Head Coach No. 11 Mike Martin for forty years, Florida State is the second-winningest program in the history of college baseball. Since 1990, the Seminoles have had more 50 win seasons, been to more NCAA Tournaments and finished in the top 10 more than any other team in the country. Since 2000, FSU is the winningest program in college baseball with more victories and a higher winning percentage in the regular season than any other school. Despite their success, Florida State is still chasing their first CWS Championship, and has the most appearances in the CWS of any program yet to win a national title.

Basketball

Florida State's basketball program has enjoyed modest success since their first appearance in the NCAA tournament in 1968. Since then, the Seminoles have made eighteen tournament appearances, played for the national title in the NCAA championship game in 1972, advanced to the Sweet Sixteen round in 1992, 2011, 2019 and 2021, the Elite Eight round in 1993 and 2018, and won the ACC title in 2012.

A total of 45 Seminoles have been selected in the NBA draft with nine first-round picks. Among those first round selections are Dave Cowens, and George McCloud, the first lottery selection in school history.

The women's basketball program has made twenty-three tournament appearances. In the 2006–07 season, Florida State advanced to its first NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen in school history. The Seminoles won the ACC regular season titles in 2009 and 2010. In 2010, the Seminoles made it to the Elite Eight round, the deepest advance in the tournament in program history, matching that run in 2015 and again in 2017.

Beach volleyball

Florida State added women's beach volleyball as a sport during the 2012 season, initially competing as part of the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association, and have been coached by Brooke Niles, who has been recognized as the AVCA National Coach of the Year and is the winningest coach in NCAA history, since 2016. They have appeared in four AVCA tournaments and ten NCAA tournaments since the program's inception, reaching the post-season every year. The team has won eight conference titles and reached the national championship on four occasions. Twenty-seven players have been recognized as All-Americans. The Seminoles currently compete in the Big 12 Conference.

Football

In 1902, the Florida State College in Tallahassee fielded its first varsity football team. The FSC program posted a record of 7–6–1 over the next three seasons, including a record of 3–1 against their rivals from the old University of Florida (formerly known as Florida Agricultural College) in Lake City. In 1904, the Florida State College football team became the first-ever state champions of Florida after beating both the University of Florida and Stetson University. In 1905, however, the Florida Legislature reorganized the state's higher education system by abolishing the existing state-supported colleges, and creating the new University of the State of Florida in Gainesville, and the new Florida State College for Women in Tallahassee. Many former Florida State College male students transferred to the new University of the State of Florida (renamed the University of Florida in 1909).

Following World War II, Florida State College for Women became coeducational and was renamed Florida State University in 1947, and the school once again started a football team. After its first season, FSU joined the Dixie Conference, which it won in each of the three years it was a member. It withdrew from the conference in 1951 and competed as an independent team for the next forty years.

Under head coach Bobby Bowden, the football team became one of the nation's most competitive football teams, greatly expanding the tradition of football at Florida State. The Seminoles played in five national championship games between 1993 and 2001, and have claimed the championship three times, in 1993, 1999, and 2013. The FSU football team was the most successful team in college football during the 1990s, boasting an 89% winning percentage. FSU also set an NCAA record for most consecutive Top 5 finishes in the AP football poll – receiving placement fourteen years in a row, from 1987 to 2000. The Seminoles were the first college football team in history to go wire-to-wire (ranked first place from preseason to postseason) since the AP began releasing preseason rankings in 1936. FSU also owns the record for most consecutive bowl game victories with 11 between 1985 and 1996 and made a post-season appearance for thirty-six straight seasons from 1982 to 2017. The Seminole football team has also won nineteen conference championships in the Dixie and Atlantic Coast.

Florida State's football program has produced many players who went on to NFL careers, including Fred Biletnikoff, Deion Sanders, Terrell Buckley, Derrick Brooks, Sebastian Janikowski, Walter Jones, Corey Simon, Anquan Boldin, Javon Walker, Warrick Dunn, Peter Boulware, Laveranues Coles, Brad Johnson, Samari Rolle, Peter Warrick, Jalen Ramsey, Dalvin Cook, Jameis Winston, Darnell Dockett, Dustin Hopkins, Graham Gano, Rodney Hudson, and many others; other notable players include Burt Reynolds and Lee Corso.

Golf

The Seminoles have made forty NCAA tournament appearances including twenty-seven national championship appearances, finishing as runner-up in 2024, and nineteen regionals. Florida State has won thirteen conference championships. The Seminoles have appeared in sixteen straight NCAA tournaments and were the top seed in the 2015 tournament, a year in which they won a school record four straight in-season tournaments. In the 2021 season, John Pak won the Haskins Award, Hogan Award, and Nicklaus Award.

The Seminoles have made eight AIAW tournament appearances and thirty NCAA tournament appearances, including twenty-seven regionals and fourteen national championship appearances, advancing for ten consecutive years. Florida State has won four conference championships.

Women's soccer

Since adding soccer as a sport, Florida State has made twenty-six appearances in the NCAA tournament and fifteen appearances in the College Cup. The Seminoles won national championships in 2014, 2018, 2021, 2023, and 2025 with additional national title appearances in 2007, 2013, and 2020.

Softball

The softball team plays at the Seminole Softball Complex; the field is named for JoAnne Graf, the winningest coach in softball history. An 8–1 victory over Jacksonville on February 22, 2006, made her only the second coach in NCAA history to record 1,100 NCAA fast-pitch wins. In 1999, Florida State received a softball complex, which also houses the soccer stadium.

Florida State's accomplishments include two AIAW national championships, one NCAA national championship, twelve trips to the Women's College World Series, thirty-eight NCAA tournaments, forty-one All-Americans, and twenty conference titles, as well as forty-two forty win seasons.

For over two decades, FSU has been one of the most dominant softball programs in the history of collegiate softball. Only five teams in the history of the NCAA have been to more WCWS than Florida State and no school east of Arizona has been to more NCAA tournaments than the Seminoles. Florida State has made a regional appearance every year since 2000.

In 2015, Lacey Waldrop and Maddie O'Brien became the first players from the school to be drafted into the National Pro Fastpitch league and Jessica Burroughs became the school's first number one overall pick in 2017.

Track and field

The men's track and field team has won multiple NCAA national championships and ACC championships. In 2006, the team had individual champions in the 200 m (Walter Dix), the triple jump (Rafeeq Curry), and the shot put (Garrett Johnson). In 2007, Dix became the first person to hold the individual title in the 100 m, 200 m, and 4×100 m Relay at the same time.

Non-varsity/club teams

The Florida State cheerleaders cheer at all football games as well as home basketball and volleyball games. The all-girl squad won the National Cheerleaders Association championship in 1997 and the co-ed squad won the Universal Cheerleaders Association championship in the small co-ed division in 2023. The dance team that performs at football and basketball games is known as the Golden Girls.

The Florida State Rugby Football Club was founded in 1970, and plays Division 1 college rugby in the South Independent Rugby Conference, which is not affiliated with the NCAA. The Seminoles won the conference championship in 2012, defeating the University of Central Florida. FSU is led by head coach Michael Gomez.

All-sports program rankings

NCAA all-sports rankings

Directors' Cup

Florida State Athletics has made great strides in the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) standings in the last twenty years. Since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference, FSU has been ranked among the top fifty NCAA Division I athletic programs in the country. From the 2006–2007 through 2014–2015 academic years, Florida State cracked the top 15 every year, including two top 5 finishes in 2009–2010 and 2011–2012, and four top 10 finishes in 2010–2011, 2014–2015, 2017–2018, and 2018–2019.

NACDA All-Sports Rankings

National championships

Florida State has won twenty-one national team championships (including twelve sponsored by the NCAA), three by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), two by the Bowl Championship Series, and one by the Bowl Coalition), and its individual athletes have numerous individual NCAA national championships.

NCAA team championships

Florida State University has won 12 NCAA team national championships:

Men's (4)

Gymnastics (2): 1951, 1952

Outdoor Track & Field (2): 2006, 2008

Women's (8)

Indoor Track and Field (1): 1985

Outdoor Track and Field (1): 1984

Soccer (5): 2014, 2018, 2021, 2023, 2025

Softball (1): 2018

Florida State has been national runners-up 23 times in 12 NCAA sports: baseball (3), men's basketball (1), men's cross country (1), women's cross country (2), men's golf (1), women's golf (1), softball (2), women's soccer (3), men's indoor track and field (2), men's outdoor track and field (2), women's outdoor track and field (2), and beach volleyball (4).

Other national team championships

Below are the nine national team titles that were bestowed by other college athletics entities:

Men's (6):

Football (3): 1993, 1999, 2013 (FBS)

Volleyball (3): 1955, 1957, 1958 (USVA)

Women's (3):

Golf (1): 1981 (AIAW)

Softball (slowpitch) (2): 1981, 1982 (AIAW)

Florida State has been national runner-up two times in one NCAA sport (football) for which the NCAA itself does not bestow a championship.

Non-varsity/club national team championships

Women's (1):

Cheerleading (1): 1997 (NCA)

Co-Ed (2):

Gymnastics (1): 2022 (NAIGC)

Cheerleading (1): 2023 (UCA)

Florida State has also been national runner-up once in one non-varsity club sport (cheerleading).

Conference championships

Total Conference Championships (207)

Atlantic Coast Conference (114)

Big 12 Conference (1)

Metro Conference (68)

Dixie Conference (10)

Southeastern Independent (3)

Florida Intercollegiate Conference (3)

Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (7)

Athletic facilities

Florida State University has invested and continues to invest largely in the athletic centers and facilities around campus. The most visible stadium is Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium which is surrounded by the University Center, which houses the university administration, several colleges and departments.

Coyle E. Moore Athletics Center

The Coyle E. Moore Athletic Center is located on the north side of the University Center and is the center of Florida State Athletics and its 400-plus student-athletes. It is home to the Athletics Administration and support staff and houses the Executive Staff, Business Office, Computer Information Services, Coaches' Video, Seminole Productions, College of Communication faculty offices and student edit rooms, Academic Support, Student Services, Compliance, Sports Information, Digital Media, Marketing and Promotions, Facilities and Event Management, classrooms, a dining facility with a full service kitchen, and a mailroom. Initially built in the 1950s as a football field house, the original infrastructure of the athletic center plumbing, sewage, and air-conditioning had become inadequate to the demands placed upon it by far more student-athletes and staff than it was designed for. In 2004, the Moore Building underwent an overhaul makeover to match the appearance of the rest of the University Center with a more efficient floor plan to allow for more room for growth. The new facility includes a dining hall, a 15,000 square foot training and rehab facility, and a more than 8,000 square foot tutorial and study hall space. A multi-purpose theater for team meetings, press conferences, and symposiums is also located on the first floor of the Moore Athletic Center. In an effort to enhance the studies of Florida State students, there is also a designated space for athletic-training curriculum and a studio provided for the College of Communication students to gain hands on experience producing work for Seminole athletics.

Albert J. Dunlap Athletic Training Facility

The Dunlap Indoor Practice Facility is the indoor field used by the football team. It is located adjacent to the stadium, next to the outdoor practice fields.

Bill Harkins Field at the Manley R. Whitcomb Band Complex

Notable alumni

A number of FSU alumni have found success in professional sports, with 123 active alumni competing in sports including basketball, football, baseball and golf.

FSU Hall of Fame

The first hall of fame class was inducted in 1977.

For a list of inductees by sport, see footnote

For a list of inductees by year of induction, see footnote

For a list of inductees by alphabetical order, see footnote

Olympians

FSU alums have competed at the Olympic Games, winning seventeen medals: six golds, four silvers, and seven bronzes. Florida State has sent athletes to every edition of the summer games since the 1972 Summer Olympics, sending a school-record 26 Olympians in 2024.

2006–2010 NCAA penalties

The athletic department emerged in January 2010 from NCAA sanctions resulting from the discovery of academic cheating by athletes in 2006–2007. This discovery involved athletes in ten sports programs who were taking an online course in music history. An NCAA investigation resulted in scholarship limits and negation of wins involving compromised athletes. Florida State appealed parts of the decision. The penalties removed fourteen football wins from the career total of Seminoles football coach Bobby Bowden, yet the coach temporarily claimed the all-time record for Division 1 football wins in 2012 when a far larger number of victories was deducted from the career total of Pennsylvania State University football coach Joe Paterno. Paterno's wins were later reinstated, however, following an appeal from the Penn State Board of Trustees in January 2015, leaving Coach Bowden with the 2nd all-time winningest record in Division 1 football.

Additionally, FSU vacated 22 wins in men's basketball, an NCAA post season baseball victory, one national championship in men's track and field, an NCAA tournament victory in women's basketball, as well as other wins in these and several other men's and women's sports.