Florida Gators

STILLWATER, Okla. — Considering their eminence in college athletics over the past several decades, Florida and Nebraska have little shared history in the three major traditional sports.

The Gators and Cornhuskers add another chapter on Friday when they meet on the diamond in the Stillwater (Okla.) Regional. It won't be the first time the programs have played, but you must rewind 19 years to find the only previous meeting.

The Gators silenced a Big Red party at sold-out Rosenblatt Stadium during the 2005 College World Series, beating the Cornhuskers 7-4. UF outfielder Jeff Corsaletti cracked three doubles, and reliever Darren O'Day tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings for the Gators, who advanced to the CWS championship that season before losing to Texas.

The Gators have returned to the CWS eight times since facing the Cornhuskers in Omaha, all under head coach Kevin O'Sullivan, who took over the program in 2008. Meanwhile, Nebraska has not returned to the CWS despite its campus in Lincoln being located only 60 miles from Charles Schwab Field.
 

Florida is the No. 3 seed in the Stillwater Regional, and Nebraska is the second seed. The winner of Friday's game faces the Oklahoma State-Niagara winner on Saturday. The host Cowboys are the No. 1 seed.

OK, back to the Florida-Nebraska history lesson. Gators fans with a few years tucked away know where this is headed, but first, let's talk men's basketball. The Gators and Cornhuskers have never played each other.

Without further delay, the schools have met twice in football. The first time was the 1974 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. The Gators controlled most of the game before the Cornhuskers pulled out a 13-10 victory when Mike Coyle booted a 39-yard field goal with 1:45 remaining.

Now, on to one of the most painful defeats in Gators history.

Florida and Nebraska entered the 1995 national championship game in the Fiesta Bowl undefeated and dominant. The 12-0 Gators led 11-0 Nebraska after the first quarter. And then Cornhuskers quarterback Tommie Frazier, a Florida native, turned into a runaway bulldozer. By halftime, Nebraska led by 25 en route to a 62-24 victory.

The Gators, of course, didn't stay down long. They won their first national championship a year later.

As we return to 2024, here is a closer look at Florida's opponent to open the NCAA Tournament:
  UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA
 
Founded: 1869
First baseball season: 1889
Location: Lincoln, Neb.
Enrollment: 23,805

Record: 39-20, 16-8 in Big Ten
Coach: Will Bolt, 5th year (136-95-1, .588)
NCAA Tournament appearances: 18
CWS appearances: 3 (2001, '02, '05) Season highlight: The Cornhuskers became the first team in 29 years to lose their first game in the Big Ten Tournament and rebound to win the conference championship. Nebraska won five games in five days at Charles Schwab Field – yes, the same place the CWS will take place next month – to claim the program's first Big Ten title since joining the league in 2012. Gabe Swansen stroked an RBI double in the top of the ninth inning to lift the Cornhuskers to a 2-1 win over Penn State. "The best swing of the year,'' Nebraska coach Will Bolt told reporters afterward.
 
Player to watch: Catcher Josh Caron was named Most Outstanding Player of the Big Ten Tournament. Caron slugged a tournament-record six home runs, and his solo shot in the seventh inning of the championship tied the game 1-1. Caron's breakout performance in the Big Ten Tournament was far from a fluke. The junior from Sun Prairie, Wis., is hitting .320 and leads the Cornhuskers in home runs (16), RBI (65) and total bases (138). Caron broke the record held by Purdue's Dan Black (five in 2008) for most home runs in the Big Ten Tournament.
 
Buzz: As good as Caron has been, his batterymate Brett Sears is equally if not more dangerous. The fifth-year senior right-hander started his career at Western Illinois, transferred to Central Iowa Community College to reboot his career, and then spent last season as a struggling relief pitcher with the Cornhuskers. Sears has had a meteoric rise in 2024. He is 9-0 with a 2.00 ERA (99 IP, 62 H, 97 SO, 18 BB) and earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Year honors. He is scheduled to start Friday's game. The Gators will start freshman right-hander Liam Peterson. Sears credits the refinement of his pitches and a workout program that built up his arm strength for the sudden turnaround. He earned a spot on the team by showing up at a prospect tryout two years ago. Meanwhile, the Cornhuskers' No 2 starter is Mason McConnaughey, who is 8-3 with a 3.09 ERA (67 IP, 60 H, 81 SO, 23 BB). While Caron is the only player in the lineup to reach double-figures in home runs, four Cornhuskers have hit seven or more. Nebraska also likes to run, stealing 91 bases in 120 attempts. Transfer outfielder Riley Silva leads the team with 31 stolen bases, good enough to top the Big Ten. The Cornhuskers do their best work on the mound. They rank first in the Big Ten in team ERA (4.40) and seventh in batting average (.289).

Quote of note: "When you're part of championship teams, there are certain attributes, certain traits that all of them have. Toughness is at the top of the list. Talent, you've got to have that. You've got to have the dudes. Everybody has talent now. The separator is the toughness piece of it and the unwillingness to waver from the process of showing up and having a job to do. When the external factors tell you you're great, can you show up and do it the next day when they tell you you're terrible?" — Cornhuskers coach Will Bolt after his team won the Big Ten Tournament