Division I Florida Colleges

Division 1, or D-1, refers to the highest athletic standing of universities in the United States. These schools offer the most scholarships and have the highest budgets. Division rankings (which include 1, 2 and 3) are given by the National Collegiate Athletic Association and refer only to athletic standing; they should not be seen as a gauge of a certain university's academic prowess.

  1. Florida State

    • Florida State University competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Founded in 1851, FSU is the oldest university in the state. It acted as a women's only college between 1905 and 1947. Florida State is known to be a traditional NCAA football powerhouse, and at least two dozen former Seminoles currently play in the NFL, while others play in the NBA, WNBA and MLB.

    University of Florida

    • The University of Florida's Gators competes in the Southeastern Conference in 18 athletic events. The school, which began with barely over 100 students in 1906, now contains over 50,000 students and 16 colleges. Gator teams have won 24 NCAA championships since 1964 in an array of sports, and over 200 individual championships. They have won 193 SEC championships, more than any other school in the history of the conference.

    University of South Florida

    • The University of South Florida competes in the Big East. The university, located in Tampa, came into existence in 1956 and currently enrolls around 40,000 students. Though the University lacks the athletic accomplishments of some of the other D-1 schools in Florida, they do compete in 11 sports and have retired numbers in men's and women's basketball and baseball.

    Florida Atlantic and Florida International

    • Florida Atlantic opened in 1964 on the site of a former airbase and now houses 28,000 students. The school competes in 18 division one sports. Florida International has 40,000 students and is in the top 25 largest universities. The school competes in 13 sports (five men's and eight women's). Each year these two schools square off in the "Shula Bowl." Named after former Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula, the game is meant to determine the best football team in South Florida.