Florida

Florida ⁱ/ˈflɒrɪdə/ (Spanish for "flowery land") is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. The state is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the south by the Straits of Florida and the country of Cuba. Florida is the 22nd most extensive, the 3rd most populous, and the 8th most densely populated of the United States. Jacksonville is the most populous city in Florida, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. The Miami metropolitan area is the eighth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Tallahassee is the state capital.

A peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Straits of Florida, it has the longest coastline in the contiguous United States, approximately 1,350 miles (2,170 km), and is the only state that borders both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Much of the state is at or near sea level and is characterized by sedimentary soil. The climate varies from subtropical in the north to tropical in the south. The American alligator, American crocodile, Florida panther, and manatee can be found in the Everglades National Park.

Florida State University

The Florida State University (commonly referred to as Florida State or FSU) is an American public space-grant and sea-grant research university. Its primary campus is located on a 1,391.54-acre (5.631 km2) campus in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the state of Florida.

The University is classified as a Research University with Very High Research by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The university comprises 16 separate colleges and more than 110 centers, facilities, labs and institutes that offer more than 360 programs of study, including professional school programs. The university has an annual budget of over $1.7 billion. Florida State is home to Florida's only National Laboratory – the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and is the birthplace of the commercially viable anti-cancer drug Taxol. Florida State University also operates The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, the State Art Museum of Florida and one of the largest museum/university complexes in the nation.

Florida State Seminoles

The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision sub-level for football), primarily competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) for all sports since the 1991–92 season; within the Atlantic Division in any sports split into a divisional format since the 2005-06 season.

The Seminoles athletic department fields 20 teams. They have collectively won 17 team national championships, and over 100 team conference championships, as well as numerous individual national and conference titles.

Overview

Orange Bowl

The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. This bowl game is sponsored by Capital One and part of the College Football Playoff. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935 and celebrated its 75th playing on January 1, 2009. The Orange Bowl, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, are the second-oldest bowl games in the country, behind the Rose Bowl (first played 1902, played annually since 1916). The Orange Bowl was a member of the now-defunct Bowl Championship Series (BCS).

The Orange Bowl served as the BCS National Championship Game in 2001 and 2005. However, beginning with the 2006 season, the BCS National Championship Game became a stand-alone event, hosted by the local bowl organization about one week following the New Year's Day bowl games (including the Orange Bowl). Under that format the Orange Bowl Committee hosted two separate games in both 2009 (the 2009 Orange Bowl on January 1 and the 2009 BCS National Championship Game on January 8) and in 2013 (the 2013 Orange Bowl on January 1 and the 2013 BCS National Championship Game on January 7), all at Sun Life Stadium. The BCS ended after the 2013 season, being replaced by the current College Football Playoff.

Michigan Wolverines

The Michigan Wolverines comprise 27 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisional Collegiate Water Polo Association. Team colors are maize and blue, though these are different shades of "maize" and "blue" than those used by the university at large. The winged helmet is a recognized icon of Michigan Athletics.

In 11 of the past 20 years (through 2014–15), Michigan has finished in the top five of the NACDA Directors' Cup, a list compiled by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics that charts institutions' overall success in college sports. UM has finished in the top ten of the Directors' Cup standings in sixteen of the award's twenty-two seasons.

Conference affiliations

Championships

National team championships

As of July 2, 2014, the University of Michigan has won 36 NCAA team titles.