Discover Jacksonville 2017

SPORTS
including 41 runners who qualified for
the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Jacksonville's sports activity
isn't confined to land. The Greater
Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament, held
annually in July, ranks among the biggest
kingfish tournaments in the United States.
Based at Jim King Park and Boat Ramp
along Sisters Creek on the north side of the
St. Johns River, the tournament includes
not only king mackerel that sometimes
tip the scales at 40 pounds or more, but
also food, music and boat exhibitions. The
2017 tournament, set for July 17-22, will be
the 37th.
In addition to the city's professional
franchises, Jacksonville has two Division
I sports programs within the city and
two major programs a relatively short
distance away. Jacksonville University,
located in Arlington on the east side of
the St. Johns River, competes in several
Division I sports as part of the Atlantic
Sun Conference. The school's biggest
athletic moment occurred in 1970, when
the men's basketball team, led by center
Artis Gilmore, advanced to the NCAA
championship game. Today's JU team
has also shown signs of improvement
under third-year coach Tony Jasick. The
Dolphins also compete in the Pioneer
Football League, playing their home
games at D.B. Milne Field on the JU
campus. The Dolphins started the 2016
season above .500 under coach Ian
Shields.
The University of North Florida, on
the city’s Southside, also participates
in athletics as part of the Atlantic
Sun Conference. The Ospreys have
enjoyed particular success of late in
men's basketball, which qualified for
its first-ever NCAA tournament in 2015.
Under head coach Matthew Driscoll, the
Ospreys' basketball program has become
a perennial contender in the Atlantic
Sun. UNF also has an elite facility for
track and field in Hodges Stadium, which
has served as the host for multiple NCAA
and USA Track and Field events.
In addition to the two Division I
universities in town, both Florida State
University in Tallahassee and the
University of Florida in Gainesville are
located within easy driving distance of
Jacksonville, and both play occasional
events in town. The two schools compete
in an annual spring baseball series at the
Weigh master Jeff Johnson holds up the biggest kingfish of the 2016 Greater Jacksonville
Kingfish Tournament. The 45.15-pound fish was caught by Mike Kelly aboard the Time
Served on the first day of the tournament. (Bob Mack/Florida Times-Union)
Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. The
Seminoles and Gators have produced
dozens of future major leaguers,
including Buster Posey and J.D. Drew
(Florida State) and David Eckstein and
Darren O'Day (Florida). Florida State
has also become a regular contender
in football, building a championship
tradition over the past three decades that
began under Seminoles legend Bobby
Bowden and has continued under his
successor, Jimbo Fisher. Florida State's
football program won the national
championship in 2013. In 2016, the
Seminoles' hopes of another title were
dented early on by losses to Louisville,
North Carolina and Clemson, but FSU
remained on the hunt for a high finish in
the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Florida has also won national
football championships in recent times,
capturing the title in the 2006 and 2008
seasons. The Gators also take part in a
classic Jacksonville event, the Florida-
Georgia (or, if one prefers, Georgia-
Florida) game. Each year, the Gators meet
the rival Georgia Bulldogs at EverBank
Field in an annual tradition that dates
back to 1933, attracting more than 80,000
fans (tickets are equally divided) to the
stadium for game day. Under second-year
coach Jim McElwain, Florida's football
program has built one of the strongest
defensive units in the Southeastern
Conference, and held strong chances
of winning the SEC East in 2016 after
defeating Georgia 24-10. The Florida
basketball team, which won NCAA
championships in 2006 and 2007, also
plays occasional games in Jacksonville at
the Veterans Memorial Arena downtown.
Those include a season-opening October
2016 exhibition and three early-season
games in 2016.
Jacksonville's sports year traditionally
begins with the TaxSlayer Bowl, a
college football bowl game held annually
since 1946 and played at EverBank Field.
Originally called the Gator Bowl, the
game is the sixth-oldest continuously
contested bowl. The current format
matches a school from the Southeastern
Conference against an opponent from
the Big Ten or Atlantic Coast Conference.
In 2016, the Georgia Bulldogs won the
bowl for the third time, defeating the
Penn State Nittany Lions, 24-17, on Jan. 2.
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