Tampa Spartans | |
---|---|
University | University of Tampa |
Conference | Sunshine State (primary) |
NCAA | Division II |
Athletic director | Larry Marfise |
Location | Tampa, Florida |
Varsity teams | 20 (8 men's, 12 women's) |
Basketball arena | Bob Martinez Athletics Center |
Baseball stadium | University of Tampa Baseball Field |
Softball stadium | Vince Naimoli Family Softball Field |
Soccer stadium | Pepin Stadium |
Aquatics center | UT Aquatic Center |
Lacrosse stadium | Naimoli Athletic Family and Intramural Complex |
Tennis venue | Naimoli and Young Family Complex |
Nickname | Spartans |
Colors | Black, red, and gold [1] |
Website | tampaspartans |
Team NCAA championships | |
21 | |
Individual and relay NCAA champions | |
35 |
The Tampa Spartans are the athletic teams that represent the University of Tampa, located in Tampa, Florida, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Spartans compete as members of the Sunshine State Conference for all sports besides beach volleyball and track and field, which compete as independents. Tampa has been a member of the conference since 1981.
Tampa sponsors 20 varsity teams, 8 for men and 12 for women:
Men's sports | Women's sports |
---|---|
Baseball | Basketball |
Basketball | Beach volleyball |
Cross country | Cross country |
Golf | Golf |
Lacrosse | Lacross |
Soccer | Rowing |
Swimming | Soccer |
Track and field (outdoor) | Softball |
Swimming | |
Tennis | |
Track and field (outdoor) | |
Volleyball |
Spartan varsity teams have won 19 NCAA Division II National Titles as of December 2022, which is seventh-most among current Division II teams. [2] The titles won are as follows: eight in baseball (1992, 1993, 1998, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2015 and 2019), three in men's soccer (1981, 1994 and 2001), two in golf (1987 and 1988), four in women's volleyball (2006, 2014, 2018, and 2021), one in women's soccer (2007), and one in men's lacrosse (2022). [2] They also won a beach volleyball title in the AVCA in 2019 and 2021, for a total of 21 national titles. UT athletes have won 35 individual and relay NCAA championships. [2]
Association | Division | Sport | Year | Opponent/Runner-Up | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
NCAA | Division II | Baseball [3] | 1992 | Mansfield | 11–8 |
1993 | Cal Poly San Luis Obispo | 7–5 | |||
1998 | Kennesaw State | 6–1 | |||
2006 | Chico State | 3–2 | |||
2007 | Columbus State | 7–2 | |||
2013 | Minnesota State–Mankato | 8–2 | |||
2015 | Catawba | 3–1 | |||
2019 | Colorado Mesa | 3–1 | |||
Men's soccer [4] | 1981 | Cal State Los Angeles | 1–0 (OT) | ||
1994 | Oakland | 3–2 (2OT) | |||
2001 | Cal State Dominguez Hills | 2–1 | |||
Men's golf [5] | 1987 | Columbus | 1,175–1,180 | ||
1988 | Florida Southern | 1,189–1,203 | |||
Men's lacrosse | 2022 | Mercy | 11–7 | ||
Women's soccer [6] | 2007 | Franklin Pierce | 3–1 | ||
Women's volleyball | 2007 | North Alabama | 3–1 | ||
2014 | Southwest Minnesota State | 3–0 | |||
2018 | Western Washington | 3–2 | |||
2021 | Washburn | 3–0 | |||
AVCA | Small College Division | Beach volleyball [7] | 2019 | Texas A&M–Kingsville | 3–0 |
2021 | Spring Hill | 3–0 |
UT's first athletic rival was St. Petersburg College. [8] UT even adopted the Spartan as its mascot in the 1930s because SPC were known as the Trojans at the time (though they have since changed to the Titans). As SPC is a junior college, the schools rarely (if ever) meet nowadays.
The Spartans main rival is the nearby Sunshine State Conference foe Florida Southern College Moccasins. [9] The rivalry is known best for its baseball games, with both teams regularly among the best in NCAA Division II. The Spartans and Mocs have a combined 17 baseball national championships, with Tampa winning 8 and FSC winning 9. No other team in Division II has more than 3 baseball titles.
Each August, the Spartans men's soccer team faces their crosstown rivals, the Division I University of South Florida Bulls, in an NCAA preseason match which celebrates the Tampa Bay Area's rich soccer history. In addition to holding the Rowdies Cup trophy for the next 12 months, the winning side also gets to hoist the actual 1975 Soccer Bowl trophy that was won by the original Tampa Bay Rowdies and is housed at USF's Corbett Soccer Stadium. As of the 2022 edition, USF holds a 25–11–3 edge in the all-time series. [10] The match was previously contested as the Mayor's Cup and dates back to 1972. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]
UT fielded a men's football team from 1933 to 1974. The "Tampa U" Spartans first played at Plant Field near the school's campus from 1933 to 1936, then played across the street at Phillips Field for three decades, then became Tampa Stadium's first home team when they moved to the brand-new venue in 1967. The move to Tampa Stadium coincided with the program's greatest success. The Spartans beat the cross-state rival Miami Hurricanes in 1970, moved up to NCAA Division I in 1971, and defeated the Hurricanes again in 1972. Several UT players from this era went on to play in the NFL, and the Spartans won the 1972 Tangerine Bowl. [16]
However, rising expenses resulted in the football program operating at a loss and required the school to subsidize it with several hundred thousand dollars per year. When the NFL awarded Tampa an expansion team (the future Tampa Bay Buccaneers) in 1974, the university's financial committee predicted that local support for Spartan football would decrease and recommended that the program be folded before the 1975 season. [17] On February 12, 1975, the University of Tampa's board of directors voted to drop the sport immediately. [18]
In addition to varsity sports, UT fields competitive junior varsity baseball and men's lacrosse teams that play a full schedule against area colleges and visiting northern schools and it also fields a crew team that competes in crew events around the nation.
The University of Tampa Athletic Hall of Fame includes former MLB players Lou Piniella and Tino Martinez, former NFL players Freddie Solomon of the San Francisco 49ers, and John Matuszak of the Oakland Raiders.
The USF Track and Field Stadium is a track and field stadium that was built in 1978. The stadium is currently home to the men's and women's track and field teams from the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. It also hosted the school's men's and women's soccer programs from 1978 and 1995 respectively through the end of their 2010 seasons.
The Tampa Bay Rowdies were an American professional soccer team based in Tampa, Florida, that competed in the original North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1975 to 1984. They enjoyed broad popular support in the Tampa Bay area until the NASL folded in 1984, after which the team played in various minor indoor and outdoor leagues before finally folding on January 31, 1994. The Rowdies played nearly all of their outdoor home games at Tampa Stadium and nearly all of their indoor games at the Bayfront Center Arena in nearby St. Petersburg, Florida. Although San Diego played indoors until 1996, the Rowdies were the last surviving NASL franchise that played outdoor soccer on a regular basis.
The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is home to 14 colleges, offering more than 240 undergraduate, graduate, specialist, and doctoral-level degree programs. USF is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. USF is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU) and is designated by the Florida Board of Governors as one of three Preeminent State Research Universities.
The South Florida Bulls are the athletic teams that represent the University of South Florida. USF competes in NCAA Division I and is a member of the American Athletic Conference for all sports besides sailing, a non-NCAA sanctioned varsity sport which competes in the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association within the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association. The current athletic director is Michael Kelly, who has held the job since 2018. The school colors are green and gold and the mascot is Rocky D. Bull.
The UCF Knights are the athletic teams that represent the University of Central Florida in unincorporated Orange County, Florida near Orlando. The Knights participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I as a member of the Big 12 Conference. Since men's soccer is not sponsored by the Big 12, they play in the Sun Belt Conference.
The War on I-4 is a college rivalry between the University of Central Florida Knights and University of South Florida Bulls. The rivalry is best known for its college football matchup which originated in a series of football games played from 2005 to 2008 and now takes place on Thanksgiving weekend, the de facto "rivalry weekend" for FBS football. From 2013 to 2023, when both schools were part of the American Athletic Conference, the schools began competing annually in all sports both schools sponsored. In 2016, the schools officially adopted the "War on I-4" as an official competition series. Each year, the team with the most wins across all sports receives a gold trophy styled after an Interstate 4 (I-4) road sign with the logos of each school. The winner of the annual football game also receives a similar trophy.
The Tampa Bay area is home to many sports teams and has a substantial history of sporting activity. Most of the region's professional sports franchises use the name "Tampa Bay", which is the name of a body of water, not of any city. This is to emphasize that they represent the wider metropolitan area and not a particular municipality and was a tradition started by Tampa's first major sports team, the original Tampa Bay Rowdies, when they were founded in 1975.
The U.S. state of Florida has three National Football League teams, two Major League Baseball teams, two National Basketball Association teams, two National Hockey League teams, two Major League Soccer teams and 13 NCAA Division I college teams.
The Adelphi Panthers are the athletic teams that represent Adelphi University, located in Garden City, Long Island, New York, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports.
USF Baseball Stadium at Red McEwen Field is a baseball stadium located in Tampa, Florida. It is home to the University of South Florida Bulls baseball team of the Division I American Athletic Conference. The facility has a capacity of 3,211 spectators. Opening in 2011, it replaced Red McEwen Field as the home of USF's baseball team.
The South Florida Bulls men's soccer team represents the University of South Florida in the sport of soccer. The Bulls currently compete in the American Athletic Conference within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). USF plays in Corbett Stadium, which opened in 2011 and is also used by the USF women's soccer team. Prior to that, they played at USF Soccer Field from their first season in 1965 until 1978 and USF Soccer Stadium from 1979 until 2010. They are coached by Bob Butehorn, who is in his sixth year with the Bulls as of the 2022 season.
The South Florida Bulls baseball team is the intercollegiate men's baseball program representing the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. The team competes in the American Athletic Conference of NCAA Division I. Founded in 1966, the baseball team is one of the oldest teams at the university. The Bulls have captured eleven conference titles and 14 NCAA tournament appearances. The team plays their home games on campus at USF Baseball Stadium at Red McEwen Field and are coached by Mitch Hannahs.
The South Florida Bulls women's basketball team represents the University of South Florida in women's basketball. The Bulls compete in the American Athletic Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Bulls play home basketball games at the Yuengling Center. South Florida is coached by Jose Fernandez, who has been with the Bulls since the 2000–01 season. USF has made the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament nine times in their history and won the Women's National Invitation Tournament in 2009. They have won three conference championships, taking the regular season American Athletic Conference title in 2021 and 2023 and the AAC tournament crown in 2021.
The 2019 South Florida Bulls men's soccer team represented the University of South Florida during the 2019 NCAA Division I men's soccer season and the 2019 American Athletic Conference men's soccer season. The regular season began on August 30 and concluded on November 5. It was the program's 55th season fielding a men's varsity soccer team, and their 7th season in the AAC. The 2019 season was Bob Butehorn's third year as head coach for the program.
The Rowdies Cup is a traveling trophy awarded to the winner of the annual college soccer derby between the University of South Florida Bulls and the University of Tampa Spartans, two NCAA men's programs based in the city of Tampa, Florida. The rivalry was known as the Mayor's Cup from 1979 to 2005.
The University of South Florida athletic facilities are the stadiums and arenas the South Florida Bulls use for their home games and training. The University of South Florida currently sponsors 19 varsity athletic teams and has 11 facilities in the designated Athletics District on or adjacent to its Tampa campus, one on its St. Petersburg campus, and one elsewhere in Tampa. 18 of the 19 teams have some sort of facility in the USF Athletics District.
The South Florida Bulls volleyball team represents the University of South Florida in the sport of women's volleyball. The Bulls compete in the American Athletic Conference of NCAA Division I. The team plays their home games at The Corral inside the Yuengling Center on USF's campus in Tampa, Florida. They are coached by Jolene Shepardson who was hired after the 2019 season. The Bulls have reached seven NCAA women's volleyball tournaments and won a combined 18 regular season and tournament conference championships in their history, the most of any women's team at USF.
The South Florida Bulls tennis program represents the University of South Florida in the sport of tennis. The program consists of separate men's and women's teams and competes in the American Athletic Conference within NCAA Division I. The Bulls men's tennis team is coached by Ashley Fisher and the women's team is coached by Cristina Moros. Both teams play their home matches at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts on USF's campus in Tampa, Florida.
The South Florida Bulls lacrosse team will represent the University of South Florida in the sport of women's lacrosse beginning in spring 2025. They will compete in the American Athletic Conference of NCAA Division I. The Bulls will play their home games at Corbett Stadium on USF's Tampa campus, which they will share with the USF men's and women's soccer teams. It is the university's newest varsity sports team and the first new USF team since football was established in 1997. It will be the first new women's team in an NCAA sport at USF since women's soccer in 1995.
The South Florida Bulls beach volleyball team will represent the University of South Florida in the sport of women's beach volleyball at the NCAA National Collegiate level beginning in spring 2026. In June 2023 USF hired Pri Piantadosi-Lima as the team's first ever head coach.