How Will the Florida Tech Panthers Fare in the Sunshine State Conference?

By  //  August 10, 2021

The question on everyone’s mind this season is how the Florida Tech Panthers will do in the Sunshine State Conference and whether or not they will be able to bring back the big title to the Florida Institute of Technology.

Although the Panthers have performed better than expected this year, they will still need to beat out 10 other teams competing in the conference, so it is sure to be a difficult and dramatic conference. 

A tough spot in the league 

Adding to the drama of the conference is the fact that the Panthers compete in the highly competitive NCAA DII Conference alongside schools such as Florida Southern which have gone on to win National Championships.

The Florida Tech Panthers have arguably gained a huge amount of experience this season by playing against these highly-skilled, extremely competitive teams. It will be interesting to see how the older players on the team are able to perform this year, after a few years of playing in the NCAA DII Conference. 

Additionally, as a result of playing in such a highly competitive, aggressive NCAA division, the Panthers also sometimes play even higher caliber teams in the Florida D1 schools division such as Florida Gulf Coast, Florida Atlantic University and Florida State.

A number of sports analysts are predicting that the players in the Florida D1 schools this year have developed their skills and team gameplay to such an extent that they will be difficult for the Florida Tech Panthers to compete against on a highly competitive level. 

The same analysts have pointed to the fact that in the 2011 – 2012 season, the Florida Tech Panthers men’s basketball team won the SSC Regular Season Championship with a record of 21 – 5.

The team was then able to ascend into the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Tournament where they were then able to move on to the second round of the South Regional. In the same year, the Panthers played two different Florida D1 schools – the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Central Florida. The Panthers lost to both of these Florida D1 schools.

Looking at the odds 

It is always tricky to know what the odds for an upcoming game or match might be, in part because with college sports there are always brand-new players, new coaches and new team dynamics. It can be extremely difficult to keep up with the news and statistics of one team, much less all of the teams in a particular league. 

That is why sites such as www.sidelines.io are so helpful because they do the research for you. If you are want to learn more about a particular team’s performance and predicted performance, this is truly the best way to quickly find out what the odds are for a particular outcome. 

Looking ahead to the Sunshine State Conference

Although the Panthers have a tough spot in the league to compete in, they performed surprisingly well in 2020, and it looks like the 2021 – 2022 year will be another year of success for the Men’s Basketball team. 

The Panthers are led by an impressive coaching staff with basketball veteran Billy Mims and are supported by Joey James, Jawaan Holmes, and Joe Sanchez as assistant coaches. So far, this coaching team has proven instrumental in bringing the team together and shaping a team that has no lack of raw talent available.

Many of the newer players have demonstrated that they are willing to learn, grow and develop as players on the team, which has been extremely beneficial for the team’s overall performance. 

Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the team this year is how many players are from other countries around the world. Niall Harris is from Leicester in England, Mate Papai is from Budapest in Hungary, Sean Russell is from London, UK, George Nehma is from Sydney, Australia, Theo Klimanoglou is from Alimos, Greece, and Darrah O’Sullivan is from County Cork in Ireland. 

You might think that this team of individuals from around the world would have issues with communication, teamwork and overall performance, however, they have shown through both practice and gameplay that they are actually extremely unified as a team and know how to communicate well and play together, even when there are slight language boundaries. 

The Panthers have a tough spot in the NCAA Division, but you can rest assured that this year they have the coaches, teamwork and communication style needed to succeed in the Sunshine State Conference.