Cool logos/names in the Sunshine State Conference

[B-Rich]

On Facebook, saw a notice from a friend and fellow Jeopardy! contestant about his nephew, who won Pitcher of the Week for the Sunshine State  Conference. Had never heard of that conference, nor the school (Palm Beach Atlantic University). What I found really cool was the team name-- the Sailfish-- and their logo, unis and colors:

 

Looking into it, I found a few other schools in the conference with cool names and logos that I was unaware of:
 

Rollins College Tars:

 

Nova Southeastern University Sharks:

 

 

Eckerd College Tritons:
 

 

And finally, the Barry University Buccaneers:
 

 

(I like the pirate parrot mascot)

[Bomba Tomba]

Should name the conference something more marine-themed, given the mascots

[Brian in Boston]

On 4/30/2023 at 9:18 PM, Bomba Tomba said:

Should name the conference something more marine-themed, given the mascots

There's really no need to do so.

When the Sunshine State Conference was launched in 1975, the athletic programs at just two of its member schools - Eckerd College and Rollins College - had marine-themed identities. The teams at Biscayne College (now St. Thomas University), Florida Southern College, Florida Technological University (now the University of Central Florida), and Saint Leo College (now Saint Leo University) did not.

The situation is similar today. The Sunshine State Conference is comprised of eleven member institutions. While the five schools B-Rich highlighted have marine-themed athletic identities, the other six do not:

Barry University Buccaneers

Eckerd College Tritons

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Eagles

Florida Southern College Moccasins

Florida Institute of Technology Panthers

Lynn University Fighting Knights

Nova Southeastern University Sharks
Palm Beach Atlantic University Sailfish

Rollins College Tars

Saint Leo University Lions

University of Tampa Spartans 

[stumpygremlin]

Nova Southeastern are the reigning D2 men's basketball champions. The Miami Dolphins training facility used to be on their campus as well.

[TBGKon]

Proud Saint Leo alum here.  Surprised me to see mu university referenced on the forums

[TBGKon]

1 hour ago, stumpygremlin said:

Nova Southeastern are the reigning D2 men's basketball champions. The Miami Dolphins training facility used to be on their campus as well.

Florida Southern (9) and University of Tampa (8) are the top two programs for D2 baseball national championships as well.

[stumpygremlin]

5 hours ago, TBGKon said:

Florida Southern (9) and University of Tampa (8) are the top two programs for D2 baseball national championships as well.

UT also beat the Phillies in an exhibition in 2015.

[TBGKon]

1 hour ago, stumpygremlin said:

UT also beat the Phillies in an exhibition in 2015.

Knowing it was spring training, there were maybe 4-5 major leaguers playing a few innings, then it was just prospects probably.  It was an accomplishment for sure, but its not like they beat guys like Harper, Schwarber, and such for a 9 inning game.

[stumpygremlin]

18 hours ago, TBGKon said:

Knowing it was spring training, there were maybe 4-5 major leaguers playing a few innings, then it was just prospects probably.  It was an accomplishment for sure, but its not like they beat guys like Harper, Schwarber, and such for a 9 inning game.

Oh, I know that for sure. But it still an accomplishment, given that the college teams rarely beat the pro teams and that every UT player that day was younger than every Phillies player that day. Plus, it's a D2 team, not a D1.

[GeauxColonels]

On 7/31/2023 at 7:39 AM, stumpygremlin said:

Nova Southeastern are the reigning D2 men's basketball champions. The Miami Dolphins training facility used to be on their campus as well.

The only school out of these I had heard of before today is Nova Southeastern because I saw some of that DII title game.