When the University of Tampa baseball team played Division I Harvard two weeks ago, the Crimson were not at the top of their game and did not look any better than any of the Division II teams Tampa has played all season. But the match-up between Tampa and a D-I team brought an excitement back that UT has lacked in recent history.
When Spartans coach Joe Urso played at UT from 1989-1992, Tampa faced many of the best D-I programs in the nation. Urso hit .377 and stole 11 bases in 15 games against D-I competition, which included games against Florida, Clemson, Michigan, Alabama and Miami.
However, it does not look like Tampa will ever face the same type of competition they played against when Urso was a player. Chip Baker, Florida State’s Director of Baseball Operations, said the Seminoles do not have any future games planned with UT. And the last time the Spartans played Miami was in 1996 when the Hurricanes beat Tampa 5-3 and 2-1.
D-I schools have almost nothing to win and everything to lose if they choose to play against a D-II school. A loss against the Spartans could hurt a team’s playoff chances, which may be one of the biggest reasons why Tampa has only faced two D-I teams in the past three years, with both Harvard and Quinnipiac coming from the north around spring break.
FSU Senior Associate Director of Athletics Charlie Carr said that most D-I schools don’t consider scheduling games against D-II schools since a game between different divisions would not factor in a team’s final record.
“It is difficult for a Division I school to schedule Division II schools, as they don’t count towards the final qualifying NCAA record, even though they may have a far better team in one sport or another,” Carr said.
Tampa’s backup catcher Garrett Maines transferred from D-I Auburn University. Maines thinks the difference in talent between Tampa and Auburn is slim.
“Based on what I’ve seen I think we could compete in the SEC or ACC,” Maines said.
Maines thinks the biggest difference between D-I and D-II schools is the depth at each position.
“The starting lineups are very close in talent, but the only difference is depth,” Maines said. “I think Tampa could be a Top-25 team [in Division I],” Maines said.
While FSU, Miami and Florida continue to land most of the top high school and junior college recruits from the state of Florida, a matchup between UT and any of these teams would have made for an interesting game during the 2006 season. Miami had seven players chosen in the draft, while Florida had six and Tampa had five players selected in the 2006 draft.
Certainly a pitching match-up between the 67th overall pick, Tampa’s Sergio Perez, and the 42nd pick, Miami’s Chris Perez, would have put fans in the seats. But it doesn’t look like Tampa will be facing a top D-I team in the near future.
Most fans would like to see the difference in talent, if there is that much, between some of the top D-I programs and the top D-II schools. But don’t look for a game in the near future. While there may be too much to lose for teams like FSU and Miami, a game between Tampa and a top D-I school could cause a major change in recruiting and college baseball in general.