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© St. Petersburg Times, published March 1, 2002
TAMPA -- If Tampa coach Richard Schmidt had any lingering questions about his program peaking after its Division II Elite Eight appearance last season, they have been answered.
UT's men shook off early injuries, won the regular-season championship and begins the Sunshine State Conference tournament today as the top seed.
By winning its first regular-season title in four years and going 13-1 in the conference, 23-2 overall, the Spartans are in position to secure a spot as regional tournament host and make another run at a national championship.
But all of that must wait. The Spartans are focused on Florida Tech, the host and eighth-seeded team it faces at 6:30 tonight in Melbourne.
"We had a lot of goals this season," UT senior center Slyvere Bryan said. "We wanted to play well and win the conference. I hadn't done that during my four years, and we accomplished that. This was only one goal we set for ourselves, and now we can go from that."
Despite a six-game winning streak against Florida Tech, including two this season by an average 22 points, Schmidt isn't taking anything for granted. Especially since UT has been eliminated in the first round of the tournament four years in a row.
"This is a tough league and you can't take anybody lightly," Schmidt said. "The teams are so close and the coaches are so good, it's tough to beat up on anybody. Everything is close to the vest, and the players have to be focused each game."
Eckerd, Florida Southern and Rollins also enter the tournament playing well. Florida Southern is the only SSC team to beat UT this season, doing it with surprising ease (84-76) two weeks ago. Eckerd (20-6, 10-4) is ranked No. 4 in the Division II South Region and hopes to get a regional bid.
On the women's side, No. 1 Florida Tech and No. 2 Rollins went 21-5 and 11-3 in the conference. Rollins, ranked 19th nationally, has won four straight SSC regular-season titles and two of the past three conference tournaments. The teams split their regular-season meetings.