May 11, 2020
Bucs Basketball Bids Farewell to Suncoast Conference, Headed to Southern
The Florida SouthWestern State Men's and Women's Basketball teams will not have the opportunity to continue their reign over the Suncoast Conference next season as the conference will be no longer, with news that FSW will head across Alligator Alley to the Southern Conference next season with State College of Florida joining them on the men's side and Hillsborough, St. Petersburg, Eastern Florida (Women), and Polk State (Men) jumping to the Mid-Florida Conference for the 2020-2021 season.
FORT MYERS, Fla.- The Florida SouthWestern State Men's and Women's Basketball teams will not have the opportunity to continue their reign over the Suncoast Conference next season as the conference will be no longer, with news that FSW will head across Alligator Alley to the Southern Conference next season with State College of Florida joining them on the men's side and Hillsborough, St. Petersburg, Eastern Florida (Women), and Polk State (Men) jumping to the Mid-Florida Conference for the 2020-2021 season.
Opposing Suncoast Conference foes on the men's side will celebrate the exit of the Buccaneers after FSW reeled off three straight undefeated conference campaigns from 2017-2020. The FSW men bid farewell to the Suncoast after winning 40 straight league games and after a four year run that saw them go a combined 46-2.
The FSW women return to the Southern Conference where they played their inaugural season, after winning three straight Suncoast Conference Championships in 2018, 2019, and this season in 2020. The Bucs lost just two conference contests in three seasons, going 25-2 against their opposition.
The format for the Bucs' new Southern Conference schedule will look familiar, with a triple round robin against their league foes. New, will be the opponents and the start date for conference play, which will now begin before the Christmas break.
The FSW Men will now compete against Broward, ASA Miami, Miami Dade, Palm Beach State, State College of Florida, and 2020 Southern Conference Champions Indian River State for a league title.
The Buccaneer Women will join the same group, sans State College of Florida, including Palm Beach State, who won the league with an 11-1 record this season.
The move will become official at next week's CAA meetings.
Stay tuned to FSWBucs.com and @FSWBucs on social media for further updates on the Bucs' 2020-2021 schedules which will be released shortly.