Florida Atlantic University's first student-run news source.

UNIVERSITY PRESS

Florida Atlantic University's first student-run news source.

UNIVERSITY PRESS

Florida Atlantic University's first student-run news source.

UNIVERSITY PRESS

Fall vs. Spring

For the second year in a row, it is time to compare the seasons. Sure, it’s a play on words, seasons meaning fall and spring, but also meaning sports seasons. To do this accurately we need to lay down some ground rules.

First, to be eligible for comparison, records need to be team-based as it would be too hard to compare all the individual marks of swimmers, runners, etc.

Second, the season a team belongs to is up to me. Hey, this is my column. If you don’t like where I put them, write your own. Some sports begin in one season but end in another; I will try to be fair.

Lastly, this is not to make any sport look bad. It is just a fun way to figure out when is the best time to wear your “Real fans wear red” T-shirts.

To start, the teams need to be broken up. For fall, we have men’s and women’s basketball, football, men’s and women’s soccer, and volleyball. For spring the team sports are baseball, softball, and men’s and women’s tennis.

OK, yes, there are more fall sports than spring sports but it will even out because we are using winning percentage, not actual records.

Besides, if I wanted to compare records, the spring teams have a large advantage with a 136-47 record while the fall sports are 72-67 combined.

Individually the football team gets the award for least losses as they only fell three times in their Cinderella season. The women’s soccer team was right on the football team’s heels with only four losses on their way to the Atlantic Sun championship game

For most wins, the award goes to the softball team as they posted 58 wins en route to their eighth straight A-Sun championship. The baseball team was not far off pace as they recorded 47 wins while winning their first A-Sun championship tournament.

Both teams also account for two of FAU’s three championships for the 2003-2004 school year. The baseball and softball team each won their conference tournaments, while the softball and women’s soccer teams won the regular season conference title.

Turning to winning percentages, the winner for individual sports is the football team as the Fighting Owls posted a .786 percentage on its way to the NCAA Division I-AA semifinals and a number four ranking nationally.

While women’s soccer came in third in this department, all of the spring teams ended with a percentage over .700.

So without further ado, the winner of the fall vs. spring sports teams’ showdown goes to the spring teams. Combined, the four teams that played mostly in the spring semester posted a .743 winning percentage. So dig up your T-shirts and save them for the spring 2005 semester.

Not so fast, my friend.

Like I said earlier, this is not to put any team or season down. The fall semester teams didn’t look too shabby, posting a .518 winning percentage.

If someone told me that by going to FAU I would be guaranteed a year of over .500 sporting events I would have thought they were crazy. But the numbers don’t lie.

A lot of these teams are losing players for next year, but as crazy as it sounds, FAU is turning into a school that no longer rebuilds – it reloads.

Expect this showdown to be a little different next year. Considering that the men’s and women’s soccer teams both lost in the championship games of the conference tournament. The men’s and women’s tennis team and the volleyball teams each lasted until the semifinals of the conference tournament. Not to mention that the football team almost made it to the national championship game.

Lastly, keep in mind in the next year to come, most FAU teams will be playing in their final A-Sun season, as they will be moving to the Sun Belt conference. Maybe FAU will be taking more than one title belt with them as they leave.

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