The Tampa Spartans football program was an intercollegiate American football team for the University of Tampa (UT) located in Tampa, Florida, that began play in 1933. The program competed against other small college programs in the forerunner of today's NCAA Division II for almost forty years before moving to the top level of NCAA Division I as an independent in 1971. Successfully competing against top college programs as a much smaller school put an enormous strain on the university's finances, and the school decided to discontinue football after the 1974 season. History Beginnings of the program Nickname and colors When the University of Tampa was founded as Tampa Junior College in 1931, St. Petersburg Junior College was expected to be their top athletic rival. Since St. Pete JC's mascot was the Trojans, founding Tampa Junior College president Frederic H. Spaulding decided that his school's mascot would be the Spartans in reference to the Trojan War between Troy and Sparta in Homer's the Iliad. The classically inspired cross-bay rivalry never developed. Tampa Junior College moved to its current location in the former Tampa Bay Hotel and became the University of Tampa in 1933, and it soon established a football program that would compete against other small southern four-year colleges. Meanwhile, St. Petersburg Junior College deemphasized athletics and, several years later, changed its mascot to the Titans. Most of the University of Tampa's early students were from Tampa, and most of its early athletes were graduates of the first two public high schools in the area, Hillsborough and Plant. Hillsborough's colors are red and black and Plant's colors are gold and black, so Nash Higgins, "Tampa U"'s first football coach, decided that the Spartans would combine the colors and wear red, gold, and black. Small college football The University of Tampa Spartans football program kicked off on October 12, 1933, with a 28–0 win over Bowdon College in LaGrange, Georgia. They played their first home game a week later at Plant Field, which they used for their first three seasons. However, the Spartans shared Plant Field with many other community events, so the school built Phillips Field on nearby land donated by local businessman I. W. Phillips. The Spartans moved to the new facility for the 1937 season and would call it home for three decades. For over 30 years, the Spartans competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and