$ North Alabama was a member of the Gulf South Conference for the matchups between 2013 and 2017
All-time record vs. ranked opponents
Florida Tech was 6–16 all-time against ranked opponents with two of those wins coming against Top 5 teams in the 2015 season, at #5 Delta State and at home against #1 West Georgia. Two of the losses were to ranked FCS teams, in 2014 at Bethune-Cookman and 2015 at Southeast Louisiana. The Panthers won at least one game against a ranked opponent in every season between 2014 and 2018.
Florida Tech played West Florida each year in the Coastal Classic, a matchup of the only Division II football programs in the state of Florida. The winner was awarded the Coastal Classic Trophy. The trophy stands 24 inches tall on a six-inch wooden base. It features a large bronze anchor and a 6-pointed ship's wheel with nautical sailing rope as the focal point of the trophy. A small bell is attached to the anchor with a white segment of sailing rope attached to its clapper.[7]
West Florida won the series' first installment during their inaugural season of 2016, upsetting the 16th ranked Panthers, 42–39 in Pensacola.[8] The following year in Melbourne, a controversial intentional grounding penalty against Florida Tech on fourth down on what would have been the game's final play gave West Florida the ball for one play to attempt and convert a 44-yard field goal for a 23–21 victory.[9] Florida Tech got its revenge along with its first ever win against West Florida in memorable fashion in 2018, rallying from a 21–3 first-half deficit to score 27 straight points and hold on to beat the 17th ranked Argonauts, 30–28.[10]
Florida Tech has had 18 players honored as All-Americans. To date, Adonis Davis is the only AP First Team All-American and J.T. Hassell is the only AFCA First Team All-American.
The Panthers appeared in the Division II playoffs twice. Their playoff record is 0–2.
FIT earned their first playoff berth in 2016, the fourth season in program history. Their 8–2 record earned them the #3 seed in Super Region Two and a first-round home game only to be upset by North Greenville, 27–13.[19]
They returned to the playoffs two seasons later, earning the #6 seed in Super Region Two on the strength of an 8–3 record. They were again knocked out in the first round, this time at third-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne, 43–21.[20]
The Panthers played in one bowl game, the 2013 ECAC Futures Bowl, which happened at the conclusion of their inaugural season against fellow first-year program Alderson-Broaddus in Philippi, West Virginia. The Panthers won that game, 32–20, on a snowy afternoon thanks to 295 passing yards and four touchdowns from Bobby Vega along with Xavier Milton's 14 receptions for 177 yards and two touchdowns.[21]
