The upcoming week will be one of the most challenging ones for both the USF women's and men's basketball teams.
The women close out the non-conference portion of their schedule with games at unbeaten and 14th ranked Vanderbilt on Monday at 7:30 p.m. before coming home on Thursday to face South Carolina 3rd ranked South Carolina at 7 p.m.
The men, meanwhile travel to Tuscaloosa on Wednesday to face 12th ranked Alabama.
The women's game against Vanderbilt will be shown on the SEC+ Network while the South Carolina game is scheduled for ESPN2. The men's game at Alabama is on the SEC+ Network.
Michele Woods-Baxter, USF's interim women's coach, knew what she was getting into after taking over in late October after longtime head coach Jose Fernandez left for the WNBA. Fernandez often put together the most challenging non-conference schedule he could, believing it would prepare his team for the American Conference race.
The Bulls have already played tiop-ranked and defending national champion UConn and 4th ranked UCLA, a Final Four participant last year (as was South Carolina). According to WarrenNolan.com, the Bulls have the seventh-toughest non-conference schedule in the country.
"That's how we've always thought. We have to bolster our non conference schedule ibecause it prepares us for conference play. You know, we're gonna hit," Woods-Baxter said.
"We're gonna hit a time and adversity. Because anytime you're playing teams like that, your team is going to get some adversity. But I think that adversity helps us build stronger as a team, and then prepares us for when we get into conference play,"
The Bulls are 6-4 and have won three of their last four.
The men are also 6-4 as they head to Alabama. It will be a homecoming of sorts for USF coach Bryan Hodgson. He was an assistant to 'Bama coach Nate Oats at Buffalo and Alabama before landing the head coaching job at Arkansas State.
He led the Red Wolves to a pair of 20-win seasons, including 25-11 last year. That caught the attention of USF's then-athletic director Michael Kelly, who brought Hodgson to Tampa last spring.
One of the first to congratulate him: Nate Oats.
Thank you coach, wouldn't be here without you! @nate_oats @USFMBB https://t.co/CB92ObhMp2
— Bryan Hodgson (@CoachBHodgson) March 25, 2025
Thirteen of USF's 15 players are new to the roster this season, so it was always going to take a little time for it to mesh. But after losing two out of three at the Battle 4 Atlantis, the Bulls have rebounded with two straight wins, including a blowout of previously unbeaten Utah State.
The Bulls are led by senior guard Joseph Pinion, who has been on a roll lately. He had 17 points against Utah State and 21 against the College of Charleston. He is 11 for 21 on 3-pointers in those two games.
"We've kind of gone as he's gone this year. I've said it when I signed him here. I've said it to anybody that listened. Screamed it from from mountain top. I think he's one of the best shooters in college basketball,:" Hodgson said.
Both USF teams are home on Sunday, December 21. The women play Navy at 1 p.m. followed by the men against UMBC. The Navy game is not an American Conference game for the Bulls. Both Midshipmen basketball teams play in the Patriot League.