It’s a stone-cold fact that the non-conference portion of the USF men’s basketball schedule last season kept the Bulls out of the NCAA tournament.
Winning a school-record 25 games and the regular-season American Athletic Conference title wasn’t enough to counterbalance a weak non-league schedule. According to WarrenNolan.com, the part of the Bulls’ schedule ranked 149th last season.
Of course, it didn’t help that the Bulls stubbed their collective toes during the early part of that season. Losses to Central Michigan and Maine hung around USF’s neck even as the Bulls climbed into the national rankings. It was March Madness all right, but not in a good way.
Given all that, I was eager to see what the Bulls could unveil for the season ahead.
Although there are a few layups in the schedule, it is an upgrade over what the Bulls faced last season.
USF opens the season in Jacksonville against the Florida Gators, and a trip to the College of Charleston on November 8 will be a stiff test.
They’re at the Myrtle Beach Invitational in late November. The field is pretty good, including Bradley, Middle Tennessee, Ohio, Portland, Princeton, Texas State, and Wright State. Pairings will be announced later.
There are road games at Loyola of Chicago and Utah State. There’s nothing easy about that. Stetson, which comes to the Yuengling Center on December 3, made the NCAA field last year.
Matchups against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, West Georgia, Bethune-Cookman, Texas A&M Commerce, and Webber International won’t do much for USF’s strength of schedule, but you need a few of those games to make sure things are running smoothly before conference play begins.
“I really like our group, Bulls Nation,” head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim said in a video posted on X—the weirdly named site we all know as Twitter.
Little Longer than normal but there is a lot to catch up on. #GoBULLS pic.twitter.com/eTZypp4Pey
— Amir Abdur-Rahim (@sunsetAMIR) August 1, 2024
Anyway, the reigning AAC Coach of the Year was oozing enthusiasm for the season ahead as the process of building a team continues.
“Right now, they’re still learning to believe in one another, Bulls Nation,” he said. “They’re still learning to trust one another. You have to go through some adversity, so this summer, we’ve been trying to put them in those situations where they’ve got to lean on one another.”
The Bulls will play three games in Spain from August 2 through 11, which should help with the building process. After that, we look ahead to November 4 and the game against Florida.