Take 5: USF's 5 most memorable games of the 2025-26 athletic season

As USF wraps up its 2025-26 athletic season, we're taking a look back at some of the more memorable moments the Bulls provided.

Yesterday, Green, Gold and Bold looked at the top three news stories of the year. Today, we'll present the top five wins for the Bulls.

The first one is easy. No true USF fan will ever forget the night the Bulls' football team went to Gainesville and beat the Florida Gators.

1. USF 18, Florida 16. The Bulls had lost all three previous games against the Gators, and when Florida went ahead by a single point with 2:25 to play it looked like a fourth loss to their in-state foe was imminent.

USF was backed up at its 11-yard line, but the football gods were on the. Bulls' side in that final drive.

After an incomplete pass on first down, USF caught a break when Florida's Dijon Johnson was flagged for pass interference. That gave the Bulls some breathing room at their 24-yard line. On the next play, defebsuve tackle Brendon Bett spat in USF offensive lineman Cole Skinner’s face, earning an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and an ejection.

Two completed passes and a pair of 6-yard runs by Alvon Isaac and Byrum Brown set USF up deep in Florida territory. From there, kicker Nico Gramatica converted a 20-yard field goal as Bulls fans erupted in celebration.

Many Florida fans look back on this game as the one that doomed head coach Billy Napier. He was fired about five weeks later.

2. Men's basketball stuns No. 19 Utah State. The Aggies were unbeaten at 7-0 coming to the Yuengling Center but the Bulls made short work of that. They blew out to a 21-point halftime lead and cruised to a 74-61 victory.

The Bulls were coming off a poor showing at the Battle4Atlantis and had lost three of their previous four games, but everything clicked in this one. They held Utah State to 8-of-33 shooting in the first half and never trailed.

USF put four players in double figures, led by Joseph Pinion witrh 17 points.

The Aggies would go on to finish 29-7 and won a game in the NCAA tournament. As the season wore on, USF's players frequently pointed to this win as the turning point in their season, when they won the American Conference regular-season and tournament titles.

3. Women's lacrosse defeats James Madison. The Dukes were the reigning conference champion and were riding a 9-game winning streak in the American, but this day belonged to the Bulls.

Behind four goals from Elise Grissett, USF prevailed 9-7. JMU entered the matchup ranked No. 21 in RPI, marking the highest RPI-ranked opponent South Florida defeated in short history.

The win propelled USF to an unbeaten regular season in the conference and the No. 1 seed in the post-seasn tournament. Although the Dukes got their revenge in the conference final, beating a team with James Madison's credentials was a significant achievement for a program in only its second year.

And with a roster this season made up primarily with freshmen and sophomores -- the Bulls lose only four seniors off this team -- the future is looking even brighter.

4. Bulls blow out Boise State. South Florida and Boise State had the national stage to themselves on August 28 as they opened the college football season on ESPN at Raymond James Stadium. The 25th-ranked Broncos were coming off a playoff appearance while the Bulls were coming off a second straight bowl win.

The big question was whether quarterback Byrum Brown would be over the broken leg that torpedoed his 2024.

The answer was an emphatic YES!

He threw for 210 yards and had two rushing touchdowns. But the play that everyone talked about afterward was when freshman quarterback Locklan Hewlett lined as the punter on 4th-and-6 near midfield in the third quarter with the Bulls ahead by three points.

Instead of kicking, however, Hewlett let a pass fly deep down the right sideline to Keshaun Singleton for a 45-yard touchdown. It was the only pass Hewlett threw in the regular season.

The play seemed to break Boise's back and the Bulls went on for a rollicking 34-7 win.

Head coach Alex Golesh explained later that because it was the first game and USF had not punted to that point, it was worth a gamble that the Broncos wouldn't notice that Hewlett was not the regular punter.

5. Softball rally leaves Washington stunned. The Bulls qualified for the NCAA Fayetteville regional after winning the American regular-season and tournament title. But they came in unseeded overall and ranking third out of four teams in their pod.

However, they opened the tournament with a win over the Huskies, then had to face them again in a do-or-die game.

Things quickly got heated when USF's Toryn Fulton was ejected for what umpire Shaun Shumacher ruled was malicious contact at third base. Bulls coach Ken Eriksen was incensed, screaming at Shumacher as the other umpires tried to restrain him.

Down by a run entering the bottom of the sixth, the Bulls struck three times to take command. Olivia Elliiott's solo homer tied the game, and a two-run single by Karhys Pierce put USF ahead 6-3.

Pitcher Anne Long, working her third inning of relief, made it hold up, sending the Bulls to the regional finals.

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