USF announced the dates and opponents the Bulls will face in the upcoming men’s and women’s basketball season.
Both teams will also face a new format for the post-season American Conference tournament.
Only the top 10 teams in the American will move on to the conference tournament in Birmingham. The top two teams receive byes to the semifinals, while the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds receive byes to the quarterfinals.
The No. 5 and No. 6 seeds get byes to the second round.
The 2026 women’s championship will run from March 10-14, while the men play from March 11-15.
This year's @American_Conf schedule is a little wild 🤪 pic.twitter.com/eV1zngfyAP
— USF Men's Basketball (@USFMBB) September 25, 2025
The men begin conference play on January 4 at home against UAB. The Bulls have home-and-home matchups against UAB, Tulsa, Wichita State, FAU, Tulane, and Memphis.
They will play the remaining six conference opponents only once. That includes home games with East Carolina, UTSA, and Charlotte. USF will travel to North Texas, Temple, and Rice.
The women's team opens conference play at home against Rice on December 30. It follows the same scheduling format as the men.
USF’s home-and-home opponents include Rice, North Texas, UTSA, Temple, Florida Atlantic, and Tulane.
The Bulls will have single road games at Memphis, UAB, and East Carolina. Their single home opponents are Tulsa, Charlotte, and Wichita State.
The Bulls’ non-conference schedule includes three of last season’s Final Four teams – defending national champion UConn, runner-up South Carolina, and UCLA.
Jose Fernandez is entering his 26th season as the coach of USF’s women’s team. The Bulls were 23-11 and won the American Conference tournament last season.
Bryan Hodgson is embarking on his first season with the Bulls men’s team. He led Arkansas State to a 25-11 record last season that included wins over UAB and Memphis.