While most of the athletic focus at South Florida is on the football team under first-year coach Brian Hartline, there has been plenty of action in other sports with much more to come.
That's why Green, Gold and Bold will routinely offer roundups of what's going across the spectrum of the slate of 21 teams that represent USF.
We'll start with volleyball, which opens its season in Lexington, Ky. on Friday, August 28, in the Bluegrass Battle. The Bulls will face Eastern Kentucky followed by a match Saturday with host Kentucky, which is ranked No. 3 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.
The trip concludes on Sunday with a match against Utah State. That will be followed by a trip out west to play traditional power Stanford on September 3 followed by a matchup with Marquette.
The Bulls won't open at home until September 10, when they'll face 18th-ranked TCU.
Nine of USF's first 11 opponents were in the NCAA tournament last season. Of course, so were the Bulls -- their first trip to there since 2022.
"We have big dreams we're going to work toward because we've risen to the top 50 (nationally), but we only want to go higher," head coach Jolene Shepardson told Joey Johnston of GoUSFBulls.com..
"We want to play the highest-level opponents who will not only challenge us but also increase our ranking. We looked at playing programs ranked higher than us. That was the mentality. This team is not going to be intimidated or afraid. I believe that with the players we have in our program now, they're going to be excited and will rise to that challenge.''
Men's soccer grabs first win
After a disappointing start to the season, the men's soccer team righted the ship with a 3-1 win over West Florida. That evened USF's record at 1-1 under head coach George Kiefer, who returned to the Bulls this season after coaching the team from 2002-2016.
Kiefer was hired last December after stops at North Carolina State and Grand Canyon University. Under his leadership, the Bulls won four conference titles and made 10 NCAA tournaments appearances. They reached the NCAA Elite Eight twice.
Kiefer replaced Bob Butehorn, who retired after leading USF for nine seasons.
The Bulls opened the season with a disappointing 2-1 loss at home against Winthrop. They return to action on August 28 at UCF. The 7 p.m. contest will be carried on ESPN+.
Women's soccer looking for first win
USF fell to 0-3-0 after losing its home opener against UCF 2-0.
Before that, the Bulls dropped consecutive games 5-1 at Gonzaga and 4-1 at Washington State.
Under second-year coach Chris Brown, USF was picked to finish fourth in the American Conference preseason coaches poll.
On the 28-player squad, the Bulls feature 18 newcomers.
The Bulls will be back in action when they travel to Stetson on Sunday at 6 p.m. ESPN+ will carry the action live.
Men's cross country and track
Erik Jenkins, the South Florida Director of Cross Country and Track & Field, brought in a bumper crop of new talent in his 2026 signing class.
There are 31 new Bulls -- 18 transfers and 13 freshmen.
This class features nine NCAA or NJCAA All-Americans and seven athletes who have represented their country in international competition. Fourteen athletes are from outside the state and 11 from other countries. There are six native Floridians.
The men are coming off their fifth consecutive American Conference indoor championship and took third in the conference outdoor meet.
They were 10th in the conference cross country meet in 2025.
Jaden Alexis named to Comeback Player watch list
Graduate wide receiver Jaden Alexis was placed on the watch list for Cthe omeback Player of the Year Award. It is presented by College Sports Communicators in association with The Associated Press and Fiesta Sports Foundation.
The award recognizes athletes for overcoming injury, illness, or other circumstances. Three college football athletes receive the honor at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.
Alexis transferred to South Florida from Texas in 2023. He missed most of the last two seasons because of knee injuries.
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