Next game: USF (23-10) vs. Tennessee (22-9) in Columbus
When: Friday, March 21, 8 p.m.
TV/radio: ESPN and Bulls Unlimited
The USF’s women’s basketball team is afraid of no one, so don’t expect the Bulls to be intimidated when they open NCAA tournament play Friday against Tennessee.
The Bulls drew the 12th seed in the Birmingham region and are matched against the 5th-seeded Vols. Tennessee is the only program to appear in all 43 NCAA women’s tournaments. But the Bulls also believe they're no ordinary 12 seed because the rugged non-conference schedule they played prepared them for this moment.
The Toughest 12 seed that anybody is going to face 🗣️pic.twitter.com/ZmdFH0dWI9
— Andrew Gapinski (@AndrewGapUSF) March 17, 2025
The Vols are 46-1 all time against teams from the American Athletic Conference, including wins over Memphis and Tulsa this season.
Tennessee comes into the tournament having lost three of its last four games, including a 84-76 setback against Vanderbilt in the second round of the SEC tournament.
But all of that goes out the door when tipoff time comes Friday night. It’s just survive and advance, and the Bulls believe they have the stuff to do that.
“Tennessee plays a little different. They play 10, 11, people and like to shoot the ball from three-point land. They run a lot of bodies at you, so I think our perimeter defense is gonna have to be really, really good,” USF coach Jose Fernandez said.
Ball possession will be a major point of emphasis this week in practice.
The Vols will play a pressure defense the entire game; they average 22 forced turnovers per outing. That is a potential trouble spot for the Bulls, who averaged 16.4 turnovers per game.
USF took three days off after winning the AAC tournament last Wednesday night, but now it’s back to work.
This will be the second meeting all-time between these programs. Tennessee won the only previous game in 2021, dropping the Bulls 52-49 in Knoxville.
Tennessee is 34-2 all-time in first-round games.
USF, which is making its 10th NCAA appearance, is 5-4 all-time in first-round games. This is the Bulls first NCAA appearance since 2023, when they beat Marquette 67-65 in the opening round before losing to host school South Carolina.
The Bulls have never made it the second week of the tournament, and if they get past Tennessee they’ll likely have to play Ohio State, which is the host school for this opening round.
That’s getting way ahead of things, however. In tournament play, you never talk about the next game until it arrives.
“This is special,” Fernandez said. “It doesn’t get old.”