The USF athletics program will finish 2025 with perhaps its best positioning for large-scale success in 2026. As CEO of Athletics Rob Higgins would put it, the new year looks like all gas, no brakes.
The Bulls have the leadership in place with Higgins, a swing-for-the-fences trustee board, and a new university president who will continue to support the athletic department agenda. The football team will be heading into its final season at Raymond James Stadium before the 2027 opening of the on-campus stadium.
Funding is at record levels for USF athletics and an overall coaching staff to take advantage of that is in place to make it a truly happy new year.
So, let's look in the crystal ball and take a stab at what 2026 will bring for the Green and Gold.
1.
Good things are in store for men's basketball. While we can't forecast injuries or other maladies, we can say with confidence that head coach Bryan Hodgson's team is capable of both winning the American Conference and returning the Bulls to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012.
The Bulls are averaging 89.4 points per game, which ranks 22nd in the country. They have done that against a non-conference schedule ranked 15th by ESPN, which gives the Bulls a 25 percent chance of winning the conference -- trailing only Memphis.. The conference isn't particularly strong this year, so the Bulls should be able to pile up wins once American play begins for them on Sunday against UAB.
Guard Joseph Pinion can sink it from anywhere on the court, and Izayiah Nelson has 20 blocks in 12 games. Hodgson has done a good job of bringing freshmen along in the early going, particularly Tristan Beckford. By March, the Bulls could have a Madness-worthy resume.
2.
USF football is well-positioned to win its first conference title in program history. I start with the presumption that new coach Brian Hartline will live up to his reputation as a top recruiter, providing needed reinforcements through the Transfer Portal and on National Signing Day.
He will need to add at least three quarterbacks to supplement returnees Locklan Hewlett and Sam Fenton who, between them, combined to throw one pass in the regular season. He'll need to replace key pieces on defense like linebacker Mac Harris and safety Fred Gaskin. You can bet his newly hired offensive and defensive coordinators on the case right now while Hartline helps prepare Ohio State for a College Football Playoff run.
If they can replenish the roster, the schedule for 2026 is more advantageous for the Bulls than this one was, when they had to travel to Memphis and Navy. The first three games next year are against FIU and Delaware State at home followed by a road trip to Bowling Green. That should help USF get off to a good start. They do need to replace Alabama on the 2026 schedule and haven't announced what that team will be.
In conference play, USF's road games are at Army, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, and UTSA. Based on how this year went, the East Carolina game looks pivotal. The Bulls get Tulane, Memphis, Temple, and UAB at home. Each of those teams, except Temple, are, like USF, breaking in new coaching staffs. The Bulls could close out their life at Ray Jay in style.
3.
USF baseball will make a giant leap in 2026. Last season, the Bulls made great progress under first-year coach Mitch Hannahs. They finished 31-25 after posting losing records in four of the team's previous five seasons.
USF's 16 league victories were the most since joining the American Athletic Conference in 2013-14. The Bulls also won seven of their nine conference series and advanced to the conference tournament semifinals. This came after the Bulls were picked to finish seventh in the 10-team American.
That sets the stage up nicely for this season.
Hannahs has a proven track record, having turned Indiana State into a regular NCAA Tournament contender. Perfect Game ranks USF's 2026 recruiting class No. 39 in the nation, one spot behind perennial American Conference power East Carolina. In a fertile baseball environment like the Tampa Bay region, USF should be able to attract top talent every year.
4.
USF will win the American Conference women's basketball championship --- again. Forget the blowout losses the Bulls endured against UCLA, UConn, and South Carolina. They are still have the best NET rating in the American at No. 75, and that rating will get a lot higher when the Bulls embark on conference play on December 30 against Rice.
Interim head coach Michele Woods-Baxter has held things together well following the surprise news in October that longtime coach Jose Fernandez was leaving for the WNBA. Some struggles were to be expected, and it's not like Fernandez didn't have his share of heavy setbacks against elite teams.
Woods-Baxter already has a good feel for what it takes to win in conference play, having been Fernandez's top assistant for many years. The Bulls will live up to the preseason prediction by American coaches to win the conference.
5.
Will USF ever get a Power 4 conference invitation? It's like trying to read tea leaves with a pair of broken glasses that leave everything blurry, but there's reason to believe the realignment dominoes will start to fall in the coming year.
Why?
It's generally conceded that the next big realignment will happen in around three years when conference TV contracts are being renegotiated. No one knows exactly what that wil look like, but USF has done everything humanly possible to be part of the conversation.
“You’ll have Tier 1 and Tier 2,” USF trustee Will Weatherford told Yahoo Sports last September. “We are not going to let ourselves slip down and be left behind again."
If USF shifts to a power conference by the end of this decade, the Bulls would need to know their destination earlier than that so they could give notice to the American Conference. That usually is about 27 months before they actually leave, so that puts the end of 2026 in play to find out if the Bulls will get a new home and where it will be.
That's a lot of ifs and speculation, granted. It is worth noting, however, that Yahoo reported that the Big 12 is nearing a private deal with RedBird Capital Partners and Weatherford Capital that could bring up to $500 million to the conference.
Hey, wait a minute! Did you say Weatherford? That name sounds familiar.
It should. Weatherford Capital is located in Tampa and its managing partner is Will Weatherford. So unless there are two of them (there aren't), that means one of USF's biggest and most powerful leaders is doing business with a conference USF would like to join.
It might mean nothing.
It might mean everything.