By TOM ZEBOLD

USF Senior Writer

TAMPA, MARCH 14, 2016 – No. 20 USF's return trip to the NCAA tournament will begin on the West Coast.

Head coach Jose Fernandez's sixth-seeded Bulls will face No. 11 seed Colorado State in the first round on Saturday at 9 p.m. (ET) in Los Angeles, Calif. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2. Third-seeded and host UCLA will take on No. 14 seed Hawaii 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the other L.A. game that's part of the Bridgeport Region.

“It's great to come into an NCAA Selection Show where you know you're in,” Fernandez said. “Now it's the process. We've got practice tomorrow. We'll go into film and scouting mode, I know our staff is going to be looking forward to it. For three days we've just concentrated on us. Tomorrow we'll start working on Colorado State.”

USF is making its third NCAA tournament appearance in the past four seasons and the program's fourth overall trip. This matches the highest USF has ever been seeded in the NCAA tournament and the Bulls put together quite the postseason resume.

USF has been ranked as highly as No. 15 nationally during the program's fourth consecutive 20-win season. Ranked No. 20 by the Associated Press this week, USF (23-9) is coming off its second consecutive appearance in the American Athletic Conference Championship game.

USF watched the NCAA Selection Show at the Sun Dome's Arena Club that was packed with supporters Monday night. President Judy Genshaft cheered alongside the team when USF's name popped up during the ESPN broadcast. Fernandez said the team really appreciated the support that's been strong all season long.

“We had an incredible home court advantage all season long and we're really looking forward to this postseason,” Fernandez said. “It was an incredible atmosphere tonight. This would not be possible without all our season ticket holders, our supporters, our cheerleaders, our band, everybody.”

Tickets for Saturday's game will be available when the NCAA and host institution UCLA release ticket details, including price, purchasing locations and procedures. On Tuesday, March 15, USF season ticket members and Bulls Club donors will receive an email with detailed information about how to request tickets.

The Bulls continue to climb in the polls, and have reached their highest rankings in program history. USF has been ranked as highly as No. 15 in the Associated Press poll and No. 15 in the USA Today Coaches Poll this season; both are the highest rankings in program history. USF has appeared in both polls every week and placed as highly as No. 11 on some ballots.

USF has made 11 postseason tournament appearances and had three NCAA Tournament berths in Head Coach Jose Fernandez's 15 seasons. The all-time winningest coach in program history, Fernandez has guided USF to six 20-win seasons, two WNIT final four appearances, the 2009 WNIT championship and won more than 260 games.

– #GoBulls –