Birmingham, Ala. – March 15, 2026 – Thirty-six years after the program's last conference tournament championship — on the same court, no less — the University of South Florida men's basketball program returned to glory on Sunday afternoon at Legacy Arena.
 
The No. 1-seeded USF Bulls subdued the No. 2-seeded Wichita State Shockers 70-55 to capture the American Conference Tournament championship and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Bulls (25-8), who tied the program's single-season record for victories and won their 11th straight game, earned a No. 11 seed in the NCAA East Region and will face No. 6 Louisville (23-10) in Thursday's first-round game at Buffalo, N.Y.
 
Bulls head coach Bryan Hodgson was thrilled with USF's selection to Buffalo, the area where he grew up and served on the staff at the University of Buffalo. Louisville, coached by Pat Kelsey, features a pair of former USF players in Kasean Prior (2023-24 season) and Ryan Conwell (2022-23).
 
Following the game, USF players and coaches remained in the arena to watch the CBS-TV Selection Sunday reveal of the NCAA Tournament bracket on a giant video board. Then came the awards ceremony with the Bulls cutting down the nets before heading to their charter flight back to Tampa and NCAA preparations.
 
For the first time in USF's 55-season men's basketball history, the Bulls have earned championships for their league's regular-season slate and conference tournament. It's also the fourth NCAA Tournament trip for USF, which also qualified in 1990 (as the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championships), plus 1992 and 2012 (with at-large bids).
 
Wes Enis, who had 19 points and did an excellent defensive job on Wichita State's Kenyon Giles (2-for-11, five points), was selected Most Valuable Player of the American Conference Tournament. Enis and Izaiyah Nelson were selected to the all-tournament team.
 
Hodgson, hired last spring after a successful two-season stint at Arkansas State, made it clear from the beginning that USF wasn't a rebuilding job. He brought in 13 new players (from 12 different destinations) and challenged them with a rigorous non-conference schedule. Hodgson, taking inspiration from head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim's breakthrough season in 2023-24, was intent on winning championships and earning an NCAA bid.
 
Sunday afternoon, those lofty goals were achieved in stylish fashion.
 
"We are not done yet,'' said Hodgson, 38, who was named American Conference Coach of the Year. "This game was won with the effort we put in during June, July and August. This is why I came here. This is probably the most mature team I've ever coached and it's a very connected team. They understand our team goals and it's not a coincidence that we're here.
 
"I saw USF as a program capable of doing big things. We've got a team full of winners and I've got the best coaching staff in the country. My assistants are phenomenal. We've got a bunch of guys with a chip on their shoulder, hard-working guys who were unheralded and maybe even ignored at various points of their career. But they have come together to form a really great team, a championship team.''
 
Sure enough, the national pundits already have established USF as a dangerous team and a trendy pick to pull some upsets. Now there's a chance for more history. USF's first two NCAA teams went one-and-out, while the 2012 squad won two games and fell just short of the Sweet 16.
 
Bobby Paschal, 84, was USF head coach in 1990 when the Bulls first made history by winning the Sun Belt Conference Tournament and cutting down the nets as the program's initial NCAA Tournament participant. Paschal was in the stands Sunday afternoon and said he recently spoke with former athletic director Paul Griffin. They reminisced about the fond 1990 memories at Birmingham, when USF basketball made its first NCAA splash.
 
"It was a thrill back then and seeing these guys do it again, it's a thrill now,'' Paschal said. "They've had an unbelievable season and they are very deserving. I'm excited for them and all of the USF fans. Getting back to the NCAA Tournament means a lot. It's great for the basketball program and the entire school.''
 
The NCAA bid will provide even more national attention for USF's on-the-rise reputation.
 
In 2023, USF accepted an invitation to join the Association of American Universities (AAU), becoming Florida's first public university with that distinction in four decades. USF is the fifth-youngest institution and one of only six founded after 1960 to join the membership of 71, which includes Harvard, Yale, MIT, Stanford, Princeton, Florida, UCLA, Ohio State and Michigan.
 
In athletics, USF's football stadium continues to rise on the east side of campus. The $349-million stadium, scheduled to open in 2027, will be preceded by the opening of a football operations center. In 2023, USF opened its $22-million Indoor Performance Facility. Last fall, USF football appeared in the College Football Playoff standings for the first time while being listed in the Associated Press top 25 for five weeks.
 
"I've loved watching the way our men's basketball team has progressed through the year,'' said USF's first-year head football coach, Brian Hartline, the former offensive coordinator at Ohio State. "I went to many games and I really like the way he (Hodgson) has operated. Those guys practice hard, but I also see the way he loves up on those guys afterward. That combination is everything. I think that's a great example of how it should be done and we'll try to model him for sure.''
 
USF's American Conference competition agreed that the Bulls have a program worth emulating.
 
"They've had a sensational season and they've been unbelievably consistent,'' said Charlotte head coach Aaron Fearne, whose 49ers were defeated by USF 86-64 in Saturday's American Conference Tournament semifinals. "They put such pressure on you. You've got to be very good in all phases of the game to stay with them.
 
"When we played there (USF's 83-60 victory on March 8 to close the regular season), I credit them with producing a great game-day atmosphere. It was awesome. I thought the atmosphere was fantastic. Their student turnout, the energy in the building, the way they put on their game night was like no other in the league. As coaches, we want to coach in that and players want to play in that environment.''
 
There was also a pro-USF environment in Birmingham. Nearly 1,000 USF fans, including newly installed school president Moez Limayem, traveled from the Tampa Bay area and other points throughout the South to support the Bulls.
 
As the final seconds ticked down and the Bulls' celebration began, it was the realization of a dream for longtime USF basketball supporters.
 
When Rob Higgins was hired in September as USF's CEO of Athletics, he said the Bulls were equipped to win now in the American Conference. Even more than winning, though, he wanted USF to set the pace in all areas of the league. In men's basketball, those aspirations are being realized. With an NCAA bid, the Bulls now have the opportunity for national recognition, which will have spillover benefits throughout the entire university.
 
"Coach Hodgson's team has played well all season and it absolutely deserves an NCAA Tournament bid,'' Higgins said. "I am thrilled for everyone in Bulls Nation as our program gets to experience this incredible event. To all of our fans and supporters, we say thank you for being part of this journey. But we believe the best is yet to come.''
 
Not done yet.
 
It's the mantra of USF men's basketball, which is living the best of times through its conference championship and NCAA Tournament bid.
 
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About USF Men's Basketball
South Florida men's basketball named Bryan Hodgson, 37, as the program's 12th head coach on March 24, 2025. Hodgson came to Tampa from Arkansas State, where he led the program to back-to-back 20-win seasons and its first postseason appearance since 1999 in his two seasons at the helm.
 
The program, amidst its 55^th season in 2025-26, captured its second regular season American Conference Championship in program history this season, finishing 23-8. Embarking on its 14th postseason appearance, South Florida has a chance for its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance.  The Bulls have also made nine NITs and a CBI championship in 2019. Three former Bulls – Chucky Atkins, Charlie Bradley, and Rodenko Dobras – have had their jerseys retired and are members of the USF Athletic Hall of Fame. The Bulls play their home games at the 10,400-seat Yuengling Center on the USF Tampa campus.

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