TAMPA, NOV. 20, 2020 – University of South Florida men’s basketball fourth-year head coach Brian Gregory announced on Friday the Bulls’ schedule for the 2020-21 season presented by Tampa General Hospital.
USF will play a six-game non-conference slate that includes three home games and three others at a neutral site. The Bulls will then play a 20-game league schedule that features a home-and-home series with every school in The American.
USF will not have fan attendance in the Yuengling Center when the Bulls open play and will continue that policy through the non-conference season slated to run through at least Dec. 15. Athletics and the university will continue to review fan attendance policies for the remainder of the 2020-21 basketball season to evaluate the possibility of limited fan attendance of future home dates if deemed appropriate by state, local and university officials. A limited number of players’ and coaches’ family members will be admitted via pass list to attend home games in person.
USF begins the season Wednesday, Nov. 25 at 11:30 a.m. when the Bulls welcome Florida College to the Yuengling Center for a matchup broadcast live on ESPN+.
“We felt it was important to open the season with a home game before going on the road for a week to play in Connecticut,” Gregory said. “We had a number of different teams show interest in coming to Tampa for our season opener, but different situations and scenarios developed that made those potential match-ups unworkable.”
Following its game against Florida College, USF next plays on Saturday, Nov. 28 at 5:30 p.m. when the Bulls travel to Uncasville, Conn., to face Rhode Island on ESPN+ in the Basketball Hall of Fame Air Force Reserve Tip-Off Tournament at Mohegan Sun Arena. The Rams turned in a 21-9 overall record last season and finished third in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
USF continues play in the event the following day on Sunday, Nov. 29 against ACC foe Virginia Tech at 8 p.m. in nationally-televised game on ESPN2. Last season, the Hokies went 16-16 and featured wins over Michigan State, Syracuse and North Carolina.
USF returns to the Yuengling Center on Friday, Dec. 4 against in-state foe Florida A&M at 5 p.m. before hosting Stetson four days later on Tues., Dec. 8 at 5 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
The final game of the non-conference schedule pits USF against LSU in the Holiday Hoopsgiving event Saturday, Dec. 12 in Atlanta at State Farm Arena at 2:30 p.m. The Tigers finished tied for second in the SEC last season with a 21-10 overall record and return three starters from a squad that was ranked as high as No. 18 in both major polls in 2019-20. LSU will begin the 2020-21 season ranked just outside the top 25 as the Tigers received the most votes of any team not ranked.
“While there were obvious challenges to non-conference scheduling this season amidst the pandemic, we’re really pleased with how our non-conference schedule lines up,” Gregory said. “Playing in the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off provides us with two outstanding games against quality opponents right away. We’re also excited about playing two in-state teams at home before we close the non-conference schedule against a really, really good LSU team in another premier event in Atlanta.”
The Bulls begin league play on Wednesday, Dec. 16 with a visit to 2019-20 AAC champion Cincinnati and will also make trips to Memphis (Tues., Dec. 29), East Carolina (Sat., Jan. 9), Wichita State (Sun., Jan. 24), Tulsa (Wed., Feb. 3), SMU (Sat., Feb. 6), UCF (Wed., Feb. 17), Temple (Wed., Feb. 24), Houston (Sun., Feb. 28) and Tulane (Sat., March 6).
USF hosts Wichita State on Tuesday, Dec. 22 at the Yuengling Center for its conference home opener. The Bulls also play home games against UCF (Sat., Jan. 2), Tulsa (Wed., Jan. 6), Houston (Thurs., Jan. 14), East Carolina (Wed., Jan. 20), Temple (Wed., Jan. 27), Cincinnati (Sat., Jan. 30), Tulane (Sat., Feb. 13), SMU (Sat., Feb. 20) and Memphis (Wed., March 3).
All television selections for league games will be announced at a later date. All USF games not televised nationally on CBS or the ESPN networks will be carried live on ESPN+.
USF returns four starters and nine total letter winners from a 2019-20 squad that finished with seven league victories that included wins over Memphis, UConn, UCF and Temple. In addition, 2018-19 American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year Alexis Yetna (Paris) makes his highly anticipated return after missing all of last season with a knee injury. Yetna was recently named to the AAC Preseason All-Conference Second Team.
The American Athletic Conference and ESPN begin a new 12-year television rights agreement this season that will see nearly all men’s and women’s games available for viewing either via traditional linear networks or digitally through ESPN+. Subscriptions for the ESPN+ app are $5.99 monthly or $49.99 annually and can be packaged with Hulu and Disney+ streaming services.
A step-by-step guide for subscribing to ESPN+ is located here.
2020-21 USF Men’s Basketball Non-Conference Schedule
Wed. Nov. 25 Florida College Yuengling Center 11:30 a.m.
Sat. Nov. 28 vs. Rhode Island Uncasville, Conn. 5:30 p.m.
Sun. Nov. 29 vs. Virginia Tech Uncasville, Conn. 8 p.m.
Fri. Dec. 4 Florida A&M Yuengling Center 5 p.m.
Tues. Dec. 8 Stetson Yuengling Center 5 p.m.
Sat. Dec. 12 vs. LSU Atlanta, Ga. 2:30 p.m.
Wed. Dec. 16 at Cincinnati* Cincinnati, Ohio TBA
Tues. Dec. 22 Wichita State* Yuengling Center TBA
Tues. Dec. 29 at Memphis* Memphis, Tenn. TBA
Sat. Jan. 2 UCF* Yuengling Center TBA
Wed. Jan. 6 Tulsa* Yuengling Center TBA
Sat. Jan. 9 at East Carolina* Greenville, N.C. TBA
Thurs. Jan. 14 Houston* Yuengling Center TBA
Wed. Jan. 20 East Carolina* Yuengling Center TBA
Sun. Jan. 24 at Wichita State* Wichita, Kan. TBA
Wed. Jan. 27 Temple* Yuengling Center TBA
Sat. Jan. 30 Cincinnati* Yuengling Center TBA
Wed. Feb. 3 at Tulsa* Tulsa, Okla. TBA
Sat. Feb. 6 at SMU* Dallas, Texas TBA
Sat. Feb. 13 Tulane* Yuengling Center TBA
Wed. Feb. 17 at UCF* Orlando, Fla. TBA
Sat. Feb. 20 SMU* Yuengling Center TBA
Wed. Feb. 24 at Temple Philadelphia, Pa. TBA
Sun. Feb. 28 at Houston* Houston, Texas TBA
Wed. Mar. 3 Memphis* Yuengling Center TBA
Sat. Mar. 6 at Tulane* New Orleans, La. TBA
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About USF Men’s Basketball
The USF men’s basketball team is led by head coach Brian Gregory. On March 22, 2017, Gregory was introduced as the 10th head coach in program history. He previously led programs at Georgia Tech (2011-16) and Dayton (2003-11). Gregory spent nearly a decade as an assistant coach under Michigan State’s Hall of Fame head coach Tom Izzo and helped the Spartans win the 2000 NCAA National Championship. Gregory owns nearly 300 career head coaching wins and six postseason appearances, including the 2010 NIT Championship. In his second season at the helm of the Bulls, Gregory led the team to the best win turnaround in the NCAA, the most single-season wins in school history and the 2019 College Basketball Invitational championship.
USF has retired three numbers in its 47-year history: Chucky Atkins (12), Charlie Bradley (30) and Radenko Dobras (31). The Bulls have earned three NCAA tournament bids, appeared in the NIT eight times and won the 2019 College Basketball Invitational.
For tickets, contact the USF Ticket Office at 1-800-Go-Bulls or by going online to USFBullsTix.com.
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