USF and Alabama to Play Three-Game Series Starting in Tampa in 2023

DATE: May 23, 2019

USF Future Schedules: https://gousfbulls.com/news/2012/1/17/611637.aspx

Bulls and Crimson Tide to meet in 2023, 2024 and 2026 seasons

USF with 17 non-conference Power 6 games scheduled in next 10 years

Six future non-con opponents claim a total of 34 national championships

TAMPA, MAY 23, 2019 – USF Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly continued to add marquee opponents to the Bulls’ future football schedules today when he announced an agreement with Alabama to play a three-game football series that will begin in 2023 with the Crimson Tide coming to Tampa.

The addition of the series with the Crimson Tide brings the Bulls’ scheduled non-conference games vs. Power 6 opponents to 17 over the next 10 seasons, 14 of those added since January. The 17 contests vs. Power 6 opponents are tied for the most among American Athletic Conference teams.

Alabama joins most recent series announcements pitting the Bulls vs. Florida and Miami as well as games in the next two seasons vs. Wisconsin, Georgia Tech and Texas. The Bulls have at least one Power 6 non-conference opponent scheduled in each of the next 10 seasons and two or more in seven of those seasons.

Six of those opponents can claim a national championship, including 17 for Alabama, and the Bulls will be facing programs during that span that claim a total of 34 national championships. Alabama is the Bulls’ sixth future non-conference opponent in the next 10 seasons to rank among the top 25 all-time in Associated Press Top 25 Poll appearances. The Tide ranks first all-time in appearances at No. 1 in the rankings, joining USF future opponents Miami, Texas and Florida in the top 10 of all-time appearances at No. 1.

“We are very excited to open the Alabama series in Tampa in 2023 and to add one of the most successful brands in American sports to a very exciting list of future opponents that will give our student-athletes and coaches a great opportunity to compete against the best programs in the nation,” Kelly said. “We now have 15 games scheduled vs. SEC and ACC opponents in the next 10 years and I think our fans are really excited to see those teams come to Tampa as well as the opportunity to travel and cheer on the Bulls in those destinations. It’s going to be a lot of fun to be a USF fan.”

The Bulls and Crimson Tide will open the series on Sept. 16, 2023 in Raymond James Stadium. It will be the Tide’s first return to Tampa since falling, 35-31, to Clemson in the 2017 CFP National Championship Game, one of Alabama’s four straight national championship game appearances since 2015. The series will shift to Bryant-Denny Stadium (101,821) in Tuscaloosa, Ala. for the final two games in the series on Sept. 7, 2024 and Sept. 12, 2026.

USF also announced a previously scheduled game vs. FAU, which was moved in order to schedule a series with Florida, has been rescheduled to Sept. 5, 2026.

USF and Alabama have met once previously with the Tide winning, 40-17, in Tuscaloosa on Aug. 30, 2003. The Bulls are 2-5 all-time vs. SEC opponents, winning their only meeting in the last eight seasons with a 46-39 overtime victory over South Carolina in the 2016 Birmingham Bowl.

The Bulls’ 2024 non-conference slate is now set with the USF facing Louisville, NC State and Western Kentucky in Tampa and traveling to Alabama. USF’s 2026 schedule has one remaining date with FAU coming to Tampa and the Bulls traveling to Alabama and Louisville.

USF now has 17 scheduled non-conference games vs. Power 6 opponents over the next 10 seasons (through 2028) in addition to home-and-home series vs. Boise State (2025 & 2027) and BYU (2019 & 2021).

The Bulls will play nine games vs. ACC opponents and six vs. SEC foes in the coming years. Future ACC opponents include Georgia Tech (2019), Louisville (2022, 2024 & 2026), Miami (2025, 2027 & 2028) and NC State (2021 & 2024). Future SEC opponents include dates vs. Alabama (2023, 2024 & 2026) and Florida (2022, 2023 & 2025). The Bulls will also face Big 12 opponent Texas (2020) and Big Ten foe Wisconsin (2019).

The Bulls beat Georgia Tech (49-38) at home and Illinois (25-19) in Chicago last season and have won five straight matchups vs. non-conference Power 6 opponents, and seven of the last eight contests overall. USF takes on Wisconsin on Fri., Aug. 30 in a primetime clash to open the 2019 season, travels to Georgia Tech (Sept. 7) in Week 2 and will host BYU on Oct. 12 for a homecoming clash at Raymond James Stadium.

USF has played 13 non-conference regular season games vs. Power 6 opponents in six seasons since joining the American Athletic Conference in 2013. The non-conference Power 6 opponents faced over that span include Florida State (2015, 2016), Georgia Tech (2018), Illinois (2017 & 2018), Maryland (2014, 2015), Miami (2013), Michigan State (2013), NC State (2014), Syracuse (2015, 2016) and Wisconsin (2014).

USF football season ticket members can renew their tickets for the 2019 season and new season tickets can be purchased by visiting USFBullsTix.com by calling 1-800-Go-Bulls.

Mobile ticket options for the 2019 season such as the Boundless Bulls Pass and the Horns Up Pass, which offer fans flexibility and convenience, can also be purchased by visiting USFBullsTix.com by calling 1-800-Go-Bulls.

ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
Having completed just its 22^nd season of football, and 19^th at the FBS level, the USF football program has earned 10 bowl appearances, including a current run of four straight, and owns a record of 6-3 in bowl games. The Bulls have appeared in the national top 25 rankings in each of the past three seasons, including a program record run of 20 straight weeks in the top 25, and in 2018 reached the program’s 150^th win faster than any FBS program in state of Florida history. USF has posted a pair of 10-plus win seasons in the last three years, including a program-record 11 wins (11-2) in 2016, and logged 15 winning seasons overall. Since first taking the field in 1997, the USF program has reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings (2007), seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft, 14 named All-American and 29 earn first-team all-conference selection.

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