USF Athletics a key component in Tampa Bay Sports Commission’s winning bids to bring NCAA Women’s Final Four, Men’s Basketball Tournament and Volleyball Championship to Tampa Bay
TAMPA, OCT. 15, 2020 – USF Athletics shared in the excitement as the NCAA announced more than 450 selections of host sites for championship events to be held between the 2022-23 through 2025-26 seasons.
Tampa Bay won the bid for four premier sporting events, three of which USF will serve as the primary host institution and a fourth the Bulls will provide assistance in conducting.
Led by outstanding bids by the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, the Bay area was selected to host the 2023 Division I NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship, the 2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship Final Four and the 2026 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball First and Second Rounds at Amalie Arena. USF will serve as the primary host institution for those three events and will also assist in hosting the 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Championship (Frozen Four) in Tampa, for which the University of Wisconsin will serve as the host institution.
“We are very excited for the Bay area and for the Tampa Bay Sports Commission and executive director Rob Higgins as our community continues to establish itself as the premier sports destination in the United States,” Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly said. “USF is happy to be able to assist in the conduction of first-class events that bring elite competition, thousands of fans and national recognition to Tampa and our Bay area community.”
The Women’s Final Four will return to the Bay area for the fourth time, with USF serving as the host on each occasion, including the last in 2019. The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship First and Second Rounds were set to be held in Tampa in 2020 before their cancellation due to the coronavirus pandemic. When they return in 2026, it will be for the sixth time since 1999. The Men’s Hockey Frozen Four will return for the third time after very successful events in 2012 and 2016. The Women’s Volleyball Championship will make its second appearance in Tampa and first since 2009.
In the last two decades, USF Athletics has played a major role in hosting more than a dozen NCAA Championship events in the Bay area, including men’s basketball, women’s basketball, golf, hockey, track and field and volleyball.
As it was with previous NCAA events, USF Athletics will be heavily involved in conducting the upcoming events in downtown Tampa, providing planning, staffing and resources in the execution of the events, covering everything from event management, and media coordination to marketing and community involvement.
About USF Athletics
USF Athletics sponsors 19 varsity men’s and women’s teams that compete in 11 different sports, 18 at the NCAA Division I level in the American Athletic Conference. The Bulls’ athletic program began in 1965 and is in its 55th season in 2020-21. Nearly 450 student-athletes train and compete in the athletic district located on the east end of the campus in Tampa, Fla. The Bulls have claimed 19 American Athletic Conference team titles since joining the conference in 2013, and own 120 conference titles overall. The Bulls posted a combined annual grade-point average over 3.0 for the fifth straight year in 2019-20 and have posted a program record 11 straight semesters with a combined GPA over 3.0. USF has had nearly 350 student-athletes earn their degree since 2016-17.
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