South Florida is heading back to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament for the first time in 14 years.
The Bulls beat Wichita State 70-55 in the American Conference tournament championship game on Sunday, claiming the automatic bid that goes with the trophy.
It’s USF’s first conference tournament championship since 1990 – 36 years – when they were in the Sun Belt. And it’s the program's first NCAA bid since 2012.
The Bulls (25-8) will be the No. 11 seed against No. 6 Louisville (23-10) on Friday in a first-round game of the East Region at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. with TNT handling television coverage.
“Very fortunate to coach an unbelievable group of young men that weren't going to let us lose,” said USF head coach Bryan Hodgson. “They make me look like a lot better coach than I am.”
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It’s Hodgson’s first time leading a team into the “big dance,” but the venue will be quite familiar.
“I'm out there watching the Selection Show and Buffalo, New York, popped up,” he said. “And I'm from western New York.”
He recalled being taken into a foster home at two years old before he was adopted by the Hodgson family.
“To be in this chair and be able to do this, this was a dream as a child,” Hodgson said. “I was a foster kid in a hectic household. My getaway was to be in the driveway and shoot hoops and I fell in love with this game. Grew up watching this on TV.”
NCAA BRACKET: Click here to view or print the NCAA men's tournament bracket
It will be an emotional homecoming for the first-year USF coach.
“My father has dementia, and I have been a head coach for three years. He's never seen me coach as a head coach in person because it's so hard for him to travel, and he's going to get to see me coach this week in the NCAA tournament, which means the world to me.”
After high school, Hodgson went to college at nearby Fredonia State University and spent time as a top assistant at the University of Buffalo under Nate Oats.
“I'm so blessed,” he said. “We're going to have a great crowd there. I'm going to have my dad and mom in attendance. I couldn't be more thankful.”
American Conference tournament champs
In Sunday’s American final at Birmingham, the No. 1 seed Bulls used a suffocating defense to shut down the No. 2 Shockers and leading scorer Kenyon Giles, who was held to five points.
Wes Enis scored 19 points — 15 in the second half — to lead USF. His defense against Giles was key, Hodgson said.
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“He guarded the most prolific scorer in the conference and literally held him to 2-for-11, 1-for-7 from (the 3-point area) … his lowest output on the year,” Hodgson said of Enis, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
“(Giles) had an unbelievable season, but Wes took that match-up personally, and so to have him go in and have even the energy to score the basketball was an added bonus.”
Enis, one of the nation’s top 3-point shooters, was 0-for-5 from beyond the arc before hitting his first from long range at 13:38 of the second half. It keyed an important 6-0 run for the Bulls and gave them a 43-37 lead. Enis, who played all 40 minutes, finished 3-for-11 from 3-point range.
Proud of @CoachBHodgson and this @USFMBB team. Heart, tenacity, and a winning culture. @USouthFlorida is committed to competing and winning at the high levels of college athletics. This is the beginning for what this program can do! #GoBulls 🤘🏻 https://t.co/qoU4H3UtkP
— Will Weatherford (@willweatherford) March 15, 2026
Backcourt mate Joseph Pinion, another national leader in 3-point shooting, got into foul trouble early and finished 0-for-3 from the arc with five total points.
“Sometimes we are going to get great looks, and they're not going to fall, but defensively if we execute our game plan and do what we need to do, we know we're going to come out successful on the defensive side,” said Enis.
Conference Player of the Year Izaiyah Nelson contributed 13 points, six rebounds and two blocks for the Bulls.
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“It's like we know there's going to be some games that we know shots ain't falling," Nelson said. "But what are we doing when shots don't fall? Are we going to give up or put our heads down and keep pounding and pounding and pounding?”
The margin stayed in single digits until the final minute of the first half, when a dunk by Josh Omojafo put USF up 33-23. A 3-pointer by Giles at the buzzer made it 33-26 at the half.
The Shockers opened the second half on an 11-5 run to get within one, 38-37, with just under 16 minutes to play but would get no closer.
A jumper by Enis gave the Bulls a 55-44 advantage with under 8 minutes remaining. USF would lead by double digits the remainder of the game.
The Shockers (22-11) were led by Dillon Battle with 15 points. Will Berg added 10 points, six rebounds and three blocks.
Enis was selected to the all-tournament team with Nelson, Berg, Giles and Charlotte’s Dezayne Mingo.
Cardinals are an old conference foe
Coach Pat Kelsey’s Cardinals opened the season 11-2 but lost ground after their Atlantic Coast Conference schedule kicked in. They earned an at-large bid after losing 78-73 to Miami in the tournament quarterfinals.
“I've seen Louisville on film a few times,” Hodgson said. “They've got some familiar faces. Know Pat Kelsey well. I know his assistants well. Great coach, great program.”
Guard Ryan Conwell, a transfer from USF, leads the Cardinals (18.7 points per game), but a key factor will be the status of freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr., who has missed multiple games with a lower back injury.
Brown (18.2 ppg) was shut down for the ACC tournament to get him healthy for the NCAAs. He is considered day-to-day. He made attempts during the season to play through the injury, but the Cardinals went 7-5 in games he missed.
“Obviously, he’s one of the premier players in the country, and so Louisville playing without him certainly is a different team,” said Sun Belt Commissioner Keith Gill, chair of the Selection Committee.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the first team in @USFMBB history to win the regular season conference championship AND the conference tournament!!!! History made and…they are not done yet!🤘🏻😤 https://t.co/G0NkfYeljq
— Rob Higgins (@RHiggins_USF) March 15, 2026
Friday’s USF game is the first of four scheduled at the KeyBank Center.
The other East Region game is No. 3 Michigan State against No. 14 North Dakota State, about 30 minutes after the first game (approximately 4:05 p.m.).
In the Midwest Region, No. 1 Michigan will play Maryland-Baltimore County or Howard, who meet Tuesday in a First Four game. The Michigan game begins at 7:10 p.m., and No. 8 Georgia and No. 9 St. Louis battle in the later game (approximately 9:45 p.m.).
If the Bulls win, they will play the winner of the MSU-NDSU game on Sunday.
“Just got to go back and watch the tape and get ready, and my staff's probably already all over it,” Hodgson said. “Really excited for the opportunity.”
USF and Louisville are both former members of the Metro Conference, Conference USA and Big East, so this will be the 34th all-time meeting. The Cardinals lead the series 29-4, with the last meeting in 2014.
WUSF intern Ricardo Cuomo contributed to this report.
