For the second time in program history, the South Florida Bulls men’s basketball team has won the American Conference regular season title. Head coach Bryan Hodgson and crew did it in decisive fashion, as their 90-62 rout of Tulane clinched at least a share of the conference title. Winning either of their next two games will earn USF sole possession of the championship. They play at Memphis on Thursday and host Charlotte on Sunday for Senior Night at the Yuengling Center.
If you’ve been ignoring USF men’s basketball this season, congrats: you’ve accidentally been practicing mindfulness. Unfortunately, you’ve also missed the Bulls turning the Yuengling Center into a cardio laboratory where opposing teams come to learn what “gas” feels like when it’s gone.
Under first-year head coach Bryan Hodgson, USF has ripped through the 2025–26 season with a 21–8 overall record and a 13–3 mark in the American Athletic Conference, sitting alone in first place. They’re not doing it with slow, “let’s all have a think” basketball either. They’re scoring 88.3 points per game, which is the kind of number that makes traditionalists clutch their pearls.
USF’s whole identity is pace, and it’s not subtle. The staff talks about “Race-27,” basically sprinting the ball into the frontcourt as soon as the shot clock resets, like the team is allergic to walking. The Bulls play at one of the fastest tempos in the country, and they use that volume to squeeze opponents until something cracks: a rushed shot, a tired closeout, a lazy rebound. It’s basketball as a stress test, and the Bulls are the ones holding the clipboard.
Big humans running very fast is somehow working
The roster fits the bit. Big man Izaiyah Nelson has been a walking problem inside, stacking points and rebounds with the calm efficiency of someone assembling IKEA furniture while everyone else panics. CJ Brown keeps the engine humming, and the Bulls have multiple perimeter threats who are perfectly happy to let it fly early in the clock. They’ve already set program marks for 100-point games and 90-point games this season, which is a polite way of saying the scoreboard operator has been through a lot.
And this isn’t just empty-calories stat padding. On Feb. 19, USF handled the Memphis Tigers 87–66 in Tampa, turning the matchup into a one-sided demonstration of what happens when you try to jog with a team that only sprints. That win didn’t just pad the standings, it showed why USF is miserable to prep for. If the threes aren’t falling, they get to the stripe. If shots don’t drop, they rebound. If the first half goes sideways, they’ve got enough possessions to flip the script hella quick.
It isn’t a fluke, it’s a full-blown problem
What makes this run extra fun is that it doesn’t feel fluky. USF built a roster to play this way, recruited to it, practiced it into muscle memory, and now they’re cashing the checks. With the regular season’s final stretch ahead, the Bulls are in position to chase hardware, stack a few statement wins, and make the tournament feel less like a dream and more like a calendar event.
So here’s the pitch for casual fans. You don’t have to memorize every rotation or start yelling “NET!” in all caps on social media. Just show up. USF is playing a brand of basketball that’s loud, fast, and ridiculous in the best way, and they’re doing it while sitting atop the conference. If you’ve been waiting for a reason to hop on the bandwagon, this is it. Bring earplugs for the dunks, bring water for yourself, and bring the willingness to watch another team get run into the ground.
