Bulls look to regain top-25 ranking

ORACLE FILE PHOTO/ADAM MATHIEU
While most students will be enjoying a Thanksgiving meal Thursday, the women’s basketball team (3-1) will be in the U.S. Virgin Islands playing in the Paradise Jam Basketball Tournament.
Coming off a dominant win at home against UNC-Asheville, USF will now take on three undefeated teams in a three-day span.
“There’s an opportunity for us to play some great basketball down there and continue to get better,” coach Jose Fernandez said.
The Bulls will face No. 9 Kentucky (4-0), Oklahoma (4-0) and Illinois (4-0) in the tournament, hoping to show skeptics that this team is the real deal.
With the loss to No. 8 Maryland last week, the Bulls dropped out of the USA Today Coaches Poll that they had recently been added to for the first time in program history. Coming away from this tournament without a loss would almost guarantee them a spot back in the rankings.
“That’s just a credit to the schedule that we play,” Fernandez said. “For us to stay in the poll, we’ve got to go to the Virgin Islands and prove we’re a top-25 team.”
No. 9 Kentucky already beat a top-10 opponent this year when it defeated Baylor last week, 74-64. A win against the Wildcats would give Fernandez and the Bulls what they lacked last season: a victory over a top-ranked team.
Following the tournament, the Bulls will be back in action at the Sun Dome on Dec. 3 to take on Stetson at 7 p.m.
More Stories
OPINION: USF coaches need to be more than game-day leaders
In his first year at USF, baseball head coach Mitch Hannahs brought an old-school approach to the program. He stayed off social media and had minimal interactions with fans, except during press conferences and games. And toward the end of the season, Hannahs began to decline interviews with The Oracle — both for himself and […]
USF prepares for more scholarships, revenue opportunities after NIL settlement
As universities began directly paying athletes on Tuesday as part of the House v. NCAA settlement, increased scholarships and revenue opportunities will become the norm under the landmark NIL ruling. Former USF Athletic Director Michael Kelly told The Oracle that the settlement also paves the way for another opportunity for USF to be invited to […]
USF’s Fowler Avenue ‘isn’t going anywhere’ despite NIL changes
Corey Staniscia didn’t need a court ruling to see where college sports were headed. Long before a federal judge approved the House v. NCAA settlement on June 6, Staniscia saw what was coming — a future where schools, not just collectives, could pay athletes directly. So, as the CEO and co-founder of the Fowler Avenue […]
USF support program helps international student-athletes thrive
For Mathis Haugen, a USF international student-athlete from Norway, his journey started with a leap of faith. Haugen said he planned to take a gap year after high school and then apply to college. But when USF recruited him in fall 2021, everything changed. Now a senior, the men’s soccer defender had never visited the […]
USF men’s basketball rounds up roster with latest commits
USF men’s basketball officially has a full house, finalizing its revamped roster with all 15 scholarship spots now filled. New head coach Bryan Hodgson has wasted no time building a new roster. After Hodgson was hired in March, he began his tenure by securing three high school recruits and five players out of the transfer […]
USF beach volleyball balances summer training away from campus
In the summertime, while some USF students are having fun in the sun, athletes don’t stop their training. USF beach volleyball players Morgan Anderson and Sasha Pasloski know all too well what goes into a Division I athlete’s summer routine. Although the Bulls won’t play their inaugural season until the spring, they have been preparing […]