An update on fall sports

USF celebrates after scoring the game-winner against Washington to send the Bulls to the third round of the 2019 NCAA tournament. Fall sports, except for football, won’t compete for national titles in the fall, but there’s still a chance at conference glory. ORACLE PHOTO/BRIAN HATTAB

Somehow, sports are making their return to the fold after more than five months, but they definitely won’t look like how they used to and won’t be structured like normal.

There won’t be national championships for fall sports other than football, the NCAA announced on Aug. 13 due to the lack of schools that would be able to participate. NCAA President Mark Emmert said in a video that with such few schools participating, it wouldn’t be a fair tournament.

“We cannot now, at this point, have fall NCAA championships, because there’s not enough schools participating,” he said.

However, the Division I Board of Directors will be pursuing a viable way to have fall championships in the spring, the NCAA announced on Aug. 21.

Although teams won’t be competing for national titles, there’s still a shot at conference championships. Here’s what’s in store for each USF team’s league schedule this fall.

Women’s soccer

The Bulls are scheduled to play an eight-match single round-robin tournament with games taking place on Sundays. USF is expected to begin its season in Dallas against SMU on Sept. 6.

USF is the reigning AAC champion. The Bulls made it to the third round of the NCAA tournament last season, their deepest run in program history but were defeated by FSU 2-1.

USF Conference Schedule

Sept. 6 — SMU, away

Sept. 13 — Temple, home

Sept. 27 — ECU, away

Oct. 4 — Tulsa, home

Oct. 11 — UCF, home

Oct. 18 — Houston, away

Oct. 25 — Memphis, home

Nov. 1 — Cincinnati, away

Friday, Nov. 6 — Semifinals

Sunday, Nov. 8 — Championship

Men’s Soccer

USF is scheduled to play a 10-match double round-robin of matches scheduled to take place on Saturdays. USF will play Temple at Corbett Stadium on Sept. 5 for the start of the season.

Last season, the Bulls finished third in the AAC, losing to eventual champion SMU 2-1 in double overtime. USF earned a spot in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2016, but were beaten 4-1 by Louisville in the first round.

USF Conference Schedule

Sept. 5 — Temple, home

Sept. 12 — SMU, home

Sept. 19 — UCF, away

Sept. 26 — Temple, away

Oct. 3 — Tulsa, home

Oct. 10 — Memphis, away

Oct. 17 — SMU, away

Oct. 24 — UCF, home

Oct. 31 — Memphis, home

Nov. 7 — Tulsa, away

Volleyball

The AAC has been divided into two divisions where each team will play each other twice. USF is part of the East Division along with UCF, Cincinnati, East Carolina and Temple. Teams are expected to begin league play during the weekend of Sept. 24-27 and conclude Nov. 12-15.

USF Conference Schedule

Oct. 1 — Temple, home

Oct. 2 — Temple, home

Oct. 8 — East Carolina, away

Oct. 9 — East Carolina, away

Oct. 22 — Cincinnati, home

Oct. 23 — Cincinnati, home

Nov. 12 — UCF, away

Nov. 13 — UCF, away

Cross Country

Programs are allowed to schedule competitions at their discretion, but the USF cross country schedule has not yet been released.