It may seem like we are far away from the start of the South Florida football season, but that is far from true. The AAC announced all the team’s non-conference game times, including a few select in-conference game times for 2023. Included in the USF schedule announcement were some of the times for the Bulls’ upcoming season.
USF Schedule Gets Some Clarity
Unexpectedly, the team will be featured more primarily on the sister channels for some of college football’s TV partners, playing on ESPN + and CBS Sports Network for a handful of games. This includes the opener against Western Kentucky, which will be featured on CBSSN (CBS Sports Network) for a 3:30 p.m. EST kickoff. For South Florida’s other television broadcast games, the team will see another two games on CBSSN. The first of the two is the UConn Huskies on the road for what should be an intriguing class against a much-improved Huskies team.
As for the other CBS game, the Bulls will be up north to take on Navy. For Navy, they are a team that is unpredictable in part because, like other military academies, they run a version of the triple option offense. Both games will be late afternoon kickoffs, a common theme in the announced Bulls game times.
Bulls At Night
For the Bulls, their two night games will come at the beginning and end of the season. USF will host Florida A&M in their FCS game and home opener for a 7 p.m. EST kick. UTSA will come later down the slate for a 9 p.m. EST kick for their final currently scheduled night game. The game against UTSA has Tulsa vibes for USF, with the game being scheduled similarly to Tulsa’s game against USF last season.
The UTSA game will also be the only in-week game of the season, where the team will play on Friday night against the Roadrunners. The Roadrunners come off back-to-back Conference USA titles and are looking to add an AAC crown in their first year. The game will be featured on ESPN 2, but there is a bigger slot the Bulls will see.
Bama
Alabama will come to Tampa in week three with interesting storylines. New USF head coach Alex Golesh had success against Alabama last year when he was the offensive coordinator at Tennessee. He doesn’t have the weapons at USF that he had in Knoxville, so this time may be different. But Alabama is coming off what many fans consider to be a down year. The Alabama-South Florida showdown will be the first meeting between the two teams since 2003. It will be the second meeting all-time, with the game being featured on ABC for a 3:30 kickoff. USF has not seen a primetime on ABC since 2021 against Florida.
Still Developing
These are the only game times announced, but the Bulls could see more primetime action depending on their season performance. Expect night games to also find their way onto the schedule for the other unannounced games.
For South Florida, the 2023 season is shaping up to be quite intriguing. In terms of the season schedule, this is a manageable slate for first-year head coach Alex Golesh. However, just based on the schedule on paper, a question arises: could this team be bowl eligible? Only time will tell.
Photo courtesy: Matt Pendleton/The Gainesville Sun via Imagn Content Services, LLC
