South Florida Bulls

The University of South Florida was founded in 1956 and opened in 1960. First president John S. Allen was against the prospect of the new university supporting intercollegiate athletic teams, instead wanting to focus on education.[9] In 1962, still years before any sports were announced, students voted to make the Golden Brahman, a breed of bull, the university's first mascot because of Florida's history in cattle raising.[10]

President Allen had a change of heart in 1964 and approved the university's first sports teams to begin in the 1965–66 academic year and hired future USF Athletic Hall of Fame member Dick Bowers as USF's first Athletic Director.[11] Baseball, men's soccer, men's cross country, men's golf, men's swimming, men's tennis, and women's tennis were the seven original sports to be offered by the young university.[12] The men's teams began play as NCAA College Division (now known as NCAA Division II) independents and were called the Golden Brahmans. Since the NCAA did not sponsor women's sports at the time, the new women's tennis team played as an independent in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women Small College Division and went by the Lady Brahmans instead of the Golden Brahmans. Subsequent women's teams would play in the AIAW and were called the Lady Brahmans as well. The Golden Brahmans men's soccer team won the first intercollegiate game in school history on September 25, 1965, defeating Florida Southern 4–3.[13] In 1969, swimmer Joe Lewkowicz won the first national championship in school history in the 200 yard butterfly.[14]

The Golden Brahmans' men's swimming team nearly became the first team in USF history to win a national championship, finishing in second place in the 1971 NCAA Championship. The men's basketball team was founded in 1971 and was by far the most significant step in USF's young athletic history at the time. The Lady Brahmans women's basketball, women's golf, softball,[lower-alpha 1] women's swimming, and volleyball teams started the next academic year.[15] USF's men's sports made the jump to the NCAA University Division (now known as NCAA Division I) in fall 1973, and remained as independents. Likewise, USF's women's teams moved to the AIAW Large College Division. In 1973 USF became a charter member of the Sun Belt Conference in 1976 (for men's sports only) as their first ever conference affiliation. That year, the men's soccer team became the first team in USF history to win a conference championship, winning both the regular season and tournament Sun Belt titles.[16]

In 1981, the Golden Brahmans simplified their nickname to Bulls for their men's teams. Naturally, the women's teams soon picked up the nickname of Lady Bulls, though this name was unofficial.[17][18] The AIAW dissolved in 1982, and all of USF's women's sports besides softball went on to immediately join the NCAA. In 1983, USF's softball team won the first team national championship in school history. Softball was not an NCAA sponsored sport at the time, so the championship was won in the American Softball Association, which governed the top level of collegiate softball.[5] The Lady Brahmans won the ASA Championship again in the spring of 1984 before joining the NCAA the next year.[19] In the 1984–85 academic year, the athletic department started using the nickname Lady Bulls for the women's athletic teams, though the formal name of the teams would still be the Lady Brahmans until 1987 when they joined the men's teams in being known only as the Bulls.[17] In spring 1985 the women's swimming team became the first, and as of 2021, only team in USF history to win an NCAA sponsored team national championship.[20] Two years later though, the men's and women's swimming teams were cut due to financial hardships brought on by the sport not being sponsored by the Sun Belt, among other issues.[21] The university added a women's cross country team the next fall to avoid Title IX violations.[22] In 1989, Michelle Scarborough won the 12th individual NCAA national championship in USF history in the air rifle event of the NCAA Rifle Championship. The Bulls rifle team finished as the runners up in the 1989 championship.[23]

Michelle Scarborough won another NCAA co-ed rifle championship in 1990, this time in the smallbore event.[23] No Bull has won an individual national championship since. For the 1991–92 school year, USF left the Sun Belt to join the Metro Conference.[24] In 1995 the Metro merged with the Great Midwest Conference to form Conference USA. This year also brought the Bulls women's soccer team to life. USF added their most famous sport in 1997, beginning to play football as a Division I-AA independent.

The football team became Division I-A in 2001 and joined Conference USA with the rest of USF's sports in 2003, but the school left the conference to join the Big East in 2005. In spring 2009, USF's women's basketball team won the Women's National Invitation Tournament for the first postseason tournament victory in their history.[25] The following fall, the sailing team won the fourth team national championship in school history in the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association Sloop National Championship.[26] Following the 2010–13 Big East Conference realignment, USF found itself as a member of the East Division in the American Athletic Conference, where the Bulls still play today. The Bulls sailing team won their second ICSA national championship and the fifth national championship in USF history in 2016 in the Offshore Large Boats competition and repeated as Offshore Large Boat champions in 2017.[7][27]

USF varsity teams have won a total of 148 conference championships and six national championships. The school's athletes have won an additional 170 individual conference championships, 13 relay conference championships, 13 individual national championships, and three relay national championships. Club teams representing USF have won seven national championships.

The "Iconic U"

Under Jim Leavitt, USF began college football play as a Division I-AA independent in 1997, after having their first team meetings under a tree on campus. The team grew rapidly and moved to Division I-A in 2001, where they remained an independent. In 2003, the Bulls moved to Conference USA, but they would leave for the Big East Conference in 2005. The Big East eventually became the American Athletic Conference in 2013 as part of the major college football realignment. The football team plays its home games in Raymond James Stadium, which is also the home field of the National Football League's Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

On November 16, 2002, USF beat No. 25 Bowling Green State University, its first victory over a ranked opponent.[28] September 24, 2005, USF surprised No. 9 Louisville for its first victory over a Big East conference foe. As a result, USF received its first ever votes in the AP Poll. South Florida received increased press coverage for their upsets of Top 25 ranked teams such as West Virginia (2006, 2007, 2009), Auburn (2007), Kansas (2008) and Florida State (2009).

On September 16, 2007, a week after defeating Auburn, USF was nationally ranked for the first time in the young program's history. The AP Poll listed USF at No. 23, while the USA Today Coaches Poll had the Bulls at No. 24. This was an NCAA record, as USF achieved its first Top 25 ranking faster than any other Division I-A team in the modern era with 104 weeks.[29] On October 14, 2007, after the AP, Coaches', and BCS rankings were released, the Bulls were ranked No. 2, No. 3, and No. 2 respectively, the highest ranked the football program has ever been. However, the following week, the Bulls lost to Rutgers in a 30–27 upset in Piscataway, New Jersey. The Bulls finished the 2007 season 9–3 ranked No. 21 in the BCS standings, and earned a spot in the Sun Bowl, which they lost to Oregon.

On September 12, 2008, the Bulls defeated No. 11 ranked Kansas 37–34 at Raymond James Stadium. USF would win its next two games, getting to 5–0, and being ranked No. 10 in the AP Poll, before losing to Pittsburgh 26–21. The Bulls finished the season 7–5, which earned them a spot in the inaugural St. Petersburg Bowl against the Memphis Tigers, where they won the first bowl game in school history 41–14.

On September 26, 2009, USF defeated No. 18 Florida State 17–7 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee. On October 4, 2009, the Bulls entered the AP rankings for the first time in the season, coming at #23 after beating Syracuse 34–20. The following week, they lost to highly favored No. 8 Cincinnati. The Bulls would finish the season 8–5 and received a bid to the International Bowl against the Northern Illinois Huskies. The Bulls would go on to win 27–3.

Jim Leavitt was fired on January 8, 2010 after an investigation alleged that he grabbed a player by the shoulder pads and struck him twice across the face. The investigation also claimed that Leavitt interfered with the investigation by telling several coaches and players to change their stories. Leavitt maintains he never struck the player, but was merely trying to console him, and after a wrongful termination suit against USF, the university eventually settled with Leavitt for $2.75 million.

On January 14, 2010, Skip Holtz was hired away from East Carolina and named the team's second head coach. The Bulls went 8–5 in Holtz's first season, finishing it off with a 31–26 Meineke Car Care Bowl victory over Clemson. USF started the 2011 season on a high note, defeating No. 16 Notre Dame 23–20 at Notre Dame Stadium. The Bulls reached No. 16 in the AP Poll after starting the season 4–0 but would struggle for the rest of season, finishing with a record of 5–7 and failed to qualify for a bowl game for the first time in 7 seasons. The Bulls' 2012 was its worst to date, as the team finished 3–9.

On December 8, 2012, USF announced that Willie Taggart, who previously coached at Western Kentucky, would be the third head coach in USF football history. The Bulls struggled in Taggart's first year, posting a 2–10 record, however, the team improved slightly in his second year, finishing 4–8. Taggart finished his third season at USF 8–5 with a loss in the Miami Beach Bowl to Western Kentucky. In Week 5 of 2016 against Cincinnati, Marlon Mack passed Andre Hall to become the leading rusher in program history. Two weeks later, in a Week 7 game against UConn, Mack passed B.J. Daniels to become the program leader in rushing touchdowns. During their Week 9 game against No. 22 Navy, the Bulls set a school record for rushing yards in a game, racking up 412 yards in a 52–45 victory. The Bulls broke that record two weeks later in their Week 11 game against Memphis, rushing for 416 yards in a 49–42 victory. Also in that game, the Bulls broke the school record for offensive touchdowns in a season (58). In a Week 12 game against SMU, Quinton Flowers passed Matt Grothe to become the school leader in single season total offense. The Bulls secured their first 10 win season after a 48–31 victory over UCF in Week 13. During that game, Quinton Flowers set the school record for single season rushing yards (1,425), passing the mark Marlon Mack set in 2015. On November 30, 2016, Quniton Flowers was named the American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year, which is the first such award in school history. The Bulls ended their season with a 46–39 overtime victory over South Carolina in the Birmingham Bowl on December 29, 2016. On January 12, 2017, Quinton Flowers was named the 2017 College Football Performance Awards National Performer of the Year. Taggart left after the season to become the coach at Oregon.

USF hired Charlie Strong as their new head coach on December 11, 2016. The 2017 Bulls earned their second straight 10 win season after beating Texas Tech in the Birmingham Bowl. The Bulls started 2018 with a 7–0 record, but did not win another game and finished 7–6. Strong was fired after the 2019 campaign, finishing 4–8.

The Bulls hired former Clemson offensive coordinator Jeff Scott as their new head coach on December 9, 2019. Scott won two College Football Playoff National Championships with Clemson.[30] His first season, shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, was the worst in program history to date with a 1–8 record.

The Yuengling Center, where many sporting and entertainment events are held.

The birth of the college basketball program at the University of South Florida was in 1971. The first game was a 74–73 victory at Stetson University. The season ended with eight wins and 17 losses. Since 1980, home games have been played at what is now the Yuengling Center. The Bulls have made the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament three times and won their conference once.

Brian Gregory became the 10th head coach of the USF men's basketball program on March 14, 2017.

Gregory, who has previously led programs at Dayton (2003–11) and Georgia Tech (2011–16) and spent nearly a decade as an assistant coach under Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, brings nearly 250 career head coaching wins and six postseason appearances, including the 2010 NIT championship, to Tampa.[31]

The Bulls won the CBI Championship in 2019.[32]

Jose Fernandez, USF's women's basketball coach

The women's head coach is Jose Fernandez. Fernandez arrived in Tampa in April 2000, as a women's basketball assistant coach and was officially named head coach on December 14, 2000. As head coach at USF, he has guided the Bulls to five straight postseason tournaments and to the cusp of bringing his program into the upper echelon of the Big East Conference. Under his lead, USF advanced to the program's first ever NCAA Tournament during the 2005–06 season, and to 10 postseason tournaments in 11 years after the Bulls had recorded just three winning seasons, all 14–13 records, in the 25 years prior.

Fernandez has also guided USF to eight 20 win campaigns in his career with the Bulls. On April 4, 2009, Fernandez led the team to their first ever post season championship with a 75–71 win over the Kansas Jayhawks in the WNIT. Fernandez also coached USF's first NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament game, beating Texas Tech in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament. The Bulls have made the NCAA Tournament six times and the Women's National Invitation Tournament nine times in their history.

The head baseball coach is Billy Mohl. The team plays at USF Baseball Stadium on campus.

The program has won nine regular season and tournament conference titles and made 13 NCAA Tournaments.[33]

The Bulls men's cross country team began in 1965 and has won seven team conference championships and nine individual conference championship.[34] They have qualified for nationals three times. The men's team is coached by Erik Jenkins along with the women's team and the men's and women's track & field teams.

South Florida's women's cross country was founded in 1987 and has won five conference titles, back to back NCAA South Regional championships in 1999 and 2000, and one individual conference championship. They have qualified for nationals five times.[35]

The men's golf coach is Steve Bradley, the former men's golf assistant coach from Florida State University. The team has won 16 conference championships, including 11 straight from 1979 to 1989:

• Sun Belt Conference (11): 1979–89
• Big East Conference (1): 2013
• American Athletic Conference (4): 2015–18

The women's golf coach is Erika Brennan, who was hired in 2018.

They have won 6 conference championships and a Florida women's golf state title.[36]

The Bulls women's sailing program is a nationally recognized team and is USF's most successful sport by number of national championships won. The team is coached by Allison Jolly, gold medalist in the first Olympic women's sailing event at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. As sailing is not an American Athletic Conference or NCAA sanctioned sport, USF is a member of the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Conference within the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association.[37] The team has a waterfront facility on Bayboro Harbor on the University of South Florida's St. Petersburg campus called the Haney Landing Sailing Center. It is the only varsity sport based on USF's St. Petersburg campus.[38]

The USF sailing team won the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association Sloop National Championship in 2009 and back to back ICSA Offshore Large Boats National Championships in 2016 and 2017.[6][39] They were National Runners Up at the ICSA Singlehanded National Championships in 2009 and 2011.[40][41] The Bulls have won eight conference championships since 2008, which is the earliest that the SAISC began hosting conference championships. Four of the championships have come in single events and four are overall SAISC titles. The Bulls represented the United States in the 2017 and 2018 Student Yachting World Cups.[7][42] One USF sailor, Paige Railey, has competed in the Olympics, representing the United States in 2012 and 2016.[43]

Men's soccer was the first NCAA sport ever played at USF, beginning in 1965. The Bulls won the NCAA College Division state championship in 1966 going undefeated at 10–0–1. In 1976, the team won the first conference championship in school history across all sports by winning the regular season Sun Belt title, which they followed up by winning the inaugural Sun Belt Conference Tournament too.[44]

The Bulls have made the NCAA Tournament 21 times (including the Elite Eight three of those times) and have won 27 total conference championships (13 regular season and 14 tournament), the most of any program at USF.

The Bulls women's soccer team was founded in 1995. The team is led by coach Denise Schilte Brown, who is the second coach in the program's history. She joined the program in December 2006 and had previously coached at Virginia Commonwealth and University of Maryland, Baltimore County. In 2010 the women's soccer team earned their first ever berth to the NCAA tournament. They have since qualified for the tournament in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2019, and have won five combined regular season and tournament conference championships.

The Bulls softball team began NCAA play in 1985. The team has won seven total regular season and tournament conference championships and made fifteen NCAA Tournament appearances. Additionally, the team has made one NCAA Women's College World Series (2012). Ken Eriksen, who played baseball for USF from 1979 to 1983, has been the head coach of the team since 1996 and is the winningest coach across all sports in USF history with 976 as of the end of the 2019 season. Eriksen is also the current manager of the United States women's national softball team.[45]

Prior to 1985, Bulls softball played in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, which disbanded in 1982, and the American Softball Association (now USA Softball), which sanctioned college softball after the collapse of the AIAW until the NCAA started sponsoring the sport in 1985.[46] They made the AIAW Women's College World Series in 1976 and 1981 and won the ASA National Championship in 1983 and 1984.[47]

The men's head coach is Ashley Fisher, who was hired after the 2016 season. Fisher coached the Bulls to a conference championship in his inaugural season of 2017. In 2019 the USF Men's Tennis Team captured the conference championship for the second time in Fisher's tenure. The Bulls have won 20 conference championships and made 15 NCAA tournaments, advancing to the Round of 16 for their best ever finish in 2015.

The women's tennis team is coached by Cristina Moros. They have won 13 conference titles and made 12 NCAA tournaments as well as four United States Lawn Tennis Association tournaments (where they finished third in 1970 and 1971) and three AIAW tournaments.[48]

USF men's track & field athletes have won 23 individual indoor, 2 relay indoor, 48 individual outdoor and 2 relay outdoor conference championships.[49] They, along with the women's team and cross country teams, are coached by Erik Jenkins. USF Athletic Hall of Famer Matthew O'Neal finished as NCAA national runner up in 2016 in both the indoor triple jump and the indoor long jump.[50] The USF men's track & field program has produced two Olympians: Llewelyn Bredwood in 2000 and Kemel Thompson in 2000 and 2004, both of whom represented Jamaica.[43]

The Bulls women's track & field team has won three indoor and three outdoor conference championships, along with producing 39 individual indoor, 2 relay indoor, 50 individual outdoor and 7 relay outdoor conference champions.[51] The USF women's track & field team has produce three Olympians: Damu Cherry of the United States, Dayana Octavien of Haiti, and Sasha Springer-Jones of Trinidad and Tobago. All three competed in the 2008 games.[52][43]

The women's volleyball team was founded in 1972. The Bulls have made the NCAA Tournament seven times and won 18 combined conference regular season and tournament championships.

Jolene Shepardson was named the 12th head coach in USF volleyball history in 2020.

USF's only team NCAA national championship came in women's swimming in 1985.[53] The 1984–85 team won five individual national titles, two relay national titles and racked up 35 All American honors.[53] All 10 members of the team as well as the coaching staff were inducted into the USF Athletic Hall of Fame's inaugural class in 2009.

Also a member of the USF Athletic Hall of Fame, Joe Lewkowicz of the men's swimming team won the first individual national title in school history with the 1969 200 yard butterfly event. The 12 time All American also won the 1972 400 yard medley relay national championship with other members of the team.[54] The program as a whole won seven individual and relay national titles during its existence, and finished as national runners up in 1971.[55] Financial difficulties, along with the sport not being sponsored by the Sun Belt Conference, led to both the men's and women's teams being cut after the 1986–87 season.[56]

The co-ed rifle team only competed in four NCAA Rifle Championships, 1986–89.[57] In spite of this, the team did well each time, finishing fifth in the 1986 NCAA Championship, third in the 1987 and 1988 NCAA Championships and second in the 1989 NCAA Championship.[57][58] They also won the NRA Smallbore Intercollegiate Sectionals in 1987.[59]

USF Hall of Fame inductee Michelle Scarborough won two individual national titles with the Bulls rifle team, winning championships in the 1989 air rifle event and the 1990 smallbore event (smallbore is considered the more prestigious of the two events in college riflery).[60] Rifle is the only NCAA sponsored sport where men and women directly compete against each other, meaning that Scarborough was not only the best woman at these events, but shot better than all the men as well.[61] Scarborough's 1989 championship in air rifle was the highest score ever in the event for either men or women (399/400) until the event changed from 40 shots to 60 shots in 2005.[62][63]

Three Bulls shooters have competed in the Olympics. Dorothee Deuring represented Austria in 1988, Kristen Peterson represented the United States in 1988 and 1992, and Peter Durben represented the United States in 1992.[43][64] Other athletes competed internationally as well. Most notably, Michelle Scarborough won three team gold and an individual bronze medal at the 1991 Pan American Games and Matthew Suggs won a team gold and individual silver medal at the 1987 ISSF 10 meter air rifle world championship.[43][65]

USF's rifle program would be short lived and never competed as a team after 1989. Michelle Scarborough was the only representative of the university in the 1990 NCAA Rifle Championship and was the last to do so.

USF's club cricket team immediately found great success after being established in 2009.[67] Between their inaugural year and 2015, the Bulls made seven American College Cricket semifinals and five national championship games, capped off by winning back to back national championships in 2014 and 2015.[68] The Bulls returned to the ACC semifinals in 2017 and 2018 as well.[69]

USF has both a Men's and Women's Flag Football Club, both of which compete in the National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association. The men's team won the NIRSA National Championship in 1994 and 2001.[70]

The Ice Bulls club team were founded in 1989 and play in American Collegiate Hockey Association Division III in the Southern Collegiate Hockey Conference. They have made Nationals five times, and most recently won the SCHC championship in 2020 to qualify for Nationals for a sixth time, but the ACHA canceled the National Tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[71][72] The Ice Bulls play their home games at AdventHealth Center Ice in Wesley Chapel, Florida and all home games are free to the public.[73]

The USF co-ed Karate club team competes in the National Collegiate Karate Association. They won NCKA National Championships in 1994 and 1995.[74]

The USF Bulls Rugby Football Club was founded in 1969. USF plays rugby in the South Independent conference against local rivals such as Central Florida and Florida State. The Bulls were the USA Rugby South champions and national semifinalists in 2009 and 2011.[75] The Bulls were promoted to Division I college rugby in 2011. The Bulls play sevens in the fall and fifteens in the winter and spring.[76]

The co-ed USF Wakeboarding Club competes in the American Wakeboard Association, a division of USA Water Ski. They won the 2011 AWA National Championship.[77]

This section lists national championships won by varsity USF teams outside the scope of NCAA competition. Club teams are not included in this list.

The University of South Florida Athletic Hall of Fame was established in 2009 to recognize and perpetuate the memory of student athletes, teams, coaches and administrators who have made demonstrably outstanding and significant contributions to the success, tradition and heritage of USF Athletics, and who demonstrate the character and values that define the highest principles of sport. Induction in the University of South Florida Athletic Hall of Fame is the highest honor afforded by the USF Athletics Department.[4]

Athletic Director Mark Harlan refused to induct new members into the Hall of Fame during his tenure from 2014 to 2018, but Michael Kelly reinstated the Hall in 2019 after taking over as AD. As of 2020, the Hall features 40 members including athletic directors Dick Bowers and Lee Roy Selmon, coach Bobby Paschal, and athletes Charlie Bradley, George Selvie, and Courtney Williams.

The Hall of Fame is located within the Lee Roy Selmon Athletics Center on USF's Tampa campus.

Ten USF alumni have participated as athletes in the Olympic Games. Nine of these athletes competed in the Summer Olympics and one competed in the Winter Olympics:[43][78]

• Dorothee Deuring – Shooting, 1988[64]
• Kristen Peterson – Shooting, 1988, 1992
• Peter Durben – Shooting, 1992
• Llewelyn Bredwood – Track & Field, 2000
• Kemel Thompson – Track & Field, 2000, 2004
• Damu Cherry – Track & Field, 2008
• Dayana Octavien – Track & Field, 2008[52]
• Sasha Springer-Jones – Track & Field, 2008
• Amanda Evora – Figure Skating,[lower-alpha 1] 2010
• Paige Railey – Sailing, 2012, 2016

As of 2020, no USF alumni have won medals as athletes in the Olympics, though multiple USF alumni have coached medal winning teams and individuals in the Olympics including Ken Eriksen and Ed Baird.

Three Bulls athletes were named to provisional rosters for the 2020 Summer Olympics, which have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[80] These rosters are still subject to change. All three athletes are current or former members of the Bulls women's soccer team:[81]

• Evelyne Viens
• Chyanne Dennis
• Ricquelle Farquharson

The USF side of the War on I-4 trophy. The opposite side features the UCF logo and reads Orlando on top.

USF's main rival is the University of Central Florida Knights, who are located 98 miles northeast in unincorporated Orange County near Orlando.[82] The first meeting between the rivals was a men's basketball game in 1972, where the South Florida Golden Brahmans beat the Florida Tech Knights of the Pegasus 115–96.[83] The close geographic proximity and the schools being founded around the same time (South Florida in 1956 and Central Florida in 1963) made the two naturally become rivals. The Bulls and Knights became conference foes for the first time in 2013, when UCF joined the American Athletic Conference. The rivalry gets its name from Interstate 4, which runs through both Tampa and Orlando.

The rivalry was officially recognized by both USF and UCF on September 21, 2016 when it was announced that a rivalry series between all 14 sports that both schools sponsor would begin (USF is the only one of the two that offers men's cross country, women's sailing, and men's track & field while UCF is the only one of the two that offers women's rowing). Each sport is worth six total points, and sports where the teams meet head to head multiple times in the regular season will have the six points divided by the number of games played, meaning the point system typically grants:

• 2 points to the winner of each regular season baseball game (3 games per year)
• 3 points to the winner of each regular season men's basketball game (2 games per year)
• 3 points to the winner of each regular season women's basketball game (2 games per year)
• 6 points to the higher finisher at the American Athletic Conference Women's Cross Country Championship
• 6 points to the winner of the annual football game
• 6 points to the higher finisher at the American Athletic Conference Men's Golf Championship
• 6 points to the higher finisher at the American Athletic Conference Women's Golf Championship
• 6 points to the winner of the annual regular season men's soccer match (3 points awarded to each side in the event of a draw)
• 6 points to the winner of the annual regular season women's soccer match (3 points awarded to each side in the event of a draw)
• 2 points to the winner of each regular season softball game (3 games per year)
• 6 points to the winner of the annual regular season men's tennis match.
• 6 points to the winner of the annual regular season women's tennis match.
• 3 points to the higher finisher at the American Athletic Conference Women's Indoor Track & Field Championship
• 3 points to the higher finisher at the American Athletic Conference Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championship
• 3 points to the winner of each regular season volleyball match (2 matches per year)
• In the event of a tie in the overall competition, the athletic program that scores higher in the annual NCAA Graduation Success Rate will be awarded 1 extra point and crowned as the champion for that season. In the unlikely event that this is also tied, the series ends as a tie for that season and the previous winner retains the trophy.

Only regular season matches are counted toward War on I-4 point totals for the 10 sports in which the teams compete head to head, meaning if the teams meet in a conference or NCAA tournament that game does not count for War on I-4 competition purposes.[84] The winner each year will take possession of a large trophy shaped like an Interstate road sign, which will be displayed on their campus for the following year. One side of the trophy reads "Tampa" and features the USF logo while the other reads "Orlando" and features the UCF logo. The winner of the annual Thanksgiving weekend football clash receives a similarly shaped "War On I-4" trophy.[85] As of 2020, USF leads UCF in the all-time series for football (6–5), men's basketball (23–16), women's basketball (28–13), baseball (75–69), softball (18–12), men's soccer (26–7–4), men's tennis (34–8), women's tennis (19–7) and volleyball (49–39). UCF only leads in women's soccer (11–4–4), but UCF has won all three overall War on I-4 titles since 2016, and led USF in the 2019–2020 edition of the rivalries, but the title was not awarded due to spring sports being canceled by the NCAA because of COVID-19.

USF also has a men's soccer rivalry with the crosstown University of Tampa Spartans. The rivalry (known as the Mayor's Cup before 2005) is named after the original Tampa Bay Rowdies who were the first professional sports franchise in Tampa. The winner of the annual exhibition match receives the trophy the now defunct Rowdies won in Soccer Bowl '75. The Bulls lead the all-time series 24–10–3.

Opened in 2004, the Lee Roy Selmon Athletic Center is the main hub for USF Athletics.[90] In 2012, the facility was dedicated to the late Lee Roy Selmon, a Pro Football Hall of Fame member and former Director of USF Athletics.[91] Selmon is considered by many to be the "Father of USF Football".[91] The 104,000 square foot facility houses all USF sports teams, except for men's and women's basketball, sailing, and volleyball.[90] The building features a large strength and conditioning center, a sports medicine clinic, the USF Athletic Hall of Fame, and an Academic Enrichment Center complete with a computer study lab, a library, study lounges, and academic counseling.[90]

Formerly known as the USF Sun Dome, the Yuengling Center on the Tampa campus is the home facility of the men's and women's basketball teams and the women's volleyball team. The first event held in the facility was a basketball game in 1980.[92] Since the opening of the arena, it has been the site for USF Commencement Ceremonies, orientation sessions, and other major university events.[93] The facility has also played host to a number of outside events including sports and entertainment events, consumer shows, religious services, conventions, rodeos, youth sports camps, gymnastics and cheerleading competitions, lectures, and political rallies.[94] The venue is also one of the top concert spots in the Tampa Bay region, having hosted musicians like Elton John, Florence and the Machine, Frank Sinatra, Heart, Sting, and more.[95]

The USF football team plays at Raymond James Stadium, home to the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. USF is one of only five FBS teams to play their home games in a current NFL stadium (the others being Miami, Temple, Pitt, and UNLV). Raymond James Stadium is located 13 miles away from the Tampa campus. the stadium has a capacity of more than 75,000 fans including a 12,000 seat student section in the north end zone, making it the largest stadium and largest student section in the American Athletic Conference when at full capacity, but for most games seating is limited to the 100 and 200 levels which brings the capacity down to around 45,000.[96]

Herd of Thunder at the 2007 Sun Bowl.

The Herd of Thunder, often called HOT or the Pride of the Bay, is the athletic band of the South Florida Bulls, including the show band, pep band, and marching band ensembles, although it is often used to refer simply to the marching band. It was founded in 1999, two years after USF fielded its first football team.

USF's mascot is Rocky the Bull (also spelled Rocky D. Bull), an anthropomorphic bull who dresses in USF gear. Rocky is seen at every USF home game and meet for all sports unless there are games at conflicting times and wears the jersey of whatever sport is being played. Rocky won the Capital One Mascot Challenge in 2013, being voted as the best college mascot in the country.[97] The win earned USF $20,000 toward the mascot program.

The USF Sun Dolls are an all girl dance team that perform at USF football and basketball games, in addition to competing in the annual Universal Dance Association College Nationals.[98] The USF Cheerleading program consists of two teams: a co-ed team and a competitive all girl squad.[99] The all girl squad continually ranks among the top five competitive college squads in the nation.[99]

The USF Winter Guard consistently places in the top of the annual Winter Guard International World Championships, taking home the silver medal in the Independent Open category in 2012 and the bronze medal in the Independent A category in 2006.[100]