BUFFALO, NY – South Florida’s NCAA Tournament opener against Louisville marks a homecoming for first-year coach Bryan Hodgson, who was born in western New York, went to college in western New York and started his coaching career in western New York, eventually working under current Alabama coach Nate Oats at Buffalo from 2015-19.
An Olean, New York native who attended Jamestown Community College and Fredonia State, Hodgson said he’ll have 38 relatives in attendance for the No. 11 Bulls’ matchup with the No. 6 Cardinals. He’s also been texting with a group of college coaches who hail from the region, including Florida assistant Carlin Hartman, Texas assistant Adam Cohen, Army head coach Kevin Kuwik and Rice head coach Rob Lanier, talking Buffalo Bills football and the local food scene.
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“This is home,” he said. “Just icing on the cake to be able to do that back here at home in western New York in front of friends and family, and really looking forward to the opportunity of playing against a very good Louisville team.”
South Florida Bulls coach Bryan Hodgson watches his team during a practice session ahead of the first round of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at KeyBank Center.
The area is home — but this is only a visit.
Earlier on Wednesday, Hodgson turned down an offer to be the next coach at Syracuse, according to multiple reports. The Orange fired third-year coach Adrian Autry earlier this month and were attracted to Hodgson’s quick turnaround at 25-win USF, which took home the American Conference regular-season and tournament championships after posting just one winning season since 2019.
Ironically, the game against the Cardinals makes Hodgson the first coach from western New York to start tournament play in Buffalo since former Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim in 2014.
“When it comes to situations like these, we try to stay away from social media because everything is fake,” said senior forward Izaiyah Nelson. “Everybody goes on social media and says anything, and it’s been happening for the last couple years. It’s the same old things every year.”
USF heads into Thursday’s matchup on an 11-game winning streak, tied with Duke for the second-longest active run in the country. Known for a potent offense — USF ranks eighth nationally with 87.7 points per game — the Bulls’ defense has made huge strides of late, holding seven of their past nine opponents to under 67 points.
“Yeah, I’m just a firm believer that’s just what good teams do. They get better and they play their best basketball in February and March,” Hodgson said. “Our guys have been locked in. They’re very process driven. They’re extremely selfless, and they wake up every morning with an intent to get better. That’s really showed on the court.”
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But the Bulls will face two serious tests in Friday’s matchup against the Cardinals. The first is Louisville’s own electric offense and talent level, which is beyond anything USF has faced since a road loss to Alabama in December.
The second is the drama over Hodgson’s future that may not die down anytime soon, not with his name now being drawn in connection with the opening at Providence.
This is the dilemma for all up-and-coming coaches outside the major-conference structure: While every successful season and tournament appearance raises the profile of the coach and his program, this same success raises the likelihood he’ll be poached by a deeper-pocketed suitor.
“Does it look like we pay attention to any of that? We’re out here playing basketball,” said Nelson. “We don’t get into those kind of things. We come out here every day, grinding, working hard, and just keeping our head down, worrying about the next game.”
To his point, the scrutiny on Hodgson’s future didn’t slow the Bulls’ push for the program’s first conference tournament championship since winning the Sun Belt in 1990. Autry was dismissed on March 11, four days before USF topped Wichita State in the American final.
“Yeah, I’ll say this: Time of the year doesn’t matter,” he said. “I can tell you that my sole focus is on winning basketball games and enjoying every single second with this group of young men I have right now.”
And Hodgson can lean on his experience as an assistant, when Oats coached Buffalo to successive tournament appearances in 2018 and 2019 — beating Arizona as the No. 13 seed in 2018 and Arizona State as a No. 6 a year later — when his name was bandied about in connection with major openings.
“Yeah, you come in with a chip on your shoulder and an edge,” said Hodgson. “When we beat Arizona, our guys got on that plane from the Buffalo airport full-heartedly believing we were going to go in there to win that game.
“My guys in that locker room right now feel the same way. We know that we’re here because of the work we’ve put in. There’s no luck. I’ve got a great group of young men that believe in their abilities. They’re confident in their abilities because, quite frankly, they work, and for us confidence comes from work.”
The Bulls received a major boost to their upset hopes with the news Louisville freshman star point guard Mikel Brown Jr. will miss Thursday’s first round game with a back injury.
Louisville enters March Madness with a 7-5 record with Brown on the bench vs. a 16-5 record when he plays. Per CBBAnalytics.com, it averages 6.4 fewer points per 40 minutes (88.1 vs. 81.7) and shoots 4.8% worse from beyond the arc (38.2% vs. 33.4%) when he’s not on the court.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: South Florida coach Bryan Hodgson back in NY, not staying for Syracuse
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