Photo by Alex Felski | The Crow’s Nest
USF Athletics had a historical run in 2025. Coming into the new year, as well as a new semester, let’s catch up on some of the sports moments you might’ve missed last fall through the lens of contributor Alex Felski.
All photos by Alex Felski | The Crow’s Nest
Love Wins Classic
The University of South Florida men’s basketball team beat Kennesaw State 108-89 on Nov. 16 in the inaugural “Love Wins Classic”, honoring late coach Amir Abdur-Rahim.
The teams celebrated the legacy that coach Abdur-Rahim created coaching both programs — leading Kennesaw State and USF to conference titles in 2023 and 2024.
The Bulls debuted new “Love Wins” uniforms, inspired by the black bomber jacket that coach Abdur-Rahim regularly wore. Additionally, for the first time in USF’s history, the Bulls scored 100+ points in three of its first four games.
USF women’s basketball vs. Duke
USF dominated one of the nation’s top-ranked women’s basketball teams, Duke University 85-72 on Nov. 20.
It was a night of career-defining moments, with guard Stefanie Ingram scoring 27 points, a career high for the redshirt junior.
American Conference Volleyball playoffs and championship
USF hosted the 2025 American Conference Volleyball Tournament on Nov. 21-23, where the country’s top eight teams competed for the championship title.
In a remarkable display of the team’s success during its regular season, South Florida advanced to the semifinals before losing to the University of Tulsa, the ultimate winner of the conference tournament.
USF women’s basketball vs. University of Connecticut
The nation’s No. 1 college women’s basketball team, the University of Connecticut, made a stop at USF on Dec. 2, 2025, continuing its undefeated reign with an 85-51 win against the Bulls.
USF men’s basketball vs. Utah State
In a 74-61 win, USF handed the Utah State men’s basketball team its first loss of the season on Dec. 4, 2025.
Cure Bowl
Alongside Old Dominion University, USF’s football team traveled to Orlando to participate in the Cure Bowl, an annual bowl game that brings awareness and raises money for breast cancer research. In a 24-10 loss against Old Dominion, the Dec. 17, 2025 game came with some big adjustments for the Bulls: The team played without quarterback Byrum Brown, who took on a coaching role, and without former head coach Alex Golesh, who’d announced his move to Auburn University weeks before.
