South Florida football coach Charlie Strong watches a replay during a road game in September 2017. The Bulls are scheduled to host Alabama in 2023 before visiting the Crimson Tide for games in 2024 and 2026.Alabama has been college football's king of neutral-site matchups within the past decade, and the Crimson Tide have scheduled several quality home-and-home series with distant showdowns set against Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia.
The Tide are also delving into the two-for-one model, announcing Thursday a three-game series with the University of South Florida that will start in 2023. Alabama will face the Bulls that season in Raymond James Stadium, which is best known as the home of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with USF traveling up to Tuscaloosa in 2024 and 2026.
"We are pleased to add games with South Florida in 2023, 2024 and 2026 to our nonconference schedule," Alabama coach Nick Saban said in a university release. "Charlie Strong has built a strong program with the Bulls, and playing this kind of competition only makes our team better."
Alabama and USF opened the 2003 season at Birmingham's Legion Field, with the Tide cruising to a 40-17 win in the only encounter between the programs.
The Tide traveled to Raymond James Stadium for the championship game of the 2016 season but fell 35-31 to Clemson.
USF and Florida agreed last May to a two-for-one series, with the 2023 meeting at Raymond James and with the Bulls venturing to Gainesville's Swamp in 2022 and 2025. The Bulls are no strangers to Power Five competition, having defeated Georgia Tech and Illinois last year, and the American Athletic Conference program will open its 2019 season against Wisconsin.
"We now have 15 games scheduled versus SEC and ACC opponents in the next 10 years," USF athletic director Michel Kelly said in a release, "and I think our fans are really excited to see those teams come to Tampa as well as have the opportunity to travel and cheer on the Bulls in those destinations. It's going to be a lot of fun to be a USF fan."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.