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The 2013-14 season will be USF basketball's first in the American Athletic Conference, but they still managed to secure a decent nonconference slate. The schedule, released today, is as follows:
Saturday, Nov. 9 vs. Tennessee Tech
Tuesday, Nov. 12 vs. Bethune-Cookman
Friday, Nov. 15 at Bowling Green
Friday, Nov. 22 vs. Stetson
Monday, Nov. 25 vs. Oklahoma State
Saturday, Nov. 30 vs. Detroit
Wednesday, Dec. 4 at George Mason
Saturday, Dec. 7 vs. Alabama
Tuesday, Dec. 17 vs. FGCU
Thursday, Dec. 19 vs. FAMU
Sunday, Dec. 22 vs. Mississippi State (Las Vegas Classic)
Monday, Dec. 23 at UNLV/Santa Clara (Las Vegas Classic)
Saturday, Dec. 28 at Bradley
On first glance, it should be a fair deal more difficult than last year's schedule, which featured a ranked Oklahoma State squad and little else. There are a handful of layups here-- the first four games and FAMU-- but five of the Bulls' thirteen opponents were ranked in the top 100 last year by Ken Pomeroy (for perspective, USF was 144) as compared to two last season, and there are a trio of impressive games at the Sun Dome. Oklahoma State beat the Bulls by double digits in Stillwater last year and should be really, really good this season, while Alabama might be a top-50 squad, and a visit from Dunk City and Florida Gulf Coast will be entertaining at the very least. Add in a potential date at UNLV in the Las Vegas Classic over Christmas break, and this is a pretty difficult slate. Last year's team would've done well to go 7-6 with this schedule, so we'll find out quickly if Stan Heath has the Bulls back on the right track this season.