BOCA RATON, Fla. — The stage is set for the Bulls.
In its first bowl appearance since 2018, South Florida will play against Syracuse in the Boca Raton Bowl at 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 21, the team announced Sunday on its website.
The game is scheduled to be played at FAU Stadium – which holds a capacity of 30,000 seats – in Boca Raton.
This marks the 11th bowl appearance for USF after a season that saw first-year head coach Alex Golesh lead a turnaround in the program.
The Bulls finished fifth place in the American Athletic Conference with a 6-6 record. Golesh stacked more wins than the entire tenure of previous head coach Jeff Scott.
The game will be televised on ESPN.
"USF football's five-win improvement over 2022 ranks as the greatest turnaround in program history and is tied with Liberty (13-0) for the second-best in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in 2023 behind only Northwestern's six-win improvement," the team wrote on its website. "USF is 6-4 all-time in bowl games, with notable victories over Clemson, South Carolina and Texas Tech."
This will be South Florida's fourth bowl game appearance in Florida and also its first time playing in the Boca Raton Bowl.
Fans can cheer on USF before the game in the Dual Team Pep Rally at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 20 at the Mizner Park Amphitheater. There will also be a fan fest from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 21 at the same location.
To learn more about the Boca Raton Bowl, click here.