TAMPA, Fla. – Up and down the Empire State, Bryan Hodgson’s name is associated with the job opening at Syracuse. Such chatter, which includes the opening at Providence, goes with the territory this time of year. Hodgson, a native of Olean, N.Y., a city of about 15,000 residents and a roughly three-hour drive from SU, is an easy target given how he has excelled in three years as head coach at USF and Arkansas State.
Hodgson’s first year in Tampa has been a rousing success. His Bulls are American Conference champs and a No. 11 seed headed to Buffalo for an opening-round NCAA tournament matchup with No. 6 seed Louisville on Thursday afternoon. It is USF’s second tourney appearance in 35 years and fourth all-time for a program that launched in 1973-74. Hence, Hodgson can only be prominent on the radar.
“It’s great to be wanted and those opportunities come with success,” said the 37-year-old, who led Arkansas State to back-to-back 20-plus win campaigns for the first time since the 1980s. “I am the head basketball coach at the University of South Florida and I have a job to do and that job is not done yet. I am looking forward to an opportunity on Thursday.”
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As for potential distractions, Hodgson said no such static has infiltrated his group of young men who take an 11-game win streak to Buffalo along with a 25-8 mark to match the program record (2023-24) for wins in a season. In fact, all season his senior-laden group has done a fantastic job of focusing on today before tackling tomorrow.
“It you watched the games Saturday and Sunday, they weren’t distracted,” he said of dominant conference tournament wins over Charlotte (86-64) and Wichita State (70-55), respectively, in Birmingham.
The Bulls and Cardinals, a former Big East foe, tipoff at 1:30 Thursday. The game will be on TNT.
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