USF basketball fans enjoying historic season

TAMPA - University of South Florida senior Nic Montgomery has been coming to USF basketball games since first stepping foot on campus.

"I'm an OG fan," said Nic. 

Getting his friends and fraternity brothers to join him at those games, however, was often a fruitless endeavor for Nic. 

"The reaction was pretty sparce," Nic remembers.

"I couldn't really get too many people to come with me. It was just a few ride or dies."

Likewise, season ticket holder Brian Ronayne couldn't give away any extra tickets to see the Bulls men's basketball team.

But now, fans like Ronayne have the hottest ticket in town. 

"It's exciting," said Ronayne.

"My dad has never been to a USF event, but he is here with me today. I got him to come out to today's game.

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With the Bulls on a program-record 13-game winning streak, fans have started to flock to the Yuengling Center to get a glimpse of one of the hottest teams in college basketball for themselves. 

"Other people want to ask me for tickets because they know I'm a big supporter, and they ask me where they can get tickets," Ronayne said. 

Last week, USF sold out the Yuengling Center for the first time in more than two decades during a game against Florida Atlantic, only to repeat the feat a week later against Southern Methodist. 

"There isn't anything like this. This ain't the same old South Florida man!" says Carson McGrail, a leader of the school's official student section, the SoFlo Rodeo. 

Now, with the Bulls cracking the national polls for the first time in program history, and with the USF football team returning to the national spotlight with a bowl game championship, sentiment for South Florida sports hasn't been this high in a long time. 

"Everyone talks about realignment and the Bulls moving up. It's great to get some of that recognition and see how big the brand can be."

That, however, has fans wanting to see more. 

"Everyone talks about (conference) realignment and the Bulls moving up," said Ronayne. 

"It's great to get some of that recognition and see how big the brand can be."

With the Bulls men's basketball team positioning themselves for a run at the NCAA Tournament and an on-campus football stadium set to open in 2026, the Bulls' brand is well on its way to growing. 

Just how big that brand gets is what fans like Brian Ronayne, Nic Montgomery and Carson McGrail can't wait to find out.