The View from South Florida: A Slow Pace Is Part of the Strategy It's easy to understand why members of the University of South Florida men's basketball team were getting edgy as the N.C.A.A. Selection Show neared its end Sunday. After a surprising season, the Bulls (20-13, 12-7) found themselves in contention for an at-large tournament berth for the first time since 1992. Picked to finish 14th in the Big East preseason poll, U.S.F. set a school-record with 12 conference wins and finished in a three-way tie for fourth in a conference that entered nine teams in the N.C.A.A. Tournament. Still, the Bulls were considered a bubble team because of bad non-conference loses to Old Dominion, Penn State and Auburn. Even their Big East wins were somewhat underwhelming, with nine coming against the bottom six teams in the league. In the end, it was just enough to get the Bulls into the 68-team field, where they'll meet California in a First Four game in Dayton, Ohio, on Wednesday night. The winner advances as the 12th seed in the South Region, where a matchup against fifth-seeded Temple awaits on Friday night in Nashville. I was on the edge of my seat. It definitely made the experience a lot more exciting," junior forward Toarlyn Fitzpatrick, who went to high school less than five miles from U.S.F."s campus, said. It means a lot to the program and the city itself. It's exciting for everyone that got up for our team and supported us. One of the last teams selected, the Bulls earned the 47th overall seed. Coach Stan Heath said after the Bulls" Big East Tournament quarterfinals loss to Notre Dame that teams that play like his not only make the tournament but advance, pointing to the example of Butler from past seasons. Under the influence of true freshman point guard Anthony Collins, U.S.F. plays an ultra-controlled, slow-paced game, using nearly the full shot clock on every possession and playing a stingy defense that led the Big East in scoring. With a leading scorer in Augustus Gilchrist who only averages 9.6 points per game, the Bulls don't score a lot, averaging 59.2 per game as a team, but they don't give up many either. In its last 10 games, U.S.F. only allowed 56 or more points twice - 56 to No. 1 seed Syracuse in the Carrier Dome on Feb. 4 and 57 to the Fighting Irish in an overtime game Thursday. Now that the mission of getting into the tournament is complete, the next goal is Heath's hope for advancement, just as Virginia Commonwealth did from last year's First Four to the Final Four. "Just getting in isn't enough," Heath said. We're excited. We accomplished some goals but we certainly want to advance. ... We've got to make sure that we understand it's a new season and we have to play hard. Every team in this field is extremely good and we have to play good basketball. The first step is Wednesday's matchup with the Golden Bears (24-9, 13-5). California finished second in an unusually weak Pacific-12 Conference that only sent two teams to the N.C.A.A. tournament. The Golden Bears have four players averaging more points than Gilchrist, led by sophomore guard Allen Crabbe's 15.3 points per game. Though U.S.F. hasn't reached the N.C.A.A. tournament in 20 years, the Bulls do have one player on the roster with experience in senior forward Ron Anderson Jr., who played in it in 2008 before his transfer from Kansas State. Playing as an 11-seed, Anderson and the Wildcats upset Southern California in the opening round before being eliminated by Wisconsin. Now on a bigger stage under more intense pressure, Heath said the Bulls still have room to improve on an already positive season. "We still feel like we can play better basketball and we're excited to have an opportunity to go forward," he said. Michael Manganello is the sports editor at The Oracle at the University of South Florida.