IRVING, Texas – Rice and South Florida will represent the American Athletic Conference in the 2025 NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship, which begins Friday, May 2 with first-round matches.
 
Rice, which won the 2025 American Men’s Tennis Championship last week, received the conference’s automatic bid to the national tournament, while South Florida was chosen as an at-large selection.
 
Rice will begin tournament play in College Station, Texas, where the Owls will face No. 16-seeded Texas A&M in the first round. A win against the Aggies would put the Owls against either Baylor or Nebraska in the second round. Rice, which has won six of its last seven matches entering the NCAA Championship, fell 6-1 to Texas A&M March 11 in College Station.
 
Rice is making its second consecutive NCAA tournament appearance and its 14th appearance since the adoption of the dual match format in 1977.
 
South Florida makes a short road trip on Interstate 4 for its tournament run as the Bulls take on Florida in Orlando. A win against the Gators would send South Florida to a second-round matchup against either Miami (Fla.) or No. 15-seeded UCF. The Bulls have not faced Florida this season, but split a pair of matches against UCF, including a 6-1 win against the Knights March 9 in Orlando. South Florida fell 5-2 to Miami in Coral Gables Jan. 31.
 
South Florida will make its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2022. The Bulls will make their eighth NCAA appearance as a member of The American.
 
First- and second-round competition takes place May 2-3 and features four teams playing in a single-elimination format. The winner of each site advances to super-regional competition May 9 or 10. Each super-regional site will feature two teams playing a single-elimination format. The super-regional winners advance to the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas, where the eight teams will compete for the national championship May 17-19. 
 
The American has sent multiple teams to the NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship every year since the conference’s formation in the 2013-14 academic year. 
 
 
 
2025 NCAA MEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
American Athletic Conference pairings
 
First Round | May 2 or May 3                          
 
Orlando, Fla.
South Florida (19-4) vs. Florida (14-11)
Miami (Fla.) vs. (15) UCF (21-8)
 
College Station, Texas
Rice (16-9) vs. (16) Texas A&M (16-10)
Baylor (22-10) vs. Nebraska (15-9)