| Game Name: | Gasparilla Bowl |
| Subheader: | 11th Gasparilla Bowl |
| Title Sponsor: | Bad Boy Mowers |
| Date Game Played: | December 20 |
| Year Game Played: | 2018 |
| Football Season: | 2018 |
| Stadium: | Raymond James Stadium |
| City: | Tampa, Florida |
| Visitor School: | Marshall University |
| Visitor Name Short: | Marshall |
| Visitor Nickname: | Thundering Herd |
| Visitor Record: | 8–4 |
| Visitor Conference: | C-USA |
| Visitor Coach: | Doc Holliday |
| Visitor 1Q: | 21 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 3 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 7 |
| Home School: | University of South Florida |
| Home Name Short: | South Florida |
| Home Nickname: | Bulls |
| Home Record: | 7–5 |
| Home Conference: | The American |
| Home Coach: | Charlie Strong |
| Home 1Q: | 7 |
| Home 2Q: | 3 |
| Home 3Q: | 10 |
| Home 4Q: | 0 |
| Mvp: | Keion Davis (RB, Marshall)[1] |
| Odds: | Marshall by 2.5[2] |
| Referee: | Steve Baron (Mountain West) |
| Attendance: | 14,135 |
| Payout: | 1,134,000 [3] |
| Us Network: | ESPN and Gameday Radio |
| Us Announcers: | Clay Matvick, Dan Orlovsky and Paul Carcaterra (ESPN) Dave Weekley, Brad Howe, and Travis Jones (Gameday Radio) |
| Intl Network: | ESPN Deportes |
The 2018 Gasparilla Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 20, 2018,[4] with kickoff scheduled for 8:00 p.m. EST.[5] It was the 11th edition of the game originally known as the St. Petersburg Bowl and renamed before its 2017 playing as the Gasparilla Bowl, and one of the 2018–19 bowl games concluding the 2018 FBS football season. Sponsored by lawn mower manufacturing company Bad Boy Mowers, the game was officially known as the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl.
This was the first time for the bowl to be played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, as the prior 10 editions of the bowl were held at Tropicana Field in nearby St. Petersburg.[6]
The game featured the Marshall Thundering Herd of Conference USA (C-USA) against the South Florida Bulls of the American Athletic Conference (AAC) in their first meeting against each other.[7] [8]
See main article: 2018 Marshall Thundering Herd football team. Marshall received and accepted a bid to the Gasparilla Bowl on December 2.[7] The Thundering Herd entered the bowl with an 8–4 record (6–2 C-USA). The game was the team's 15th overall bowl appearance and third appearance in the Gasparilla Bowl. The Herd previously played in the 2011 edition and 2015 edition, winning against FIU and Connecticut, respectively.
See main article: 2018 South Florida Bulls football team. South Florida received and accepted a bid to the Gasparilla Bowl on December 2.[7] The Bulls entered the bowl with a 7–5 record (3–5 AAC), having lost their final five regular season games. The game was the team's 10th overall bowl appearance and second appearance in the Gasparilla Bowl. The Bulls previously played in the 2008 edition, winning against Memphis.
Source:[9]