The Birmingham Bowl is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game played annually in Birmingham, Alabama. First held in 2006, the game is owned and operated by ESPN Events.[1] The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) also provides marketing, management and game-day operations support. The game was previously known as the PapaJohns.com Bowl (2006–2010) and the BBVA Compass Bowl (2011–2014). TicketSmarter signed on as the title sponsor of the 2019 game, making it the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl. From its inception through 2020, the game was played at Legion Field; since the December 2021 game, it has been held at Protective Stadium.
The January 2021 edition of the bowl was cancelled due to an insufficient number of teams being available to fill all 2020–21 bowl games, following a season impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bowl marked the return of post-season football to the city of Birmingham, which previously hosted the Dixie Bowl from 1947 to 1948, the Hall of Fame Classic from 1977 to 1985 (which relocated to Tampa and became the Outback Bowl), and the All-American Bowl from 1986 to 1990 (which was canceled when the SEC Championship Game was awarded to the city).
In the inaugural edition of the bowl, played on December 23, 2006, the South Florida Bulls defeated the East Carolina Pirates, 24–7, in front of a crowd of 32,023.[2] Running back Benjamin Williams of South Florida scored the bowl's first points on a 16-yard touchdown run less than two minutes into the game; he added a second touchdown during the first quarter and was named the game's MVP.
After being held in December for its first three years, the fourth edition of the bowl was played in January 2010. As a result, there was no game during the 2009 calendar year. The bowl was subsequently played in January through its ninth edition, held in January 2015. The tenth edition of the bowl saw a return to December, resulting in two editions of the bowl being played during calendar year 2015. The bowl remained in December through its 13th edition, held in December 2018. The 14th edition of the bowl was held in January 2020, thus there was no game during calendar year 2019.
The bowl was originally played at Legion Field, located west of central Birmingham. With construction of a new football stadium on the grounds of the Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex closer to central Birmingham, the bowl was expected to move there.[3] Since the December 2021 edition, the bowl has been played at Protective Stadium.[4]
The bowl originally had a four-year agreement with Conference USA (C-USA) to match a representative of that conference against an opponent from the Big East Conference, but the bowl's officials later appealed to the NCAA for a recertification which was granted in late April 2008. In 2008 and 2009, the bowl featured the ninth bowl-eligible team of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and a team from the Big East Conference.[5]
The game currently features teams from the SEC and the American Athletic Conference (The American). Should either of these conferences not fulfill their bowl commitments, a team from C-USA or the Mid-American Conference (MAC) will take their place, provided it is bowl eligible.[6] Otherwise, the game will choose an at-large team. This happened in 2008, when the SEC was unable to send a team; the bowl selected North Carolina State of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) to face Rutgers from the Big East, even though the bowl had an arrangement with the Sun Belt Conference at the time, and that conference had at least one bowl-eligible team it could send. This occurred again in 2022 when the bid was brought down to the Sun Belt Conference.
From 2006 through 2010, the game was the PapaJohns.com Bowl, named after Papa John's Pizza, who became the title sponsor signing a multi-year agreement in November 2006.[7] On August 6, 2010, Papa John's announced it would not renew its sponsorship, after having secured a sponsorship deal with the National Football League.[8] Following the announcement, the game was temporarily renamed the Birmingham Bowl until BBVA Compass was announced as its title sponsor on November 4, 2010, officially changing its name to the BBVA Compass Bowl.[8] [9] The bowl was sponsored by BBVA through the January 2014 game, following which BBVA Compass declined to renew its sponsorship,[10] and the game was subsequently renamed the Birmingham Bowl. The 2018 edition of the Birmingham Bowl was sponsored by the Jared brand of Sterling Jewelers,[11] and the 2019-2022 edition was sponsored by TicketSmarter.[12]
On November 30, 2023, the 76 chain of gas stations was announced as the new title sponsor of the game.[13]
Rankings are from the AP Poll from before the game was played.
| Date | Bowl name | Winning team | Losing team | Attendance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 23, 2006 | South Florida | 24 | 7 | 32,023 | |||
| December 22, 2007 | 20 Cincinnati | 31 | 21 | 35,258 | |||
| December 29, 2008 | Rutgers | 29 | 23 | 38,582 | |||
| January 2, 2010 | Connecticut | 20 | 7 | 45,254 | |||
| January 8, 2011 | Pittsburgh | 27 | 10 | 41,207 | |||
| January 7, 2012 | SMU | 28 | 6 | 29,726 | |||
| January 5, 2013 | Ole Miss | 38 | 17 | 59,135 | |||
| January 4, 2014 | Vanderbilt | 41 | 24 | 42,717 | |||
| January 3, 2015 | Florida | 28 | 20 | 30,083 | |||
| December 30, 2015 | Auburn | 31 | 10 | 59,430 | |||
| December 29, 2016 | 25 South Florida | 46 | 39 (OT) | 31,229 | |||
| December 23, 2017 | 23 South Florida | 38 | 34 | 28,623 | |||
| December 22, 2018 | Wake Forest | 37 | 34 | 25,717 | |||
| January 2, 2020 | 23 Cincinnati | 38 | 6 | 27,193 | |||
| January 1, 2021 | Canceled[14] | — | |||||
| December 28, 2021 | 21 Houston | 17 | 13 | 47,100 | |||
| December 27, 2022 | East Carolina | 53 | 29 | 15,901 | |||
| December 23, 2023 | Duke | 17 | 10 | 20,023 | |||
| Date | Name | School | Position | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 23, 2006 | Benjamin Williams | South Florida | RB | |
| December 22, 2007 | Cincinnati | QB | ||
| December 29, 2008 | Rutgers | QB | ||
| January 2, 2010 | Connecticut | RB | ||
| January 8, 2011 | Pittsburgh | RB | ||
| January 7, 2012 | SMU | WR | ||
| January 5, 2013 | Ole Miss | QB | ||
| January 4, 2014 | Vanderbilt | WR | ||
| January 3, 2015 | Adam Lane | Florida | RB | |
| December 30, 2015 | Jovon Robinson | Auburn | RB | |
| December 29, 2016 | South Florida | QB | ||
| December 23, 2017 | South Florida | QB | ||
| December 22, 2018 | Wake Forest | QB | ||
| January 2, 2020 | Cincinnati | QB | ||
| December 28, 2021 | Houston | QB | ||
| December 27, 2022 | Holton Ahlers | East Carolina | QB | |
| December 23, 2023 | Chandler Rivers | Duke | CB |
Updated through the December 2023 edition (17 games, 34 total appearances).
| Rank | Team | Appearances | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 3–0 | |
| 3 | 1–2 | ||
| 3 | 1–2 | ||
| 4 | 2 | 2–0 | |
| 2 | 1–1 | ||
| 2 | 1–1 | ||
| 2 | 0–2 | ||
| 2 | 0–2 |
Updated through the December 2023 edition (17 games, 34 total appearances).
| Conference | Record | Appearances by season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | W | L | Win pct. | Won | Lost |
| 16 | 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009*, 2010*, 2016, 2017, 2019*, 2021, 2022 | 2011*, 2012*, 2013*, 2014*, 2015, 2018 | |||
| 8 | 2012*, 2013*, 2014*, 2015 | 2009*, 2010*, 2016, 2021 | |||
| 4 | 2018, 2023 | 2008, 2019* | |||
| 3 | 2011* | 2006, 2007 | |||
| 2 | 2022, 2023 | ||||
| 1 | 2017 |
| Team | Record, Team vs. Opponent | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most points scored (one team) | 53, East Carolina vs. Coastal Carolina | 2022 | |
| Most points scored (losing team) | 39, South Carolina vs. South Florida | 2016 | |
| Most points scored (both teams) | 85, South Florida (46) vs. South Carolina (39) | 2016 | |
| Fewest points allowed | 6, shared by: SMU vs. Pittsburgh Boston College vs. Cincinnati | 2012 2020 | |
| Largest margin of victory | 32, Cincinnati vs. Boston College | 2020 | |
| Total yards | 561, South Florida vs. Texas Tech | 2017 | |
| Rushing yards | 343, Cincinnati vs. Boston College | 2020 | |
| Passing yards | 427, East Carolina vs. Florida | Jan. 2015 | |
| First downs | 33, Cincinnati vs. Boston College | 2020 | |
| Fewest yards allowed | 164, Cincinnati vs. Boston College | 2020 | |
| Fewest rushing yards allowed | 10, SMU vs. Pittsburgh | 2012 | |
| Fewest passing yards allowed | 87, Cincinnati vs. Boston College | 2020 | |
| Individual | Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent | Year | |
| All-purpose yards | 318, Tony Pollard (Memphis) (109 rushing, 209 kick returns) | 2018 | |
| Touchdowns (all-purpose) | 5, shared by: Quinton Flowers South Florida Quinton Flowers South Florida | 2017 2016 | |
| Rushing yards | 155, Damion Fletcher (Southern Miss) | 2007 | |
| Rushing touchdowns | 3, shared by: Quinton Flowers (South Florida) Jamie Newman (Wake Forest) Desmond Ridder (Cincinnati) | 2016 2018 2020 | |
| Passing yards | 427, Shane Carden (East Carolina) | Jan. 2015 | |
| Passing touchdowns | 5, Holton Ahlers (East Carolina) | 2022 | |
| Receptions | 14, Deebo Samuel (South Carolina) | 2016 | |
| Receiving yards | 190, Deebo Samuel (South Carolina) | 2016 | |
| Receiving touchdowns | 2, shared by: Dominick Goodman (Cincinnati) Tyre McCants (South Florida) Isaiah Winstead (East Carolina) | 2007 2017 2022 | |
| Tackles | 17, shared by: Jason Hendricks (Pittsburgh) Shareef White (Memphis) | 2013 Dec. 2015 | |
| Sacks | 3.0, shared by: Margus Hunt (SMU) Dante Fowler (Florida) | 2012 Jan. 2015 | |
| Interceptions | 2, Reggis Ball (Memphis) | Dec. 2015 | |
| Long Plays | Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent | Year | |
| Touchdown run | 62 yds., shared by: I’Tavius Mathers (Ole Miss) Daniel Spencer (Houston) | 2013 2014 | |
| Touchdown pass | 86 yds., Treon Harris to Ahmad Fulwood (Florida) | Jan. 2015 | |
| Kickoff return | 97 yds., Tony Pollard (Memphis) | 2018 | |
| Punt return | 56 yds., Marcus Davis (Auburn) | Dec. 2015 | |
| Interception return | 53 yds., Reggis Ball (Memphis) | Dec. 2015 | |
| Fumble return | – | – | |
| Punt | 60 yds., Ryan Dougherty (East Carolina) | 2006 | |
| Field goal | 53 yds., Jake Elliott (Memphis) | Dec. 2015 |
Except for the first two editions of the bowl, which were televised on ESPN2, the bowl has been televised on ESPN.[18]