The #22/25 USF Bulls have accepted an invitation to the 2016 Birmingham Bowl to face the South Carolina Gamecocks of the SEC. The Bulls finished the regular season with ten wins for the first time in program history. It’s also just the second time in the 20 year old program’s history to finish the regular season ranked in either national poll. It’s also the second time the program will visit Birmingham for a bowl game. USF beat ECU in the inaugural Papa John’s Bowl in Birmingham in 2006, 24-7. The Bulls are 4-3 all-time in bowl games, losing their last outing to Western Kentucky after a five year bowl drought.
“This is a great opportunity for our program to go out and show the country what we are all about and add another significant victory to a record-breaking season. We wanted to make going to bowl games a regular occurrence again at South Florida, so it’s great to be returning to a bowl for a second straight season and have the opportunity to play an SEC opponent in Birmingham,” said USF head coach, Willie Taggart.
The Gamecocks started their season 2-4, but finished 4-2 to become bowl eligible. South Carolina’s struggles and injuries forced first-year head coach, Will Muschamp, to go with a true freshman quarterback, Jake Bentley, to turn things around. Bentley is exceptional, not just in the fact that he was able to change the course of the season, but that he was just 17 when starting his football career at South Carolina, having skipped his final year of high school. This is the third trip to Birmingham for a bowl game for the Gamecocks. Their last trip ended in 20-7 defeat at the hands of fellow American Athletic Conference member, UConn, in 2010. They are 8-12 all-time in bowl games, but won their last four, straight.
“We’re excited to play in the Birmingham Bowl,” said Muschamp. “It’s another chance for the 2016 team to play together. It also gives us an opportunity to continue to improve our program in our first year. We look forward to playing in historic Legion Field, the site of the first two SEC Championship games, and in the state Alabama, which will be a homecoming for eight of our players.”
The only other meeting between these two teams was won by South Carolina, 34-3 back in 2004, USF’s fourth year as a Division 1-A program (FBS). The game will be played on Thursday, December 29, 2016, at 2 PM EST at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. It will be broadcast on one of the ESPN’s networks, still to be determined.
