History
The PapaJohns.com Bowl marked the return of post-season football to the city of Birmingham, which previously hosted the Dixie Bowl from 1947-1948, the Hall of Fame Classic from 1977-1985 (relocated to Tampa and now named the Outback Bowl), and the All-American Bowl from 1986-1990 (canceled when the SEC awarded their championship game to the city).
In the inaugural game, played on December 23, 2006, the South Florida Bulls, the Big East's representative, beat Conference USA's East Carolina Pirates, 24-7 in front of an announced crowd of 32,023. Benjamin Williams scored the game's first points just over ninety seconds into the game as one of his two touchdowns on the day, and earned the game's MVP honors. Notably, South Florida had previously been a member of C-USA.
The 2007 matchup featured the Southern Miss Golden Eagles and the Cincinnati Bearcats. As with the previous year's game, the participants were a former Conference USA member (Cincinnati) and a current C-USA member (Southern Miss).
After being held in December for its first three years, the PapaJohns.com Bowl was played on January 2, 2010. It was one of five bowl games to take place that day, joining the Cotton Bowl Classic, International, Alamo, and Liberty bowls. Connecticut faced South Carolina in the 2010 edition of the bowl. Once again, the unique link with C-USA returned, as South Carolina is an associate member in the conference for men's soccer.
On August 6, 2010, Papajohns.com announced it would not renew its sponsorship, after having secured a sponsorship deal with the National Football League. 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.
Read more about this topic: BBVA Compass Bowl
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