Delicious football will be on display in this one. Wait. We mean hard-hitting pizza. Check that -- it’s just the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, which, mouth-watering name aside, is still a football game.
2013 Little Caesars Bowl, Pitt vs. Bowling Green: TV time, team profiles and more
The MAC champions face one of the ACC’s newest teams (according to ESPN’s Brett McMurphy) in Detroit, and ... hey! Pitt’s not in Birmingham!
Previously known as the Motor City Bowl, the Little Casaers Bowl has a tie-in with the MAC and Big Ten conferences. But since only seven Big Ten teams are bowl eligible, a Sun Belt team or an at-large one is set to take its place instead.
Date and time, ET: Thursday, Dec. 26 at 6 p.m. ET
TV channel: ESPN
Location: Detroit, Mich.
Stadium: Ford Field (65,000 capacity)
Tickets: Find available seats here.
Last year’s score: Central Michigan 24, Western Kentucky 21
Last year’s attendance: 23,310
Last year’s TV rating: 1.63
Last year’s payout for each school: $600,000
Team with the most all-time appearances: Marshall, with five
Team with the most all-time wins: Marshall, with four
Pittsburgh (6-6, 3-5 ACC)
The Pitt football team’s first year in the ACC could have gone better, but the Panthers will be bowling for a sixth consecutive season following a second straight 6-6 campaign from head coach Paul Chryst. Wins against New Mexico, Virginia, Old Dominion and Syracuse aren’t exactly head-twirling, but the Panthers also defeated ACC Coastal champion Duke as well as a ranked Notre Dame team en route to bowl eligibility.
Chryst, the former offensive coordinator at Wisconsin, hasn’t exactly seen his pro-style, run-first strategy take storm in Pittsburgh quite yet -- but much of that has been due to the team’s lack of a consistent running option. Isaac Bennett and James Conner have been solid, but not spectacular, and Tom Savage threw for 21 touchdowns and ran for three more after transferring from Rutgers.
Last bowl game: 2013 BBVA Compass Bowl vs. Ole Miss, 38-17 loss
Last year without a bowl: 2007
All-time bowl record: 12-17
Head coach’s bowl record: Paul Chryst, 0-1
Bowling Green (10-3, 7-1 MAC)
Even though Bowling Green had a highly successful regular season, the general consensus was that it would not be able to beat Jordan Lynch and Northern Illinois’s high-profile offense in the conference championship game. The Falcons won that game, 47-27, knocking the Huskies out of BCS contention and recording their first 10-win season since 2003.
The Falcons combined a balanced offensive attack with one of the stingiest defenses in the nation, and their only MAC loss was a three-point defeat to Toledo. Non-conference losses came to Indiana (42-10) and Mississippi State (21-20), but the heroics of sophomore quarterback Matt Johnson and his five-touchdown conference title game performance will not soon be forgotten.
Last bowl game: 2012 Military Bowl vs. San Jose State, 29-20 loss
Last year without a bowl: 2011
All-time bowl record: 4-6
Head coach’s bowl record: Dave Clawson, 0-2
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