2015 St. Petersburg Bowl, Connecticut vs. Marshall: Date, time, location and more

The ghost of the Beef O’Brady’s Bowl and the Bitcoin Bowl lives on with the St. Petersburg, which will play its eighth-ever game in 2015 at Tropicana Field.

Originally founded as the magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl, Beef O’Brady’s took over as the title sponsor in 2009 and St. Petersburg was eliminated from the title altogether in 2010. When Beef O’Brady’s dropped sponsorship, Bitcoin stepped up in 2014, but that lasted just one year.

The St. Petersburg Bowl pits an American Athletic Conference team against a team from the ACC or Conference USA, with the option of the Sun Belt or MAC serving as an alternate if there’s a lack of bowl-eligible teams.

Here is everything you need to know to get ready for this year’s St. Petersburg’s Bowl:

Date and time: Saturday, Dec. 26, 11 a.m. ET

TV channel: ESPN

Location: St. Petersburg, Fla.

Stadium: Tropicana Field, 42,735

Last year’s score: NC State 34, UCF 27

Last year’s attendance: 26,675

Last year’s TV rating: 2.0

Last year’s payout for each school: $537,500

Team with the most all-time appearances: UCF, 3

Team with the most all-time wins: Seven teams, 1

After a four-year drought, Connecticut is headed back to the postseason. A week 11 upset of then-undefeated Houston helped the Huskies clinch a six-win season and extend their schedule into the holidays. That win was also the team’s only victory against a winning team in 2015. The rest of their victories, over Villanova, Army, UCF, ECU, and Tulane, came against teams with a combined 7-38 record against FBS opponents. Two of those teams, Army and UCF, also lost to FCS opponents this year.

Second-year coach Bob Diaco has led a defensive renaissance in Storrs. After allowing nearly 30 points per game and ranking 84th among FBS programs, the opportunistic Huskies fielded a top-25 defense that allowed fewer than 20 points per game in 2015. They needed every ounce of that effort -- UConn’s offense was one of the bottom 10 in the nation. They scored only 17 points per game and were held to single-digit scoring three times.

Sophomore quarterback Bryant Shirreffs has been inconsistent in his first year as the Huskies’ starter. He’s been brilliant in flashes -- 465 total yards in a 28-20 loss to South Florida -- and horrible in stretches, including games against Cincinnati and Temple where he failed to complete more than 50 percent of his passes or throw for over 100 yards.

Last bowl game: 2010 season’s Fiesta Bowl (48-20 loss to No. 7 Oklahoma)

All-time bowl record: 3-2

Head coach’s bowl record: This will be Bob Diaco’s first bowl appearance.

Doc Holliday’s Thundering Herd wasn’t able to repeat as Conference USA champions, but Marshall is headed to its third consecutive bowl game and fourth in six years under the former West Virginia assistant. Holliday’s program has quietly become one of the most consistent teams in the Group of 5 and a serious threat come bowl season.

Despite losses to Ohio and Middle Tennessee State, Marshall entered the last week of the season in position to win the Conference USA East title for the third consecutive year. The Thundering Herd fell in a winner-take-all game at Western Kentucky. As in years past, Holliday did it with defense: Marshall generated a Conference USA-leading 27 turnovers in 2015, and held opponents to just 201 passing yards and 18.4 points per game.

Since taking over for the turnover-prone Michael Birdsong in the season’s third game, quarterback Chase Litton has effectively controlled the offense. Litton rolled up 2,387 passing yards and 22 touchdowns on 59 percent passing. Marshall lost leading rusher Devon Johnson due to injury halfway through the season, and a committee of running backs have combined for more than 1,200 yards in his absence.

Last bowl game: 2014 Boca Raton Bowl (52-23 win over Northern Illinois)

All-time bowl record: 9-3

Head coach’s bowl record: Doc Holliday is a perfect 3-0 in bowl games.