2011 BBVA Compass Bowl Game: Time, Location, History And More

To help prime you for the home stretch of bowl games, we've compiled this handy list of fun factoids concerning the 2011 BBVA Compass Bowl.

Proper name: The BBVA Compass Bowl, formerly the PapaJohns.com Bowl. Less pizza, more BBVA Compass, whatever that is.

Setting: Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, home of the UAB Blazers

Traditional conference pairing: Big East versus SEC

2010 matchup: The Pittsburgh Panthers (7-5) and the Kentucky Wildcats (6-6)

Announcers: Mike Gleason, John Congemi have the call while Cara Capuano roams the sidelines. Gonna be honest, I have no idea who these people are. ESPN must be sending the U-team to the Compass Bowl.

Weather: It'll be sunny and cold in Birmingham, with a high of 44 and a low of 25. Sunday has a chance of snow in the forecast, which would've been fun for a bowl game.

Neatest fact: I had no idea what a BBVA Compass was. I though compass, like the math instrument. Boy was I wrong. Holly Anderson broke it down here, shedding light on the confusing issue. In short, it's a bank and a crappy name for a bowl.

Closest finish: This game is relatively young, so our sample size is small here. In 2008, Rutgers beat NC State by six, 29-23, for the closest finish in the history of the bowl game.

Most lopsided finish: The first game, in 2006, was also the most lopsided, with South Florida easily dropping East Carolina, 24-7. Told you there wasn't much of a sample to work with.

Tidbits of interest: Pitt fired ... err head coach Dave Wannstedt retired following the regular season. In his place, Mike Haywood was hired, until he wasn't. Haywood was arrested for domestic violence shortly after he was hired and promptly fired by Pitt. Back to square-one for the Panthers. It's the first appearance in the BBVA Compass Bowl for both Pitt and Kentucky. The Big East has never lost a BBVA/PapaJohns Bowl, going 4-0. Conference USA is 0-2, the SEC is 0-1 and the ACC is 0-1.

The 2011 BBVA Compass Bowl kicks off at noon EST, Saturday, January 7. The game will be televised on FOX. For more bowl scores and highlights, browse our 2010 college football postseason schedule.