South Florida And Texas Tech Set For Birmingham Bowl Matchup

BIRMINGHAM, AL - The University of South Florida (9-2), representing the American Athletic Conference

and Texas Tech (6-6), representing the Big 12 Conference, will meet in the 2017 Birmingham Bowl, game
officials announced Sunday. This will be the first ever meeting between the two schools. The 2017 Birmingham Bowl will be played Saturday, Dec. 23, at 11 a.m. at Legion Field.

“We are pleased to have USF return for their third Birmingham Bowl appearance and we welcome Texas
Tech for their first appearance in the Birmingham Bowl. We look forward to a great match-up and an
exciting game for our great city,” said Mark Meadows, Executive Director of the Birmingham Bowl. “We
know the fans of these two teams will experience the unique Southern Hospitality that Birmingham is
famous for during their stay.”

“This is an exciting bowl match-up and a chance for our team and this tremendous senior class to close the
2017 season with a win,” said USF head coach Charlie Strong. “It’s the third straight bowl game for our
program and a chance to go out and try to beat an exciting opponent and get to double-digit wins for a
second straight year. Our guys are excited to play.”

This will be USF’s third appearance in the Birmingham Bowl. The Bulls defeated East Carolina 24-7 in the
inaugural Birmingham Bowl in 2006. The Bulls also defeated South Carolina in last year’s
Birmingham Bowl. The Bulls’ 46-39 victory over the Gamecocks in last year’s game was the highest scoring game in the 11-year history of the Bowl. It was also the first overtime in Birmingham Bowl history.

“Our football program looks forward to participating in the Birmingham Bowl,” Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury said. “South Florida is a quality program, and we look forward to seeing Legion Field packed with scarlet and black here in a few weeks.”

Although this will be Texas Tech's first appearance in the Birmingham Bowl, this is not the Red Raiders' first trip to Birmingham. Texas Tech’s last visit to Birmingham was in the 1989 All-American Bowl against Duke at historic Legion Field. The Red Raiders won 49-21 against Steve Spurrier’s Blue Devils.

Photo by John Weast/Getty Images