A report on Twitter from Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News has the Pitt Panthers heading to the BBVA Compass Bowl in Birmingham to play SMU on January 7 at 1:00 PM. The Panthers won the BBVA Compass Bowl earlier this year, defeating Kentucky.
It's official. You asked for it, Birmingham. You got it. Pitt (again) vs. SMU on Jan. 7 at Legion Field.
SMU, from Conference USA, finished the year 7-5. The Mustangs were blown out by Texas A&M in their first game of the season, and also were blown out by Southern Miss, Tulsa and Houston. They did, however, beat TCU. They finished with a 5-3 conference record, mostly by beating lower-tier C-USA teams like Memphis, Tulane and UTEP.
The Panthers, meanwhile, finished 6-6, not becoming bowl-eligible until beating Syracuse in their last regular-season game. Their top win was probably their November 12 victory over Louisville.
This isn't a marquee matchup by any mean, but then we weren't expecting one.