Pitt has accepted the BBVA Compass Bowl’s invite to play in Birmingham, Alabama against Kentucky on January 8. In his bowl predictions for Big East teams, SB Nation Pittsburgh’s Jeff Junstrom noted that this “isn’t a glamorous game,” and the Big East team gets a mediocre $600,000 payout, so this really wasn’t a good result for Pitt. They’ll get to play somewhere warm and there won’t be much else on TV that day, but that’s the best one can say.
Their opponent isn’t much to write home about, either. Kentucky snuck by a good South Carolina team but otherwise really struggled against SEC competition, going 2-6. The Wildcats are bowl-eligible only because of out-of-conference wins against Akron, Louisville, Charleston Southern and Western Kentucky.
The BBVA Compass Bowl was supposed to have the fifth Big East team, but Syracuse is headed to the New Era Pinstripe Bowl, which was supposed to take the No. 4, and South Florida will go to the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, which was supposed to take the No. 3. Because Syracuse had already accepted the New Era invite and because Pitt played in Charlotte last year, the Panthers end up in Birmingham.