The Pittsburgh Panthers and the SMU Mustangs face off in the BBVA Compass Bowl in just 12 days. Fans who forgot to pick up tickets during the holiday madness need not worry. According to ESPN, ticket sales for Pitt are the slowest out of all bowl-bound teams in the Big East.
The Panthers have just 2,100 tickets "out" for the Jan. 7 Compass Bowl in Birmingham, AL. Rutgers, playing in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 30, and Louisville, playing in the Belk Bowl on Dec. 27, have each sold about 10,000 tickets. Cincinnati has sold about 9,000 for the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Dec. 31, and West Virginia has sold 6,000 for the Discover Orange Bowl on Jan. 4.
Those numbers only reflect tickets sold through the school, so it is not a complete picture of ticket sales.
Cardiac Hill, SB Nation's Pitt Panthers community, notes a problem with the team's lagging ticket sales.
It's also part of the reason Pitt can get passed over for better bowls even if they appear higher in the standings. The team simply doesn't travel well.
The BBVA Compass Bowl is Jan. 7 at 1 p.m. in Birmingham, AL. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.