The ACC added a couple of extra bowls for 2020, which brings their total number of bowl tie-ins to 10.  One of the new bowls is in a desirable location, the other is in Boston.

The two new bowls are San Deigo’s Holiday Bowl and an an as-of-yet-unnamed bowl that will be played in Fenway Park.  (Insert joke about Boston playing second fiddle to NYC here.  The good folks in beantown are certainly not doing anything to dispel that image given that the Yankee Stadium Pinstripe Bowl has been around since 2010.)

The Fenway Park Bowl (I’ll give a shoutout in the next article to the poster who comes up with the catchiest name), will likely be the coldest bowl played outside of Boise Idaho and almost certainly the coldest bowl played by a Power Five team.  It will also reportedly pit the ACC vs the American Athletic Conference (AAC).   That’s a lot of A’s and C’s.   This bowl would have been perfect place to slot perennially mediocre (even more-so than Pitt!) Boston College against regional rival Uconn (Ideally every year…) except that Uconn decided to take its football and go somewhere else this offseason.  (They joined the Big East in all sports except football…because Big East football no longer exists).

Meanwhile the Holiday Bowl, which was formerly known as “Rose Bowl Lite” (Big 10 vs PAC 12) has switched over to the ACC.  I guess the rationale was that the “Atlantic” Coast Conference could get some exposure on the West Coast, but more likely its because the PAC-12 house routinely gotten housed by its Big 10 Opponents.  Note the Big 10’s 10-3 record in this bowl.  The Pac 12 meanwhile has gone 7-17 in its own backyard.  I guess the Holiday Bowl people are thinking the ACC offers just a tad bit more parity.

Screen Shot 2019-07-11 at 10.10.00 PM.png

On the bright side, there is a $2.8 M payout, and San Diego is  a nice, sunny destination for Pitt fans, should Pitt ever qualify.  But it’s an expensive trip and it’s a looong way away.   Still better than El-Paso though, any way you slice it.

For the sake of journalistic integrity, the rest of the ACC Bowl Tie Ins for 2020 are listed below.  Source is ACC.com.  My comments in italics

ACC Bowls, 2020-2025

  • Capital One Orange Bowl (Miami Gardens, Florida)

The ACC and its bowl partners will make team selections based on several factors, including geographic proximity, avoiding repeat appearances and matchups, and regular-season won-loss records.

  • Belk Bowl (Charlotte, North Carolina) – Used to be the Meinke Car Car Bowl and also the Continental Tire Bowl.  Pitt has played once in this bowl and it was their last known win against UNC, under the venerable Dave Wannstedt
    December 26, 2009 Meineke Car Care Bowl No. 17 Pittsburgh 19 North Carolina 17 50,389
  • Camping World Bowl (Orlando, Florida) – The only bowl with more sponsors in the last 30 years than Pitt head coaches.  Formerly known as the Blockbuster, Micron PC, Tangerine, Champs Sports, Russell Athletic Bowl.  Pitt played in it once (2001) and has a sparkling 1.000 winning percentage.  *Sigh* those were the days.
    12 December 20, 2001 Tangerine Bowl Pittsburgh 34 NC State 19 28,562
  • Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman (Annapolis, Maryland).  I don’t want to talk about it.
  • Hyundai Sun Bowl (El Paso, Texas) – I don’t want to talk about it.  Again.
  • New Era Pinstripe Bowl (New York City).  My brother went to Northwestern and lives in New York.  Even though we froze our asses off, we had a very nice time getting drunk together after this bowl.  Other than that, I don’t want to talk about it. 
  • Outback Bowl (Tampa, Florida) – if the ACC’s opponent in the Capital One Orange Bowl is from the Big Ten – This is a backup bowl for the ACC.  In the last 20 years exactly zero ACC teams have played in this bowl.  Other than that, I don’t want to talk about it.
  • San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl (San Diego, California)  – See above.
  • TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, Florida). Used to be known as the Gator Bowl.  Wish it still was.  Pitt is 2-1 in this bowl and last played in it in 1980.  We should also note that in 1977 #10 Pitt shellac’d #11 Clemson 34 – 3.  My how times have changed…
  • Bowl game (Boston, Massachusetts) – managed by ESPN Events and Fenway Sports Management.   A picture says a thousand words…Screen Shot 2019-07-11 at 10.42.32 PM.png

ESPN Events and the following bowls will collaborate on the selection of one ACC team.

  • Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl (Tampa, Florida).  Still the best name in the bowl business. 
  • Birmingham Bowl (Birmingham, Alabama).  I’m not familiar with this one.  Are you?
  • SERVPRO First Responder Bowl (Dallas, Texas).  Better than no bowl at all I guess.

In all, the ACC will annually have 10 guaranteed bowl berths in 2020-25.

Hail to Pitt

Michaelangelo Monteleone

 

 

 

Michaelangelo holds a degree in Travel Writing from the University of Pittsburgh. He was a former staff writer for InPittsburgh Newsweekly, and currently resides near Atlanta, Georgia. He has been a Pitt fan since 1997 after he witnessed Pitt upset #22 Miami on Thursday night at Pitt Stadium.

91 thoughts on “10 Bowls at the Same Time”

  2. These bowls don’t make money except for ESPN. Perhaps the new ACC network will carry them, at least the lower bowls where an ACC team gets in.

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  3. I remember going to two Pitt bowl games in Charlotte. We beat UNC with a last minute FG and we lost to maybe UVA (?)…

    Anyway, nice work by MM.

    I know some hate all the meaningless bowl games. I look at it as simply another chance (hopefully) to see the Panthers play…

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. They only are meaningless when Pitt wins one. When the Panthers lose however it becomes the key factor for calling for Narduzzi’s head on a stake, at least it feels that way to me.

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  6. And now for something completely different … Pitt credited with women’s soccer World Cup win. Huh? Yes, H2P! The article by Marc Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune reasons that the growth of women’s soccer was brought on by bloated college football teams such as, wait for it, Pitt. Yoi and double Yoi. Calling college football in the early 70’s the “Wild, Wild, West,” with up to “150 full rides” on a team, he writes, “In 1973, … Pitt coach Johnny Majors took it to another extreme.” He and his assistant coaches recruited a freshman class of anywhere between 75 and 90 members. “It would pay off,” he writes. “Four years later … Pitt won the national championship.” H2P! H2P! H2P! – That’s not in the article, but this is. With Title IX enacted in 1972, women’s scholarships had to increase somewhere and one of those somewheres was women’s soccer. And hence, the dominant U.S women’s soccer teams. I’ll end my comment with the words Zeigler uses to end his article: “Thank you, Johnny Majors.” – Hobie – PS. Now I’ll return you to your regular programming.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. So kind of talking about this in the reverse , with a Pitt tie in. I once worked for a guy who was a huge Nebraska Cornhuskers fan. You may remember that the ‘Huskers were once a national power and now they are little more than a stepping stone for Wisconsin to win the Big 10 west.

      You may also remember that the Cornhuskers demise began right around the time they hired … wait for it … Steve Pederson.

      Well one of the things Pederson did (besides running Frank Solich out on a rail) was completely dismantle the Nebraska walk-on program, which acceding to this guy was VERY robust. Basically every farm boy in Nebraska would grow up a Huskers fan and Solich would let pretty much all of them walk on. So imagine if Pitt had 100 PWO’s every year. Well as you can imagine quite a few George Aston’s emerged from that walk on program every year. Only a genius of Steve Pederson’s caliber could fail to see the that he was completely eliminating a major strategic advantage for his employer. And my boss hated him for it. H-A-T-E-D

      Liked by 2 people

  7. Thank you Johnnie…Hobie stop by Fran’s Red5A Tailgate and you can worship at the Johnny Majors altar..

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  9. Paciific Fleet Bowl…the one in San Diego, not Boston, for the geographically challenged….more common than you think in today’s youth….

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  11. Went to the last BBPV Bowl in Birmingham and witnessed PItt history with TINO and all-world 5 star daddy Rushel on the field at the same time….IRON Bowl,,it’s a sore sight for your eyes…game needs to be moved to UAB which has a new on-campus stadium..they were building it when we were in Birmingham for the bowl

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  14. Interesting about pac 12’s bad record against big 10 in San Diego bowl. The pac 12 has been bad. although big 10 fans say differently, the big 10 hasn’t been a juggernaut either.
    Peak said the pac 12 has one team in top 25 of recruiting rankings. ACC has 6.

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    1. PAC 12 also expected to be the lowest revenue P5 once ACC network gets rolling

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  15. A Must Read: Chris Peaks writeup today at pantherlair “A Secret Weapon Life Skills”. A great synopsis on the Cathy and John Pelosi Family Life Skills Program at Pitt.

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      1. Great idea Dan, it is more about students than it is student athletes. Penny sat a few rows down from me at Heinz, fan favorite for sure. Personality as big as his torso. Great guy!

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    2. Not sure how I feel about him writing the article. On one hand it’s great to publicize something great about Pitt. On the other hand now that he’s written about it, it’s no longer a secret weapon.

      I guess the upside is that probably none of our rivals are reading patherliar.com for ways to get a leg up over Pitt in recruiting

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      1. Good point. But the players pitt landed mentioning it probably is what really let the cat out of the bag.

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        1. Heather also mentioned it in the PSN article when discussing the Directors Cup. Pitt probably markets it hard since they have little else to market.

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          1. I disagree, Pitt has a good deal to offer and it seems like at least some of our FB recruits also agree.

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            1. Yes – a half empty stadium off campus, 0-3 in bowl games, a final ranking when most of these kids were still in diapers. How is Pitt marketing to fans who pay to see the games? They are having a tough time without the Nitter game at home. Pitt offers little to recruits and fans these days. And, I havent heard one recruit mention that Coastal participation trophy.

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              1. “The Coastal Participation Trophy”🤣🤣
                That’s pretty funny. Who knew there was a sense of humor buried somewhere in that grumpy old man?

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        2. Yea but we didn’t have to expose the details to the world. Look at me sounding like pat narduzzi… close those practices!

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  16. UPitt…yep..Legion field.. if the was an old dilapidated stadium in the middle of the Hill District including parking in the hood- you get my drift….hard to believe they leave that place standing…PITT Stadium was far far better and not badly situated comparatively speaking….

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  17. dan72..I agree…my beef about PITT was not having a good support system/tutoring help,luckily, my frat provided the filled that need…I hope the Life Skills program is offered to all freshmen…God knows they are spending their hard earned dollars for that PITT sheepskin !!!

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  18. dan72..I agree…my beef about PITT was not having a good support system/tutoring help,luckily, my frat e filled that need…I hope the Life Skills program is offered to all freshmen…God knows they are spending their hard earned dollars for that PITT sheepskin !!!

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  19. The Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium has been played since 2010. Syracuse has appeared in it in 2 of the 3 times its has been eligible and Rutgers appeared in it the only 2 times it was eligible. BC, Pitt and ND each appeared in it once.

    I’m pretty sure the Fenway Bowl will follow suit … and face it, the main reason this bowl exists is because the BoSox wanted what the Yanks has.

    Liked by 1 person

  21. Another must read(video of Taysir Mack attached) on the panther lair football board, Think you Could Do This?

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  23. Chas Rich’s Pitt Blather is back up. No new article but I now have computer access to his twitter feed & from his Dokish & Peaks twitter. Makes my life easier as I am way old school. I was able to get Dokish & Peak on my phone but I haven’t completely entered the smart phone era & still believe phone are basically to be used for communicating with family & friends.

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  24. From yesterday’s thread on appreciating you wife:

    it doesn’t have to just be hugs & kisses. My wife was a hand holder. She would grab my hand anytime she was able. Usually, I would hold hers for a minute or so & drop it. She was also a slower walker than me. Always falling behind me or stopping to look at a window display. It dawned on me to hold her hand & I could slow my gait & keep her from window shopping. After awhile it became a habit & I enjoyed it.

    I was amazed at the funeral when the majority of the women visitors thought it was so sweet that I was holding her hand whenever they saw us together & wished their husband did the same.

    And it all started with a selfish act on my part to keep her from falling behind.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Richard, you and I have more in common than the road you were raised on. Great story and stay strong with your memories. I never take a day for granted when it comes to my family. Hope to see you this year at a game…….

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  26. Tex have u given up hope on pickett? For some reason I am still hoping he can be good. But my hope is minimal after last year.

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    1. We’ve made a huge investment in Kenny Pickett, bestowing on him our most precious commodity — playing time at QB.

      With a year of experience, it’s time for the dividends…
      I like the situation we’re in right now at QB.

      Go Pitt.

      Liked by 2 people

    2. I havent given up hope. He needs confidence, a QB whisperer and a good line. I expect a much better performance from Kenny this coming year.

      Liked by 2 people

  27. Not so quick John… You might want to look at Dokish’s twitter at the pic of our OLineman at the water park… can you say obesity…. gives me reason for angst….

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    1. I saw it. These boys are far from lean And man. Fat and happy is more like it. I’m taking my preseason grade way down. Does not seem like they are physically focused, sad to say

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    2. Well, except for the guy on the far right, they look like pretty typical OL bodies to me…

      Though 5 O’Neill bodies would be nice…😊

      Go Pitt.

      Liked by 1 person

  29. Life Skill Programs have been around the major programs for decades. I am glad that Pitt is talking about theirs a bit more. Part of it should include interview day where potential employers come in and interview the athlete students and they get immediate feedback from employers. This idea is a win win because the athlete student gets real life interviewing practice and potential job offers and Pitt gets a chance to get potential sponsors/donors on campus to meet with and hob nob with the athletes.

    Pitt can get that to the local news outlets for even more exposure to the WPIAL athletes. Pitt would then need to follow-up with % of hires, etc. UPITT would probably enjoy spending a few hours interviewing athletes in various capacities. Great to do this when new workers are in need by just about everyone. I hope they do this….stat!

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  30. Kurt is a big Steeler fan and hates the Patriots. He says their fans are jerks and calls all Patriot fans “Massholes”. So my bowl game name would be “The Masshole Bowl”.

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    1. well, lets find a bowl where the 2nd or 3rd team from the MAC (say, Bowling Green) is playing .. and win a close game. And it will propel us to a 6-7 record the following year against a really easy schedule.

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    2. Unless Pitt wins 10 regular-season games, I’m all for a crappy bowl against a crappy opponent all for the W. I don’t care about posters wanting a bowl in a warm climate so they can golf. They get their wish then complain for an entire offseason if Pitt loses.

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  35. Couple items I’ve have in my aging head:

    I think Jay is one of the better posters on the POV (way way better than I)

    Michaelangelo Monteleone is doing a fine fine job, deserves lots of credit.

    Football season is right around the corner, can you dig it baby

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    2. ike — heard a bit of Dorin Dickerson on the FAN last night. He said he was out golfing with a buddy this week and at one point said to him “Smell that? Football’s in the air!”

      It’s quickly getting to be that time… 🏈

      Go Pitt.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. John, are you sure Fran wasn’t in the foursome ahead of Dorin. That may not have been football he was smelling in the air? 🙂 Jus kidding Fran..

        Liked by 1 person

  36. This year will have the most 5 win bowl representative teams ever. Too many bowls, not enough good cereal to fill em.

    Fran – glad i am not old enough to get the reference. On second thought, maybe i am old enough and am just getting more forgetful.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Fran, please remind me to stay upwind at the tailgates…

        A blind man pissing in the wind says………. I see I see.

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  40. Poor Fran Biggie….

    BTW. it’s a good thing I proof read my short comment because I was off one letter with your nickname Biggie. As you know, my CPU room is small and dark and I just came in from a bright sunny day from weed-whacking and I probably would have been banned for life. Yikes. Check the keyboard, you’ll see what I mean and that’s not the first time I did and caught that.

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  44. Was just watching the national news.

    Does this creepy guy Epstein remind anyone else of the PSU creepy-guy Sandusky?

    Creepy, I tell ya…

    Liked by 1 person

  46. wwb.. was that concert at th”Red Rooster?”…Lay- trobe… that’s where Me n JeanieB were when we landed on the moon…. think we saw either TJ and the Shondells or Jr Walker and the AllStars… can’t remember- drunk on love and chasing an underage JeanieB( she out- ranks me by6 months) didn’t matter back then… it was all about the chase….

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  50. Tidbit ..was reading on Stan the man Musial… played high school ball in Donora with a Griffey- the father of Ken Griffey, grandfather of Junior…. Stan was a very good basketball player and received a scholarship from the University of Pittsburgh. ..then St Louis Cardinals came calling… and now you know the rest of the story…. who knows- if he took that BB scholarship maybe Musial and Groat would both have their jerseys hanging from the gym’s rafters.

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  52. another sports tidbit..Purnell “sweetpea” Whitacre was hit and killed last night while crossing a busy street in Va Beach

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  53. Pernell dodged a lot of lefts, rights and upper cuts. Couldn’t dodge the dodge though, real sad.

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