2008 St. Petersburg Bowl Preview
| 2008 St. Petersburg Bowl |
| Date | December 20, 2008 |
| Time | 4:30 p.m. |
| Television Network | ESPN2 |
| Location | St. Petersburg, FL |
| Stadium | Tropicana Field |
History of the St. Petersburg Bowl
2008 St. Petersburg Bowl Preview
| 2008 St. Petersburg Bowl |
| Date | December 20, 2008 |
| Time | 4:30 p.m. |
| Television Network | ESPN2 |
| Location | St. Petersburg, FL |
| Stadium | Tropicana Field |
History of the St. Petersburg Bowl
This is the first St. Petersburg Bowl, so we will look at the history of Tropicana Field and how they landed the bowl.
As an effort to lure Major League Baseball to town, the construction of the ballpark in St. Petersburg began in 1986. Due to the area’s hot, humid summers and frequent thunderstorms a dome was selected. The stadium was finished in 1990 and originally known as the Florida Suncoast Dome. Efforts to entice the Chicago White Sox, Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants to relocated failed, then St. Petersburg was passed over when baseball expanded in 1993.
The Arena Football League Tampa Bay Storm began playing there in 1991 and the National Hockey League Tampa Bay Lightning in 1993. The Florida Suncoast Dome was renamed the Thunderdome during that time. In 1995, Tampa Bay was awarded an expansion baseball franchise to begin play in 1998. The naming rights were sold to Tropicana.
The facility also hosted the 1999 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four. This past fall Tropicana Field also hosted the World Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies.
There was always talk of the possibility of holding football games, other than Arena Football, at the dome. A high school event called "The Battle of the Bay" was held in August 2004. With ESPN as the game’s owner, the NCAA's Postseason Football Licensing Subcommittee approved the idea on April 30, 2008. A one-year sponsorship deal with a communications company was announced on November 25, 2008 and the majicJack St. Petersburg Bowl was born. A deal with the Big East, Conference USA and Sun Belt was signed for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. Tampa Bay Buccaneers legend Mike Alstott was named the Honorary Chairman of the inaugural game.
| University of South Florida |
| Location | Tampa |
| Founded | 1956 |
| Enrollment | 34,447 |
| Nickname | Bulls |
The University of South Florida Bulls came into the 2008 season with high expectations. The team won its first five games, and had a number ten ranking, before the bottom fell out. They lost five of their last seven, including four of the last five to finish 7-5. The team went 2-5 in Big East Conference play. This is the fourth straight bowl game for USF.
Despite the disappointing close to the season, head coach Jim Leavitt was excited to play in St. Petersburg. “This is history, right now. We’re going to look back on this probably a number of years from now and being at the inaugural game is history. And we are all part of history and that is very, very powerful - extremely powerful. For me, it's real special. I grew up in St. Petersburg, probably 10 minutes from where this bowl game's going to be.”
The Bulls and Memphis had met four times previously, with each team winning twice, so Leavitt did say, “We’ve had great games in the past.”
| 2008 USF Bulls Results (7-5) |
| Date | Opponent | Result |
| Sat Aug 30 | Tennessee-Martin | Won 56-7 |
| Sat Sep 6 | at Central Florida | Won 31-24 |
| Fri Sep 12 | Kansas | Won 37-34 |
| Sat Sep 20 | at Florida International | Won 17-9 |
| Sat Sep 27 | at North Carolina State | Won 41-10 |
| Thr Oct 2 | Pittsburgh | Lost 26-21 |
| Sat Oct 18 | Syracuse | Won 45-13 |
| Sat Oct 25 | at Louisville | Lost 24-20 |
| Thr Oct 30 | at Cincinnati | Lost 24-10 |
| Sat Nov 15 | Rutgers | Lost 49-16 |
| Sat Nov 22 | Connecticut | Won 17-13 |
| Sat Dec 6 | at West Virginia | Lost 13-7 |
| Past USF Bowl Games (1-2) |
| Season | Bowl Game | Result |
| 2007 | Brut Sun | Oregon 56, USF 21 |
| 2006 | PapaJohns.com | USF 24, East Carolina 7 |
| 2005 | Meineke Car Care | NC State 14, USF 0 |
| University of Memphis |
| Location | Memphis TN |
| Founded | 1912 |
| Enrollment | 20,802 |
| Nickname | Tigers |
Memphis lost its first three games and won three of their last four games to become bowl eligible. The Tigers finished 6-6, 4-4 Conference USA, and are going to their fifth bowl game in the last six years.
Head coach Tommy West said about the game, “To have a chance to compete against a BCS (team), one of the three that left our league and went to the Big East, I'm not going to act like it's not important, because I think it is. When you're not in the BCS, it's a big deal. That's where we want to be.”
On USF he added, ''They are a tremendous defensive team. Yards will be hard to come by. I think the biggest thing is we'll be playing at their place, but that's OK. It'll be a great challenge for us.”
| 2008 Memphis Tigers (6-6) |
| Date | Opponent | Result |
| Sat Aug 30 | at Mississippi | Lost 41-24 |
| Sat Sep 6 | Rice | Lost 42-35 |
| Sat Sep 13 | at Marshall | Lost 17-16 |
| Sat Sep 20 | Nicholls State | Won 31-10 |
| Sat Sep 27 | Arkansas State | Won 29-17 |
| Thr Oct 2 | at UAB | Won 33-30 |
| Fri Oct 10 | Louisville | Lost 35-28 |
| Sat Oct 18 | at East Carolina | Lost 30-10 |
| Sat Oct 25 | at Southern Miss | Won 36-30 |
| Sat Nov 8 | at SMU | Won 31-26 |
| Sat Nov 22 | Central Florida | Lost 28-21 |
| Sat Nov 25 | Tulane | Won 45-6 |
| Past Memphis Bowl Games (4-2) |
| Season | Bowl Game | Result |
| 2007 | New Orleans | Florida Atlantic 44, Memphis 27 |
| 2005 | Motor City | Memphis 38, Akron 31 |
| 2004 | GMAC | Bowling Green 52, Memphis 35 |
| 2003 | New Orleans | Memphis 27, North Texas 17 |
| 1971 | Pasadena | Memphis 28, San Jose State 9 |
| 1956 | Burley | Memphis 32, East Tennessee State 12 |
This could effectively be a USF home game. Facing the top ranked offensive in the Big East and a 14th ranked nationally defense will test Memphis. While Bulls Quarterback Matt Grothe lead the conference in total offense, and was the team’s leading rusher, he did toss 14 interceptions to go with 15 TD passes. Linebacker Tyrone McKenzie was second in the Big East in tackles and defensive end George Selvie was named All-American for the second straight year.
Memphis junior running back Curtis Steele was third in Conference USA in rushing, but he will be facing a defense that was 8th in the country against the run. Junior QB Arkelon Hall missed the last few games with a broken thumb, but should be good to go for this game. Carlos Singleton has been the go to receiver and has scored 19 touchdowns in three seasons. Both teams do like play spread offense and played in some shootouts this season.
The odds makers believe USF will be a challenging assignment for Memphis and installed the Bulls as 13-point favorites.
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