The Birmingham Bowl is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game played annually in Birmingham, Alabama. First held in 2006, the game is owned and operated by ESPN Events. From its inception through 2020, the game was played at Legion Field; since the December 2021 game, it has been held at Protective Stadium. The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) also provides marketing, management and game-day operations support.
The game was previously known as the PapaJohns.com Bowl (2006–2010) and the BBVA Compass Bowl (2011–2014). A multi-year sponsorship agreement with JLab Audio was announced in September 2025, making the game's full name the JLab Birmingham Bowl.
History
The bowl marked the return of post-season football to the city of Birmingham, which previously hosted the Dixie Bowl from 1947 to 1948, the Hall of Fame Classic from 1977 to 1984 (which relocated to Tampa and became the Outback Bowl), and the All-American Bowl from 1985 to 1990 (which was canceled when the SEC Championship Game was awarded to the city).
In the inaugural edition of the bowl, played on December 23, 2006, the South Florida Bulls defeated the East Carolina Pirates, 24–7, in front of a crowd of 32,023. Running back Benjamin Williams of South Florida scored the bowl's first points on a 16-yard touchdown run less than two minutes into the game; he added a second touchdown during the first quarter and was named the game's MVP.
After being held in December for its first three years, the fourth edition of the bowl was played in January 2010. As a result, there was no game during the 2009 calendar year. The bowl was subsequently played in January through its ninth edition, held in January 2015. The tenth edition of the bowl saw a return to December, resulting in two editions of the bowl being played during calendar year 2015. The bowl remained in December through its 13th edition, held in December 2018. The 14th edition of the bowl was held in January 2020, thus there was no game during calendar year 2019.
The January 2021 edition of the bowl was cancelled due to an insufficient number of teams being available to fill all 2020–21 bowl games, following a season impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bowl was originally played at Legion Field, located west of central Birmingham. With construction of a new football stadium on the grounds of the Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex closer to central Birmingham, the bowl was expected to move there. Since the December 2021 edition, the bowl has been played at Protective Stadium.
Conference tie-ins The bowl originally had a four-year agreement with Conference USA (C-USA) to match a representative of that conference against an opponent from the Big East Conference, but the bowl's officials later appealed to the NCAA for a recertification which was granted in late April 2008. In 2008 and 2009, the bowl featured the ninth bowl-eligible team of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and a team from the Big East Conference.
The game currently features teams from the SEC and the American Athletic Conference (The American). Should either of these conferences not fulfill their bowl commitments, a team from C-USA or the Mid-American Conference (MAC) will take their place, provided it is bowl eligible. Otherwise, the game will choose an at-large team. This happened in 2008, when the SEC was unable to send a team; the bowl selected North Carolina State of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) to face Rutgers from the Big East, even though the bowl had an arrangement with the Sun Belt Conference at the time, and that conference had at least one bowl-eligible team it could send. This occurred again in 2022 when the bid was brought down to the Sun Belt Conference.
Sponsorship From 2006 through 2010, the game was the PapaJohns.com Bowl, named after Papa John's Pizza, who became the title sponsor signing a multi-year agreement in November 2006. On August 6, 2010, Papa John's announced it would not renew its sponsorship, after having secured a sponsorship deal with the National Football League.
The game was temporarily renamed the Birmingham Bowl until BBVA Compass was announced as its title sponsor on November 4, 2010, officially changing its name to the BBVA Compass Bowl. The bowl was sponsored by BBVA through the January 2014 game, following which BBVA Compass declined to renew its sponsorship," BBVA Compass to end sponsorship of bowl game in Birmingham" The Biz Journals. 2013-04-03 and the game was subsequently renamed the Birmingham Bowl.
The 2018 edition was sponsored by the Jared brand of Sterling Jewelers, and the 2019–2022 editions were sponsored by TicketSmarter.
On November 30, 2023, the 76 chain of gas stations was announced as the new sponsor of the game. This arrangement was in place for just one edition of the game.
In September 2025, a four-year sponsorship agreement with JLab Audio was announced.
Game results Rankings are from the AP Poll from before the game was played. DateBowl name Winning team Losing teamAttendance December 23, 2006 PapaJohns.com Bowl South Florida 24 East Carolina 7 32,023 December 22, 2007 PapaJohns.com Bowl 20 Cincinnati 31 Southern Miss 21 35,258 December 29, 2008 PapaJohns.com Bowl Rutgers 29 NC State 23 38,582January 2, 2010 PapaJohns.com Bowl Connecticut 20 South Carolina 7 45,254January 8, 2011 BBVA Compass Bowl Pittsburgh 27 Kentucky 10 41,207January 7, 2012 BBVA Compass Bowl SMU 28 Pittsburgh 6 29,726January 5, 2013 BBVA Compass Bowl Ole Miss 38 Pittsburgh 17 59,135January 4, 2014 BBVA Compass Bowl Vanderbilt 41 Houston 24 42,717January 3, 2015 Birmingham Bowl Florida 28 East Carolina 20 30,083 December 30, 2015 Birmingham Bowl Auburn 31 Memphis 10 59,430 December 29, 2016 Birmingham Bowl 25 South Florida 46 South Carolina 39 (OT) 31,229 December 23, 2017 Birmingham Bowl 23 South Florida 38 Texas Tech 34 28,623 December 22, 2018 Birmingham Bowl Wake Forest 37 Memphis 34 25,717January 2, 2020 Birmingham Bowl 23 Cincinnati 38 Boston College 6 27,193January 1, 2021 Canceled —December 28, 2021 Birmingham Bowl 21 Houston 17 Auburn 13 47,100December 27, 2022 Birmingham Bowl East Carolina 53 Coastal Carolina 29 15,901December 23, 2023 Birmingham Bowl Duke 17 Troy 10 20,023December 27, 2024 Birmingham Bowl Vanderbilt 35 Georgia Tech 27 33,840December 29, 2025 Birmingham Bowl Georgia Southern 29 Appalachian State 10 12,092 Source:
MVPs
DateNameSchoolPosition December 23, 2006 Benjamin Williams South Florida RB December 22, 2007 Ben Mauk Cincinnati QB December 29, 2008 Mike Teel Rutgers QB January 2, 2010 Andre Dixon Connecticut RB January 8, 2011 Dion Lewis Pittsburgh RB January 7, 2012 Darius Johnson SMU WR January 5, 2013 Bo Wallace Ole Miss QB January 4, 2014 Jordan Matthews Vanderbilt WR January 3, 2015 Adam Lane Florida RB December 30, 2015 Jovon Robinson Auburn RB December 29, 2016 Quinton Flowers South Florida QB December 23, 2017 Quinton Flowers South Florida QB December 22, 2018 Jamie Newman Wake Forest QB January 2, 2020 Desmond Ridder Cincinnati QB December 28, 2021 Clayton Tune Houston QB December 27, 2022 Holton Ahlers East Carolina QB December 23, 2023 Chandler Rivers Duke CB December 27, 2024 Diego Pavia Vanderbilt QB December 29, 2025 OJ Arnold Georgia Southern RB Source:
Most appearances
Updated through the December 2025 edition (19 games, 38 total appearances).
Teams with multiple appearances RankTeamAppearancesRecord1 South Florida 3 3–0 Pittsburgh 3 1–2 East Carolina 3 1–24 Cincinnati 2 2–0 Vanderbilt 2 2–0 Auburn 2 1–1 Houston 2 1–1 Memphis 2 0–2 South Carolina 2 0–2
Teams with a single appearance Won (8): Duke, Florida, Georgia Southern, Ole Miss, Rutgers, SMU, UConn, Wake Forest
Lost (9): Appalachian State, Boston College, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, NC State, Southern Miss, Texas Tech, Troy
Appearances by conference Updated through the December 2025 edition (19 games, 38 total appearances).
ConferenceRecordAppearances by seasonGamesWLWin pct.WonLost American 16 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009*, 2010*, 2016, 2017, 2019*, 2021, 2022 2011*, 2012*, 2013*, 2014*, 2015, 2018 SEC 9 2012*, 2013*, 2014*, 2015, 2024 2009*, 2010*, 2016, 2021 ACC 5 2018, 2023 2008, 2019*, 2024 Sun Belt 4 2025 2022, 2023, 2025 CUSA 3 2011* 2006, 2007 Big 12 1 2017
Games marked with an asterisk (*) were played in January of the following calendar year. Record for the American Conference includes appearances of the Big East Conference, as the American retains the charter of the original Big East, following its 2013 realignment. Teams representing the Big East appeared in seven games, compiling a 5–2 record. The 2025 game was contested between two Sun Belt teams.
Game records TeamRecord, Team vs. OpponentYearMost points scored (one team) 53, East Carolina vs. Coastal Carolina 2022Most points scored (losing team) 39, South Carolina vs. South Florida 2016Most points scored (both teams) 85, South Florida (46) vs. South Carolina (39) 2016Fewest points allowed 6, shared by:SMU vs. PittsburghBoston College vs. Cincinnati20122020Largest margin of victory 32, Cincinnati vs. Boston College 2020Total yards 561, South Florida vs. Texas Tech 2017Rushing yards 343, Cincinnati vs. Boston College 2020Passing yards 427, East Carolina vs. Florida Jan. 2015First downs 33, Cincinnati vs. Boston College 2020Fewest yards allowed 164, Cincinnati vs. Boston College 2020Fewest rushing yards allowed 10, SMU vs. Pittsburgh 2012Fewest passing yards allowed 87, Cincinnati vs. Boston College 2020IndividualRecord, Player, Team vs. OpponentYearAll-purpose yards 318, Tony Pollard (Memphis) (109 rushing, 209 kick returns) 2018Touchdowns (all-purpose) 3, shared by:Quinton Flowers (South Florida)Jamie Newman (Wake Forest)Desmond Ridder (Cincinnati) 20162018Jan. 2020Total offense 419, Jamie Newman (Wake Forest) (328 yards passing, 91 rushing) 2018Total touchdowns 6, Holton Ahlers (East Carolina) 2022Rushing yards 155, Damion Fletcher (Southern Miss) 2007Rushing touchdowns 3, shared by:Quinton Flowers (South Florida)Jamie Newman (Wake Forest)Desmond Ridder (Cincinnati) 20162018Jan. 2020Passing yards 427, Shane Carden (East Carolina) Jan. 2015Passing touchdowns 5, Holton Ahlers (East Carolina) 2022Receptions 14, Deebo Samuel (South Carolina) 2016 Receiving yards 190, Deebo Samuel (South Carolina) 2016Receiving touchdowns 2, shared by:Dominick Goodman (Cincinnati)Tyre McCants (South Florida)Isaiah Winstead (East Carolina) 200720172022Tackles 17, shared by:Jason Hendricks (Pittsburgh)Shareef White (Memphis) 2013Dec. 2015Sacks 3.0, shared by:Margus Hunt (SMU)Dante Fowler (Florida) 2012Jan. 2015Interceptions 2, shared by: Reggis Ball (Memphis)Dorrian Smith (Georgia Southern) Dec. 20152025Long PlaysRecord, Player, Team vs. OpponentYearTouchdown run 62 yds., shared by:I’Tavius Mathers (Ole Miss)Daniel Spencer (Houston) 20132014Touchdown pass 86 yds., Treon Harris to Ahmad Fulwood (Florida) Jan. 2015Kickoff return 97 yds., Tony Pollard (Memphis) 2018Punt return 56 yds., Marcus Davis (Auburn) Dec. 2015Interception return 53 yds., Reggis Ball (Memphis) Dec. 2015Fumble return – –Punt 69 yds., Jesse Mirco (Vanderbilt) 2024Field goal 53 yds., Jake Elliott (Memphis) Dec. 2015 Source:
Media coverage Except for the first two editions of the bowl, which were televised on ESPN2, the bowl has been televised on ESPN.
References
External links Official site