Topic: St. Pete Bowl finds its footing in crowded bowl lineup

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MU coach Doc Holliday has had nothing but good things to say about the bowl, in 2011 and now. For a fresh perspective, bring in coach Bob Diaco, whose UConn team has gone five seasons between bowls.

“It’s awesome,” said Diaco, the second-year coach. “The people of St. Petersburg, the bowl, specifically the bowl hosts we’re with are so accommodating and gracious. You can’t help with being so pleased with the bowl experience.”

The St. Pete game entered the lineup along with the Washington-based Military Bowl in 2008. Much like several other bowls, the St. Pete game was founded to beef up ESPN’s inventory, but also to provide a conference another guaranteed postseason spot.

Brett Dulaney, the Parkersburg native who is executive director, remembers the bowl starting “out of a Starbucks with two laptops and two cellphones.”

“The Big East wanted another presence in the Florida market,” Dulaney said. “The game originally was going to be out of Orlando, but the Big East didn’t want to be the third wheel, so to speak, behind the other two bowl games of Florida Citrus Sports.

“They contacted the Convention and Visitors Bureau down here, Ron Higgins of the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, and they worked it out with the Big East and ESPN and said, ‘Hey, what about St. Pete?’ That’s kind of how the conversation got started.”

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