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St. Pete Bowl Seeks Approval From NCAA

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By BRETT McMURPHY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 29, 2008

Hooray in Hollywood?

That's what St. Petersburg Bowl backers are hoping for Wednesday morning in Hollywood, Fla., when they go before the NCAA's Bowl Certification Committee, seeking approval for the new bowl.

Owned and operated by ESPN, the St. Pete Bowl will pit schools from the Big East and Conference USA at Tropicana Field. The inaugural game was planned for Sunday night, Dec. 21, but that changed when the NFL schedule assigned the Bucs a home game the same night against San Diego.

The St. Pete Bowl is still looking to secure a date, but Pete Derzis is confident the bowl will be added to the bowl lineup and approved for the 2008 season.

"We have a very strong proposal and a very strong track record," said Derzis, senior vice president and general manager for ESPN Regional.

ESPN already owns and operates five bowl games: Las Vegas, Hawaii, Armed Forces, Papajohns.com and New Mexico.

Derzis is among a group of individuals who will address the NCAA's Bowl Certification Committee Wednesday morning along with St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker; D.T. Minich, Executive Director, St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area Convention and Visitors Bureau; Rob Higgins, Executive Director, Tampa Bay Sports Commission; Nick Carperelli, associate commissioner of the Big East; and a representative from Conference USA.

If the St. Pete Bowl is approved the Big East would have bowl berths for seven of its eight teams in 2008 and Conference USA would have six bowl berths for its 12 members.

However, just because the St. Pete Bowl is being added this year doesn't mean the bowl would automatically get the seventh selection from the Big East. Sources said the St. Pete Bowl could pick as high as fourth from the Big East's bowl eligible teams.

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