Troy -7 (-110) over Duke
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- Duke’s offense is going to struggle in this game with starting QB Riley Leonard out due to an impending transfer.
- Troy is playing in its home state here and should have the bulk of the crowd support on Saturday.
The Birmingham Bowl has been around for close to two decades and has created some memories for college football fans during that time. Here, we look at the history of the Birmingham Bowl and we break down this year’s edition of the game, which occupies a spot in the second weekend of the college football bowl schedule.
2023 Birmingham Bowl Analysis
Going into the 2023 Birmingham Bowl, the big story is the transfer situation surrounding the Duke Blue Devils. Duke is getting hit hard by the transfer portal at the end of this season, with starting quarterback Riley Leonard missing this game after putting his name in the portal. That could really slow down a Duke offense that enjoyed flashes of brilliance this season, even if they did not end up at the top of the ACC standings.
Troy, meanwhile, had a very good season by their standards in winning the Sun Belt title over App State. Troy is not impacted by the transfer portal going into this game and they come into this contest with all of the momentum that comes with winning a conference title and getting hot late in the season. The question will be whether or not they can stack up with a power conference opponent in this bowl matchup.
Birmingham Bowl History
The Birmingham Bowl has been around since the 2006 college football season, going by the PapaJohns.com Bowl and the BBVA Compass Bowl in the early days of its history. The primary conference tie-ins for this game are with the SEC and American Athletic Conference, with secondary tie-ins coming with the MAC and Conference USA. Below is a list of the participants who have taken part in the Birmingham Bowl previously, along with a rundown of which teams have come out on top of each of those games.
| Year | Winners | Runners-Up |
| 2006 | South Florida | East Carolina |
| 2007 | Cincinnati | Southern Miss |
| 2008 | Rutgers | NC State |
| 2009 | UConn | South Carolina |
| 2010 | Pittsburgh | Kentucky |
| 2011 | SMU | Pittsburgh |
| 2012 | Ole Miss | Pittsburgh |
| 2013 | Vanderbilt | Houston |
| 2014 | Florida | East Carolina |
| 2015 | Auburn | Memphis |
| 2016 | South Florida | South Carolina |
| 2017 | South Florida | Texas Tech |
| 2018 | Wake Forest | Memphis |
| 2019 | Cincinnati | Boston College |
| 2021 | Houston | Auburn |
| 2022 | East Carolina | Coastal Carolina |
Bowl Game MVPs
Unlike most college bowl games, the Birmingham Bowl has not awarded multiple MVPs for each game in its history. Instead of a defensive and offensive MVP, or MVPs for each team, this game awards one MVP award per year to the most outstanding player in the game. Below is a look at those MVPs, a list that has included former NFL players like Dion Lewis.
| Year | MVP | Team |
| 2006 | Benjamin Williams | South Florida |
| 2007 | Ben Mauk | Cincinnati |
| 2008 | Mike Teel | Rutgers |
| 2009 | Andre Dixon | UConn |
| 2010 | Dion Lewis | Pittsburgh |
| 2011 | Darius Johnson | SMU |
| 2012 | Bo Wallace | Ole Miss |
| 2013 | Jordan Matthews | Vanderbilt |
| 2014 | Adam Lane | Florida |
| 2015 | Jovon Robinson | Auburn |
| 2016 | Quinton Flowers | South Florida |
| 2017 | Quinton Flowers | South Florida |
| 2018 | Jamie Newman | Wake Forest |
| 2019 | Desmond Ridder | Cincinnati |
| 2021 | Clayton Tune | Houston |
| 2022 | Holton Ahlers | East Carolina |
