It's finally official - Pitt will face Kentucky in the 2011 BBVA Compass Bowl game. Crappy bowl? Pretty much. Reward for an underachieving season? You got it.

But guess what? There are actually a few good things about the bowl. As a matter of fact, here are five.

1. Warm weather destination:Here's a good excuse to get out of the Burgh - warm weather (note: You could in fact argue that there are many others to leave the Burgh, but that's another issue for another day). The snow is coming and it's getting colder and colder. Why not get out of town for a bit and remember what it felt like to go outside in shorts again?

2. Saturday game: Unlike others in the middle of the week, this game is on a Saturday. It's after the holidays, but since it's on a Saturday, one could get out of town Friday after a short work day and be back on Sunday without missing any work. It's also going to be easy for fans to watch unlike the Sun Bowl two years ago that was on in the middle of a work day.

3. SEC opponent:The Big East has taken quite a bit of heat this season for having nothing more than a bunch of mediocre teams. While most of that criticism was justified, I think the league is better defensively than they've gotten credit for. Yes, Pitt is facing one of the SEC's lower-tier teams, but it's still an opportunity to win a game against the nation's best conference. And because it's a lower ranked SEC team, it's exactly why Pitt needs to win this game.

4. Next to last bowl game: Yes, it's after the national championship. But guess what? Fans are still aching to get more college football in any way they can before a long hiatus.

5. National stage: Pitt-Kentucky will also be the only game on all day, so it should draw a decent number of eyeballs. Pitt gets one more shot at playing on a national stage and it would be nice if they didn't disappoint for once.