The International Bowl had contracts with the Big East and Mid-American Conferences that allowed them to select one team from each conference to participate in their annual game . By virtue of being the Big East champion Cincinnati was awarded an automatic Bowl Championship Series berth ; they would play in the 2009 Orange Bowl . The Gator Bowl and Sun Bowl shared the second pick of Big East teams ; after the Gator Bowl opted to select Big 12 member Nebraska and the Sun Bowl learned that they would not be allowed to select Notre Dame , Pittsburgh received the Sun Bowl invitation . The Meineke Car Care Bowl , which had the third selection , picked West Virginia . The fourth , fifth , and sixth selections of Big East teams belonged collectively to the International Bowl , PapaJohns.com Bowl , and St. Petersburg Bowl , which , in consultation with the Big East , decided which schools were the best fit for each bowl . There were three remaining bowl-eligible Big East teams : Connecticut , Rutgers , and South Florida . The previous season , Rutgers had played in the International Bowl and South Florida had appeared in the PapaJohns.com Bowl ; bowls in general dislike inviting the same team in consecutive years , on the theory that fans are less likely to want to travel to the same destination they were at the year before . Additionally , the St. Petersburg Bowl , in its inaugural year , sought to have local team South Florida play in their game to drive local attendance . Therefore , the teams were apportioned among the bowls as follows : South Florida to the St. Petersburg Bowl , Rutgers to the PapaJohns.com Bowl , and Connecticut to the International Bowl . On December 7 , 2008 , UConn formally accepted the bowl invitation , the third in their history
Big East
Big East Conference (1979–2013)
2009 International Bowl