The South Florida Bulls and the South Carolina Gamecocks have had a good time in Birmingham for the Birmingham Bowl.

“We get to have fun with the guys,” said Bulls linebacker Auggie Sanchez. “We had a ton of barbecue. That was fun. We went to a comedy show and got to laugh.

“It wasn’t about football,” he said. “It was about the brotherhood and the camaraderie of being with each other.”

2016 Birmingham Bowl teams take in the Magic City from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

Bowling. Barbecue. Comedy. Both teams have enjoyed themselves, but neither squad is confused about why it has come to town. This is a business trip, one where the 6-6 Gamecocks look to finish above .500 and the Bulls try to improve on their 10-2 record.

The business portion of this trip begins at 1 p.m. today with the kickoff of the Birmingham Bowl at historic Legion Field.

South Florida was in a bowl last year. South Carolina hasn’t been to a bowl since December 2014.

“Coach (Will) Muschamp and his staff tell us there’s a time to have fun and there’s a time to be serious and focused,” senior T.J. Holloman said. “In this bowl game, I feel we’ve handled that very well. We’ve buckled down when we’ve needed to buckle down.”

The Bulls are No. 25 in the AP Poll and No. 22 in the Coaches Poll. Interim coach T.J. Weist said his greatest concern facing South Carolina is the toughness of Muschamp.

“We respect him as a coach,” said the coach, who moved up when former USF coach Willie Taggart accepted the Oregon job. “They’ve got talent. They really haven’t shown it but when you watch the games they’ve won, they’ve got players. There’s no question about it.”

Cool down from the summer heat at the Stardome Comedy Club. (Solomon Crenshaw Jr. / Alabama NewsCenter)

Cool down from the summer heat at the Stardome Comedy Club. (Solomon Crenshaw Jr. / Alabama NewsCenter)

Ashley Marquez reaches out to a South Carolina player during the team’s visit to Children’s of Alabama. (Solomon Crenshaw Jr. / Alabama NewsCenter)

South Carolina players Aaron Thompson and Jared Washington visit Children’s of Alabama patient Andrew Blake Goodwin. (Solomon Crenshaw Jr. / Alabama NewsCenter)

Heaven and Lakota Pearl show the shirts they received at Children’s of Alabama. Their brother, Brody, was having surgery at the hospital when the Birmingham Bowl teams visited. (Solomon Crenshaw Jr. / Alabama NewsCenter)

Children’s staffer Lori Traywick poses with Gamecocks Jared Washington, Aaron Thompson, Blake Camper and Chandler Farrel, and USF’s Alex Salvato. (Solomon Crenshaw Jr. / Alabama NewsCenter)

T.J. Weist, interim head coach at the University of South Florida, talks about playing in the Birmingham Bowl. (Solomon Crenshaw Jr. / Alabama NewsCenter)

University of South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp speaks to the media about the Birmingham Bowl. (Solomon Crenshaw Jr. / Alabama NewsCenter)

Beating South Florida begins with slowing its high-paced offense. That offense begins with the American Athletic Conference offensive player of the year, quarterback Quinton Flowers.

Muschamp said Flowers’ greatest talent is his competitive nature. Flowers remembers Muschamp, then the Florida coach, recruiting him to play some skill position, or perhaps safety.

“I told him if you don’t want me as a quarterback,” Flowers recalled, “go get somebody else.”