One of the benefits of going to a bowl game is that teams that qualify are allowed to practice in the month of December; teams that don't must stop practicing until spring football.

That means teams that qualify for bowls annually are getting 12 or 13 extra practices per season -- and, stretched out over a four- or five-year career, that's almost like an extra season's worth of practices.

For instance, this year's class of true seniors has never been to a bowl, so players have missed out on nearly three months of practice time -- and development -- throughout their careers, while seniors at rival schools, such as West Virginia, have benefited from that extra time every year.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said that the extra practice time will be beneficial for the freshmen, especially since he anticipates the Panthers will be making annual trips to bowl games. No. 18 Pitt (9-3) will play No. 24 Oregon State (8-4) in the Sun Bowl Dec. 31.

"We worked Friday and ran some on Sunday," Wannstedt said yesterday. "We are going to work straight through this week until Monday and about half of it will be trying to get some of the younger kids some work then we will get into some Oregon State stuff.

"It is just getting a little bit of work and coaching for those young kids. We're going to end up with 11 or 12 extra days, but we also had three byes, so we picked up three or four days of work during those weeks, so that's an extra 10 or 12 practices."

Wannstedt singled out linemen Chris Jacobson and Lucas Nix and quarterback Tino Sunseri as players who have and will benefit from the extra time.

He said that although freshmen and redshirt players are not able to play in the bowl without losing a year of eligibility, he would favor a rule that gives an exemption for bowl games with regard to redshirts.

"It would be interesting. It would be sort of like starting the next year at the bowl game time," Wannstedt said. "I think it would be a great reward for them if you had the opportunity to get them in the game."

Pitt had its annual season-ending awards banquet Sunday and handed out a number of individual awards to players. They are:

Scout Team players of the year: Running back Chris Burns (offense), defensive end Shayne Hale (defense) and defensive back Marco Pecora (special teams).

Linemen of the year: Center C.J. Davis (offense) and nose tackle Rashaad Duncan (defense).

Iron Man Award (commitment to weight room and weight program): Running back LaRod Stephens-Howling (offense), middle linebacker Scott McKillop (defense) and linebacker Austin Ransom (special teams).

Most improved players: John Malecki (offense), Ransom (defense) and linebacker Nate Nix (special teams).

MVPs: LeSean McCoy (offense), McKillop (defense) and place-kicker Conor Lee (special teams).

DeMale Stanley Award (most inspirational player voted on by teammates): Stephens-Howling.

Pitt is running a promotion -- any current Pitt student who gets to El Paso will get a free ticket to the Sun Bowl courtesy of the athletic department.

Students interested in taking advantage of the promotion must register for their free ticket -- one per student -- by Dec. 23 at the ticket office or by calling 1-800-643-PITT (7488). Students must have a valid student ID to pick up their ticket, which is not transferable and will be available at media will-call.

Pitt has one player who has played in a Sun Bowl -- senior punter Dave Brytus was the special teams MVP of the 2004 Sun Bowl as a freshman at Purdue. Arizona State beat the Boilermakers, 27-23, but Brytus averaged 48.9 yards per punt and landed four of them inside the 20. Brytus transferred to Pitt after the 2005 season. ... The only other Pitt player who has played in a bowl game is senior receiver Derek Kinder, who played in nine games, including the Fiesta Bowl, during his true freshman season of 2004. ... One player, defensive tackle Tommie Duhart (ankle), returned to practice.