Misplaced Pages

Hawaiʻi Bowl
Stadium	Clarence T. C. Ching Athletics Complex
Location	Honolulu, Hawaii
Previous locations	Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii
Operated	2002–present
Conference tie-ins	MWC (2012–present; Hawaii if bowl-eligible and not in CFP bowl) AAC (2019–present)
Previous conference tie-ins	WAC (2002–2011) C-USA/Pac-10 (2005–2008) C-USA (2009–2018)
Payout	US$1.2 million (2019)
Website	thehawaiibowl.com
Preceded by	Aloha Bowl
Sponsors
ConAgra Foods (2002) Sheraton Hotels and Resorts Hawaii (2003–2013) SoFi (2018–2019) EasyPost (2021–2023)
Former names
ConAgra Foods Hawai'i Bowl (2002) Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl (2003–2013) Hawai'i Bowl (2014–2017) SoFi Hawai'i Bowl (2018–2019) EasyPost Hawai'i Bowl (2021–2023)
2023 matchup
Coastal Carolina vs. San Jose State (Coastal Carolina 24–14)
2024 matchup
South Florida vs. San Jose State (South Florida 41–39)

The Hawaiʻi Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played in the Honolulu, Hawaii, area since 2002. The game was originally held at Aloha Stadium in Halawa, Hawaii, a suburb of Honolulu, before moving to the Clarence T. C. Ching Athletics Complex in 2022. The bowl is one of the post-season contests run by ESPN Events. Typically played on or near Christmas Eve, the bowl normally features a team from the Mountain West Conference, playing a team from either the American Athletic Conference or Conference USA.

For practical and logistical reasons, the Mountain West Conference's tie-in is automatically allocated to the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors if the team is bowl-eligible, and was not selected to play in a New Year's Six (or previously, BCS) bowl game. This means that the Rainbow Warriors do not have to travel to the mainland for a bowl game unless it is of significant importance. As a result of this practice, the Rainbow Warriors have made the most appearances in the game, at nine.

For the 2021 through 2023 editions, the bowl was sponsored by EasyPost. Previous sponsors include ConAgra Foods (2002) and Sheraton Hotels and Resorts Hawaii (2003–2013), and SoFi (2018–2019).

Bowl games in Hawaii

The Hawaii Bowl is not affiliated with other bowl games previously staged in Hawaii: the Poi Bowl (1936–1939), Pineapple Bowl (1940–1941, 1947–1952), Aloha Bowl (1982–2000), and Oahu Bowl (1998–2000), or the Hula Bowl all-star game (1960–2008, and resuming in 2020). While the Aloha Bowl tried to move to San Francisco, California, and was decertified by the NCAA, the Oahu Bowl was moved to Seattle, Washington, and was held for two years as the Seattle Bowl before losing certification in 2002.

Game history

In its first year, the Hawai'i Bowl was sponsored by ConAgra Foods, making it officially the ConAgra Foods Hawai'i Bowl. The following year, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts Hawaii assumed sponsorship; the game's full name was changed to the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl until Sheraton declined to renew sponsorship in 2014. In 2018, SoFi signed on as title sponsor of the game which is officially known as the SoFi Hawai'i Bowl.

The current Mountain West tie-in was held by the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) until 2012, when the WAC ceased sponsoring college football, and Hawaii moved to the Mountain West.

The first two editions were played on the Aloha Bowl's traditional Christmas Day date, but ESPN's acquisition of NBA rights came with the league's Christmas Day games, thus the game moved to Christmas Eve after 2004 in most years.

The 2005 appearance of the UCF Knights at the Hawaii Bowl was the first ever bowl game in that school's history. In 2006, the Pac-10 replaced Conference USA (C-USA) as the WAC's opposition, with C-USA as an alternate. Since Christmas Eve fell on a Monday in 2007, the game was scheduled for the night prior (December 23) to avoid a conflict with Monday Night Football (also on ESPN). In 2008, the bowl organizers selected Notre Dame as an at-large bid, marking the first time an independent played in the contest. C-USA again became a primary tie-in starting in 2009. The 2011 game featured the C-USA champion for the first time, as Southern Mississippi played instead of going to the Liberty Bowl, where the C-USA champion typically played at the time. The bowl featured the Mountain West champion for the first time in 2015, as San Diego State played instead of going to the Las Vegas Bowl, where the Mountain West champion typically plays.

Between 2002 and 2018, C-USA sent a team to the bowl 12 times, registering an 8–4 record. In 2019, the American Athletic Conference (The American) superseded C-USA as the primary tie-in to face a Mountain West team (or independent BYU).

On October 2, ESPN Events announced that the 2020 edition of the bowl game had been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On August 10, 2021, EasyPost was announced as the new sponsor of the bowl, making it the EasyPost Hawai'i Bowl. EasyPost remained the sponsor through the 2023 edition.

On December 23, 2021, the game was cancelled for the second consecutive season, after the Rainbow Warriors withdrew due to injuries and COVID-19 issues within the team.

The 2024 edition of the bowl took five overtime periods to decide, setting a new record for the most overtime periods in a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) bowl game. However, this record was surpassed just two days later when the 2024 GameAbove Sports Bowl took six overtimes to decide.

Tenth anniversary team (2011)

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Hawai'i Bowl, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, in conjunction with the bowl game, allowed fans to vote on a tenth anniversary team. Nine players were selected by a public vote, and an additional seven players were picked by a panel of sportswriters and organizers. The team was announced on December 16, 2011.

Game results

Source:

MVPs

2002–2019

The bowl named an MVP from each team from inception through the 2019 edition.

2022–present

Since the 2022 playing, the award—given to a single player—has been known as the Hugh Yoshida Most Valuable Player Award, honoring a former athletic director at the University of Hawai'i.

Source:

Most appearances

Updated through the December 2024 edition (21 games, 42 total appearances).

Teams with multiple appearances

Teams with a single appearance

Won (10): Coastal Carolina, East Carolina, Louisiana Tech, Notre Dame, Oregon State, Rice, South Florida, Southern Miss, Tulane, Tulsa
Lost (5): Arizona State, BYU, Cincinnati, UAB, UCF

Appearances by conference

Updated through the December 2024 edition (21 games, 42 total appearances).

• The record of the Pac-12 includes appearances when the conference was known as the Pac-10 (before 2011).
• The WAC no longer sponsors FBS football.
• Independent appearances: Notre Dame (2008), BYU (2019)

Game records

Source:

Media coverage

The bowl has been televised on ESPN since its inception.

Notes

1. The bowl name often appears as Hawaii Bowl, without the okina character.
2. The 2021 game had been scheduled to feature Memphis vs. Hawai'i.

References

1. "2019 Bowl Schedule". collegefootballpoll.com. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
2. Kirshner, Alex (2016-12-24). "Why Hawaii is in the Hawaii Bowl so much". SBNation.com. Retrieved 2018-12-23.
3. "EasyPost Named New Title Sponsor for Hawai'i Bowl". Retrieved August 11, 2021.
4. "Sheraton Hotels & Resorts drops title sponsorship of Hawaii Bowl college football game".
5. "Hawai'i Bowl Names SoFi As New Title Sponsor". Retrieved November 30, 2018.
6. "Hawaii Bowl lands title sponsor after 4-year vacancy". Retrieved November 30, 2018.
7. "Mountain West Conference aligns with Sheraton Hawaii Bowl starting in 2012". ESPN.com. 21 December 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
8. "2019 SoFi Hawai'I Bowl to Return to Dec. 24". thehawaiibowl.com (Press release). May 23, 2019. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
9. Chinen, Kyle (October 2, 2020). "2020 Hawaii Bowl canceled over pandemic concerns". Hawaii News Now.
10. "EASYPOST NAMED NEW TITLE SPONSOR FOR HAWAI'I BOWL". Hawai‘i Bowl. Hawai‘i Bowl. 10 August 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
11. "Hawai'i Bowl canceled after Hawai'i withdraws". ESPN.com. 2021-12-24. Retrieved 2021-12-24.
12. @HawaiiBowl (December 24, 2024). "The LONGEST bowl game in FBS HISTORY" (Tweet). Retrieved December 25, 2024 – via Twitter.
13. "USF beats SJSU 41-39 in the Hawaii Bowl when Mac Harris knocks down a pass in the 5th overtime". apnews.com. AP. December 25, 2024. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
14. "Toledo Downs Pitt 48-46 in Six Overtimes in GameAbove Sports Bowl". Sports Illustrated. December 26, 2024. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
15. Tsai, Stephen (October 2, 2020). "Hawaii Bowl canceled for 2020 but aims to return in 2021". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
16. @usatodaysports (December 23, 2021). "The Hawaii Bowl is off" (Tweet). Retrieved December 23, 2021 – via Twitter.
17. "SoFi Hawaii Bowl" (PDF). Bowl/All Star Game Records. NCAA. 2020. p. 14. Retrieved January 3, 2021 – via NCAA.org.
18. "EasyPost Hawai'i Bowl MVP Award Named in Honor of Hugh Yoshida". thehawaiibowl.com. December 20, 2022. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
19. @MT_FB (December 25, 2022). "Your 2022 @HawaiiBowl Most Valuable Player" (Tweet). Retrieved December 25, 2022 – via Twitter.
20. Takase, Kalani (December 24, 2023). "Oscar Smith High alum Ethan Vasko throws 3 TD passes in Coastal Carolina's Hawaii Bowl victory". Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia. AP. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
21. "2024 Hawai'i Bowl Game Notes". thehawaiibowl.com. December 24, 2024. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
22. "History". thehawaiibowl.com. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
23. "Game-By-Game Recaps & Record Book" (PDF). thehawaiibowl.com. pp. 20–22. Retrieved December 25, 2022.

External links

• Official website

• Hawaii Bowl
• College football bowls
• American football in Hawaii
• College sports in Hawaii
• Recurring sporting events established in 2002