Hawaii Bowl

The Hawaiʻi Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played annually at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii, since 2002. The bowl is one of the post-season contests run by ESPN Events. Since 2018, the game has been sponsored by the personal finance company SoFi and officially known as the SoFi Hawai'i Bowl. Previous sponsors include ConAgra Foods (2002) and Sheraton Hotels and Resorts Hawaii (2003–2013).

For the college football All-Star game, see Hula Bowl.

Hawaii Bowl
SoFi Hawai'i Bowl
Stadium	Aloha Stadium
Location	Halawa, Hawaii
Operated	2002–Present
Conference tie-ins	MWC (2012–present) The American (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)[1]
Preceded by	Aloha Bowl
Sponsors
ConAgra Foods (2002) Sheraton Hotels and Resorts Hawaii (2003–2013) SoFi (2018–present)
Former names
ConAgra Foods Hawaii Bowl (2002) Sheraton Hawaii Bowl (2003–2013) Hawaii Bowl (2014-2017)
2018 matchup
Hawaii vs. Louisiana Tech (Louisiana Tech 31–14)
2019 matchup
BYU vs. Hawaii (Hawaii 38–34)

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 bid is automatically awarded 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, they have also made the most appearances in the game, at nine.[2]

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. 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.[3] In 2018, SoFi signed on as title sponsor of the game which is officially known as the SoFi Hawai'i Bowl.[4]

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.[5]

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 plays. 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).[6]

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.

Ten Year Anniversary Team
Year	Player	College	Performance
2002	Justin Colbert	Hawaii	9 catches for 158 yards and 2 TD's.
2003	Timmy Chang Jackie Battle	Hawaii Houston	26 for 42, 475 yards, 5 TD's passing. 19 carries for 124 yards and 3 TD's.
2004	Chad Owens	Hawaii	8 catches for 114 yards, 2 TD's. 5 punt returns for 90 yards and a TD.
2005	Caleb Spencer Brandon Marshall	Nevada UCF	11 receptions for 114 yards. 11 receptions for 210 yards and 3 TD's.
2006	Colt Brennan Jason Rivers	Hawaii Hawaii	33 for 42, 559 yards and 5 TD's. 14 receptions for 308 yards and 2 TD's.
2007	Chris Johnson	East Carolina	408 all purpose yards, 2 TD's.
2008	Golden Tate Jimmy Clausen Aaron Bain	Notre Dame Notre Dame Hawaii	6 receptions for 177 yards and 3 TD's. 22 for 26, 401 yards and 5TD's 8 receptions for 109 yards and 2 TD's.
2009	Kyle Padron	SMU	32 of 41 passing for 460 yards and 2 TD's.
2010	Damaris Johnson Curnelius Arnick Greg Salas	Tulsa Tulsa Hawaii	5 carries for 98 yards and 1 TD, 4 receptions for 101 yards and 1 TD, 6 returns for 127 yards. 2 sacks, 8 UA Tackles, 2 Asst. Tackles, 2.5 TFL, 2 Int's for 106 yards and 1 TD 13 receptions for 214 yards and 2 TD's.

Game results

Date	Winning team		Losing team		Attendance	notes
December 25, 2002	Tulane	36	Hawaii	28	35,513	notes
December 25, 2003	Hawaii	54	Houston	48 (3OT)	29,005	notes
December 24, 2004	Hawaii	59	UAB	40	39,754	notes
December 24, 2005	Nevada	49	UCF	48 (OT)	16,134	notes
December 24, 2006	Hawaii	41	Arizona State	24	43,435	notes
December 23, 2007	East Carolina	41	Boise State	38	30,467	notes
December 24, 2008	Notre Dame	49	Hawaii	21	43,487	notes
December 24, 2009	SMU	45	Nevada	10	32,650	notes
December 24, 2010	Tulsa	62	Hawaii	35	43,673	notes
December 24, 2011	Southern Miss	24	Nevada	17	32,630	notes
December 24, 2012	SMU	43	Fresno State	10	30,024	notes
December 24, 2013	Oregon State	38	Boise State	23	29,106	notes
December 24, 2014	Rice	30	Fresno State	6	25,365	notes
December 24, 2015	San Diego State	42	Cincinnati	7	22,793	notes
December 24, 2016	Hawaii	52	Middle Tennessee	35	23,175	notes
December 24, 2017	Fresno State	33	Houston	27	20,546	notes
December 22, 2018	Louisiana Tech	31	Hawaii	14	30,911	notes
December 24, 2019	Hawaii	38	BYU	34	21,582	notes

MVPs

Year	Winning team MVP			Losing team MVP
	Player	Team	Position	Player	Team	Position
2002	Lynaris Elpheage	Tulane	CB	Justin Colbert	Hawaii	WR
2003	Timmy Chang	Hawaii	QB	Jackie Battle	Houston	RB
2004	Timmy Chang Chad Owens	Hawaii	QB WR	Darrell Hackney	UAB	QB
2005	B.J. Mitchell	Nevada	RB	Brandon Marshall	UCF	WR
2006	Colt Brennan Jason Rivers	Hawaii	QB WR	Ryan Torain	Arizona State	RB
2007	Chris Johnson	East Carolina	RB	Jeremy Avery	Boise State	RB
2008	Jimmy Clausen Golden Tate	Notre Dame	QB WR	Aaron Bain	Hawaii	WR
2009	Kyle Padron	SMU	QB	Kevin Basped	Nevada	DE
2010	Damaris Johnson	Tulsa	WR	Greg Salas	Hawaii	WR
2011	Cordarro Law	Southern Miss	DL	Lampford Mark	Nevada	RB
2012	Margus Hunt	SMU	DE	Davante Adams	Fresno State	WR
2013	Rashaad Reynolds	Oregon State	CB	Matt Miller	Boise State	WR
2014	Driphus Jackson Brian Nordstrom	Rice	QB DE	Carl Mickelsen	Fresno State	LB
2015	Dakota Gordon	San Diego State	FB	Zach Edwards	Cincinnati	S
2016	Dru Brown	Hawaii	QB	Richie James	Middle Tennessee	WR
2017	Marcus McMaryion	Fresno State	QB	Steven Dunbar	Houston	WR
2018	Jaylon Ferguson	Louisiana Tech	DE	Kendall Hune	Hawaii	DE
2019	Cole McDonald	Hawaii	QB	Zach Wilson	BYU	QB

Source:[7]

Most appearances

Updated through the December 2019 edition (18 games, 36 total appearances).

Teams with multiple appearances

Rank	Team	Appearances	Record	Win pct.
1	Hawaii	9	5–4	0.556
T2	Nevada	3	1–2	0.333
T2	Fresno State	3	1–2	0.333
T4	SMU	2	2–0	1.000
T4	Houston	2	0–2	0.000
T4	Boise State	2	0–2	0.000

Teams with a single appearance

Won: East Carolina, Louisiana Tech, Notre Dame, Oregon State, Rice, San Diego State, Southern Miss, Tulane, Tulsa
Lost: Arizona State, BYU, Cincinnati, Middle Tennessee, UAB, UCF

Appearances by conference

Updated through the December 2019 edition (18 games, 36 total appearances).

Conference	Record				Appearances by season
	Games	W	L	Win pct.	Won	Lost
C-USA	12	8	4	0.667	2002, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2018	2003, 2004, 2005, 2016
WAC	10	4	6	0.400	2003, 2004, 2005, 2006	2002, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Mountain West	8	4	4	0.500	2015, 2016, 2017, 2019	2012, 2013, 2014, 2018
Pac-12	2	1	1	0.500	2013	2006
Independents	2	1	1	0.500	2008	2019
The American	2	0	2	0.000		2015, 2017

• Pac-12 record includes appearances when the conference was known as the Pac-10 (before 2011).
• Independent appearances: Notre Dame (2008), BYU (2019)

Game records

Team	Record, Team vs. Opponent	Year
Most points scored (one team)	62, Tulsa vs. Hawaii	2010
Most points scored (losing team)	48, shared by: Houston vs. Hawaii UCF vs. Nevada	2003 2005
Most points scored (both teams)	102, Hawaii vs. Houston	2003
Fewest points allowed	6, Rice vs. Fresno State	2014
Largest margin of victory	35, shared by: SMU vs. Nevada San Diego State vs. Cincinnati	2009 2015
Total yards	680, Hawaii vs. Arizona State	2006
Rushing yards	369, Nevada vs. UCF	2005
Passing yards	559, Hawaii vs. Arizona State	2006
First downs	31, UAB vs. Hawaii	2004
Fewest yards allowed	226, Louisiana Tech vs. Hawaii	2018
Fewest rushing yards allowed	–16, SMU vs. Fresno State	2012
Fewest passing yards allowed	93, Rice vs. Fresno State	2014
Individual	Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent	Year
All-purpose yards
Touchdowns (all-purpose)
Rushing yards	223, Chris Johnson, East Carolina vs. Boise State	2007
Rushing touchdowns	3, several players—most recent: Shawnbrey McNeal, SMU vs. Nevada	2009
Passing yards	559, Colt Brennan, Hawaii vs. Arizona State	2006
Passing touchdowns	5, several players—most recent: Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame vs. Hawaii	2008
Receiving yards	308, Jason Rivers, Hawaii vs. Arizona State	2006
Receiving touchdowns	3, several players—most recent: Golden Tate, Notre Dame vs. Hawaii	2008
Tackles
Sacks
Interceptions
Long Plays	Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent	Year
Touchdown run	78, Kevin Smith, UCF vs. Nevada	2005
Touchdown pass	85, Matt Miller from Grant Hedrick, Boise State vs. Oregon State	2013
Kickoff return	100, Rashaad Penny, San Diego State vs. Cincinnati	2015
Punt return	60, Chad McCullar, Houston vs. Hawaii	2003
Interception return	83, Hayden Greenbauer, SMU vs. Fresno State	2012
Fumble return	70, Rashaad Reynolds, Oregon State vs. Boise State	2013
Punt	73, Mat McBriar, Hawaii vs. Tulane	2002
Field goal	48, shared by: Danny Hrapmann, Southern Mississippi vs. Nevada Chase Hover, SMU vs. Fresno State	2011 2012

Media coverage

Main article: List of Hawaii Bowl broadcasters

The bowl has been televised on ESPN since its inception.

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. "Sheraton Hotels & Resorts drops title sponsorship of Hawaii Bowl college football game".
4. "Hawai'i Bowl Names SoFi As New Title Sponsor". Retrieved November 30, 2018.
5. "Mountain West Conference aligns with Sheraton Hawaii Bowl starting in 2012". ESPN.com. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
6. "2019 SoFi Hawai'I Bowl to Return to Dec. 24". thehawaiibowl.com (Press release). May 23, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
7. "History". thehawaiibowl.com. Retrieved December 24, 2019.

External links

• Official website