| Hawaii Bowl | |
| Nickname: | EasyPost Hawai'i Bowl |
| Stadium: | Clarence T. C. Ching Athletics Complex |
| Location: | Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Previous Locations: | Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Years: | 2002–present |
| Preceded By: | Aloha Bowl |
| Payout: | 1.2 million (2019)[1] |
| Prev Matchup Year: | 2022 |
| Prev Matchup Season: | 2022 |
| Prev Matchup Teams: | Middle Tennessee vs. San Diego State |
| Prev Matchup Score: | Middle Tennessee 25–23 |
| Next Matchup Year: | 2023 |
| Next Matchup Season: | 2023 |
| Next Matchup Teams: | Coastal Carolina vs. San Jose State |
| Next Matchup Date: | Coastal Carolina 24–14 |
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. Since the 2021 edition of the bowl, it is sponsored by EasyPost.[2] Previous sponsors include ConAgra Foods (2002) and Sheraton Hotels and Resorts Hawaii (2003–2013), and SoFi (2018–2019).
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.[3]
The 2020 edition of the bowl was cancelled in October due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related travel restrictions.[4] The 2021 edition was canceled the day before kickoff, after the Rainbow Warriors withdrew "citing COVID-19 issues within the program in addition to injuries and transfers."[5]
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.
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.[6] In 2018, SoFi signed on as title sponsor of the game which is officially known as the SoFi Hawai'i Bowl.[7] [8]
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.[9]
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).[10]
On October 2, ESPN Events announced that the 2020 edition of the bowl game had been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]
On August 10, 2021 EasyPost was announced as the new sponsor of the bowl.[12] 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.[13]
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 | |
| Justin Colbert | 9 catches for 158 yards and 2 TD's. | |||
| Timmy Chang Jackie Battle | 26 for 42, 475 yards, 5 TD's passing. 19 carries for 124 yards and 3 TD's. | |||
| 8 catches for 114 yards, 2 TD's. 5 punt returns for 90 yards and a TD. | ||||
| Nevada UCF | 11 receptions for 114 yards. 11 receptions for 210 yards and 3 TD's. | |||
| 33 for 42, 559 yards and 5 TD's. 14 receptions for 308 yards and 2 TD's. | ||||
| 408 all purpose yards, 2 TD's. | ||||
| Golden Tate Jimmy Clausen Aaron Bain | 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. | |||
| 32 of 41 passing for 460 yards and 2 TD's. | ||||
| 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. | ||||
| Date | Winning team | Losing team | Attendance | notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 25, 2002 | Tulane | 36 | 28 | 35,513 | notes | ||
| December 25, 2003 | Hawai'i | 54 | 48 (3OT) | 29,005 | notes | ||
| December 24, 2004 | Hawai'i | 59 | 40 | 39,754 | notes | ||
| December 24, 2005 | Nevada | 49 | 48 (OT) | 16,134 | notes | ||
| December 24, 2006 | Hawai'i | 41 | 24 | 43,435 | notes | ||
| December 23, 2007 | East Carolina | 41 | 38 | 30,467 | notes | ||
| December 24, 2008 | Notre Dame | 49 | 21 | 43,487 | notes | ||
| December 24, 2009 | SMU | 45 | 10 | 32,650 | notes | ||
| December 24, 2010 | Tulsa | 62 | 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 | Hawai'i | 52 | Middle Tennessee | 35 | 23,175 | notes | |
| December 24, 2017 | Fresno State | 33 | Houston | 27 | 20,546 | notes | |
| December 22, 2018 | Louisiana Tech | 31 | 14 | 30,911 | notes | ||
| December 24, 2019 | Hawai'i | 38 | 34 | 21,582 | notes | ||
| December 24, 2020 | Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[14] | ||||||
| December 24, 2021 | Canceled[15] | ||||||
| December 24, 2022 | Middle Tennessee | 25 | 23 | 6,605 | notes | ||
| December 23, 2023 | Coastal Carolina | 24 | 14 | 7,089 | notes | ||
The bowl named an MVP from each team from inception through the 2019 edition.
| Year | Winning team MVP | Losing team MVP | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Position | Player | Team | Position | ||
| 2002 | Lynaris Elpheage | Tulane | CB | Justin Colbert | Hawai'i | WR | |
| 2003 | Hawai'i | QB | Houston | RB | |||
| 2004 | Hawai'i | QB WR | UAB | QB | |||
| 2005 | B.J. Mitchell | Nevada | RB | UCF | WR | ||
| 2006 | Hawai'i | QB WR | Arizona State | RB | |||
| 2007 | East Carolina | RB | Jeremy Avery | Boise State | RB | ||
| 2008 | Notre Dame | QB WR | Aaron Bain | Hawai'i | WR | ||
| 2009 | SMU | QB | Nevada | DE | |||
| 2010 | Tulsa | WR | Hawai'i | WR | |||
| 2011 | Southern Miss | DL | Lampford Mark | Nevada | RB | ||
| 2012 | SMU | DE | Fresno State | WR | |||
| 2013 | Oregon State | CB | 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 | Hawai'i | QB | Middle Tennessee | WR | |||
| 2017 | Marcus McMaryion | Fresno State | QB | Steven Dunbar | Houston | WR | |
| 2018 | Louisiana Tech | DE | Kendall Hune | Hawai'i | DE | ||
| 2019 | Hawai'i | QB | BYU | QB |
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.[18]
| Year | Bowl MVP | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Position | |||
| 2022 | Jordan Ferguson | Middle Tennessee | DE | [19] | |
| 2023 | Ethan Vasko | Coastal Carolina | QB | [20] |
Updated through the December 2023 edition (20 games, 40 total appearances).
| Rank | Team | Appearances | Record | Win pct. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | 5–4 | ||
| 2 | 3 | 1–2 | ||
| 3 | 1–2 | |||
| 4 | 2 | 2–0 | ||
| 2 | 1–1 | |||
| 2 | 1–1 | |||
| 2 | 0–2 | |||
| 2 | 0–2 |
Updated through the December 2023 edition (20 games, 40 total appearances).
| Conference | Record | Appearances by season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | W | L | Win pct. | Won | Lost |
| 13 | 2002, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2022 | 2003, 2004, 2005, 2016 | |||
| 10 | 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 | 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2023 | |||
| bgcolor=lightgrey | WAC | 10 | 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 | 2002, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 | |
| 2 | 2013 | 2006 | |||
| 2 | 2008 | 2019 | |||
| 2 | 2015, 2017 | ||||
| 1 | 2023 |
| Team | Record, Team vs. Opponent | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most points scored (one team) | 62, Tulsa vs. Hawai'i | 2010 | |
| Most points scored (losing team) | 48, shared by: Houston vs. Hawai'i UCF vs. Nevada | 2003 2005 | |
| Most points scored (both teams) | 102, Hawai'i 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, Hawai'i vs. Arizona State | 2006 | |
| Rushing yards | 369, Nevada vs. UCF | 2005 | |
| Passing yards | 559, Hawai'i vs. Arizona State | 2006 | |
| First downs | 32, Hawai'i vs. Arizona State | 2006 | |
| Fewest yards allowed | 170, San Diego State vs. Middle Tennessee | 2022 | |
| Fewest rushing yards allowed | –66, San Diego State vs. Middle Tennessee | 2022 | |
| Fewest passing yards allowed | 93, Rice vs. Fresno State | 2014 | |
| Individual | Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent | Year | |
| All-purpose yards | 408, Chris Johnson, East Carolina vs. Boise State | 2007 | |
| Touchdowns (all-purpose) | 3, several players—most recent: Shawnbrey McNeal, SMU vs. Nevada | 2009 | |
| Rushing yards | 224, 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, Hawai'i vs. Arizona State | 2006 | |
| Passing touchdowns | 6, Colt Brennan, Hawai'i vs. Arizona State | 2006 | |
| Receptions | 14, Jason Rivers, Hawai'i vs. Arizona State | 2006 | |
| Receiving yards | 308, Jason Rivers, Hawai'i vs. Arizona State | 2006 | |
| Receiving touchdowns | 3, several players—most recent: Golden Tate, Notre Dame vs. Hawai'i | 2008 | |
| Tackles | 16, Roosevelt Cooks, Nevada vs. UCF | 2005 | |
| Sacks | 4, Willie Baker, Louisiana Tech vs. Hawai'i | 2018 | |
| Interceptions | 2, several players—most recent: Khoury Bethley, Hawai'i vs. BYU | 2019 | |
| 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. Hawai'i | 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, Hawai'i vs. Tulane | 2002 | |
| Field goal | 52, Jack Browning, San Diego State vs. Middle Tennessee | 2022 |
The bowl has been televised on ESPN since its inception.