Hawaii Bowl

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 Sunday night, 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 In 2019, the American Athletic Conference (The American) superseded C-USA as the primary tie-in to face a Mountain West team (or independent BYU).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, with the South Florida Bulls defeating the San Jose State Spartans. However, this record was surpassed just two days later when the 2024 GameAbove Sports Bowl took six overtimes to decide.

{{visible anchor|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 2025 edition (22 games, 44 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 (6): Arizona State, BYU, California, Cincinnati, UAB, UCF

Appearances by conference

Updated through the December 2025 edition (22 games, 44 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

References

References

1. "2019 Bowl Schedule".
2. Kirshner, Alex. (2016-12-24). "Why Hawaii is in the Hawaii Bowl so much".
3. "EasyPost Named New Title Sponsor for Hawai'i Bowl".
4. (April 24, 2025). "Sheraton Returns as Title Sponsor of Hawai‘i Bowl".
5. "Sheraton Hotels & Resorts drops title sponsorship of Hawaii Bowl college football game".
6. "Hawai'i Bowl Names SoFi As New Title Sponsor".
7. "Hawaii Bowl lands title sponsor after 4-year vacancy".
8. (21 December 2011). "Mountain West Conference aligns with Sheraton Hawaii Bowl starting in 2012". ESPN.com.
9. (May 23, 2019). "2019 SoFi Hawai'I Bowl to Return to Dec. 24".
10. (October 2, 2020). "2020 Hawaii Bowl canceled over pandemic concerns". Hawaii News Now.
11. (10 August 2021). "EASYPOST NAMED NEW TITLE SPONSOR FOR HAWAI'I BOWL". Hawai‘i Bowl.
12. (2021-12-24). "Hawai'i Bowl canceled after Hawai'i withdraws".
13. (December 24, 2024). "The LONGEST bowl game in FBS HISTORY".
14. (December 25, 2024). "USF beats SJSU 41-39 in the Hawaii Bowl when Mac Harris knocks down a pass in the 5th overtime".
15. (December 26, 2024). "Toledo Downs Pitt 48-46 in Six Overtimes in GameAbove Sports Bowl".
16. Tsai, Stephen. (October 2, 2020). "Hawaii Bowl canceled for 2020 but aims to return in 2021".
17. (December 23, 2021). "The Hawaii Bowl is off.".
18. (2020). "SoFi Hawaii Bowl". NCAA.
19. (December 20, 2022). "EasyPost Hawai‘i Bowl MVP Award Named in Honor of Hugh Yoshida".
20. (December 25, 2022). "Your 2022 @HawaiiBowl Most Valuable Player".
21. Takase, Kalani. (December 24, 2023). "Oscar Smith High alum Ethan Vasko throws 3 TD passes in Coastal Carolina’s Hawaii Bowl victory".
22. (December 24, 2024). "2024 Hawai’i Bowl Game Notes".
23. "History".
24. "Game-By-Game Recaps & Record Book".