7-6 record Post-season college football will return to Hawaii this year when the nationally televised Hawaii Bowl is played Christmas Day at Aloha Stadium, the NCAA announced today.
will assure UH
spot in new bowl
A nationally-televised Hawaii Bowl
is certified by the NCAAAssociated Press
The Hawaii Bowl was one of three new bowls certified for 2002, the Indianapolis-based National Collegiate Athletic Association said in a news release.
The game will be owned and operated by ESPN Regional, the marketing arm of the cable sports network, in partnership with the University of Hawaii, the Western Athletic Conference and Conference USA.
The game, which will be played at 3 p.m. on Christmas Day and broadcast on ESPN, will feature a team each from the WAC and Conference USA.
Hawaii is assured of being the WAC team in the Hawaii Bowl if the Warriors win at least seven of their 13 games this fall.
"The University of Hawaii will play a major role," said Chuck Gerber of ESPN Regional.
The other two bowls certified today are the San Francisco Bowl, which will be played Dec. 31 at Pacific Bell park, and the Queen City Bowl, which will be played on a date to be determined at Ericsson Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.
The Div. I Board of Directors recently lifted a two-year moratorium on the maximum number of post-season bowls in Div. I-A that had established a temporary limit of 26 bowl games.
"We had several new bowl organizations that came to us very well prepared with conference and television commitments, as well as good facilities and support from their communities," Tim Curley, athletics director at Penn State and chair of the Football Certification Subcommittee, said in a statement. "We believe they will sponsor events that will be good experiences for student-athletes."
Hawaii had at least one post-season bowl game from 1982 to 2000.
Despite finishing last season with a 9-3 record, including a 72-45 upset over Brigham Young on Dec. 8, Hawaii was not invited to play in a bowl game.
"We're looking forward to returning a bowl to Hawaii," said Karl Benson, WAC commissioner. "It would be the first time the University of Hawaii has been closely associated with a bowl, and we think that's an important factor."