GREENVILLE, N.C. >> Gino Guidugli threw four touchdown passes -- three to Jon Olinger as Cincinnati beat East Carolina 42-26 last night to clinch a share of the Conference USA championship. Warriors get Green Wave
on Christmas
Warriors have extra motivation
10 Warriors ean All-WAC honors
Associated Press
The Bearcats (7-6, 6-2) earned a bid to the New Orleans Bowl, where they will face North Texas on Dec. 17.
Also as a result, Tulane accepted an invitation to play Hawaii in the inaugural ConAgra Foods Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Day at Aloha Stadium.
"I know our players and coaches understand how important this game is and what a tremendous challenge it will be for our football team," Green Wave coach Chris Scelfo said.
"We're looking forward to being able to see Hawaii, but we also realize the importance of being focused and prepared to play a football game."
Tulane, of Conference USA, finished the regular season at 7-5. Hawaii, of the Western Athletic Conference, is 9-3 going into its regular-season finale tonight against San Diego State.
"We've been excited to play in this bowl game ever since we got to seven wins," Hawaii coach June Jones said.
"I don't know a whole lot about Tulane, but I'm looking forward to a good game and hopefully we can give the state of Hawaii and our seniors a "w" on Christmas Day," he said.
The game will be televised by ESPN.
Cincinnati finished tied with TCU for the C-USA title and clinched its first league championship since winning the Missouri Valley Conference in 1964.
Guidugli threw touchdown passes of 78, 49 and 48 yards to Olinger and finished with 323 yards. He also threw a 26-yard scoring pass to George Murray midway through the fourth quarter.
Olinger finished with four catches for 194 yards.
Cincinnati's DeMarco McCleskey rushed for 161 yards, and the defense scored two touchdowns as the Bearcats snapped a four-game losing streak to the Pirates (4-8, 4-4).
Linebacker-turned-running back Christshawn Gilliam rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns for East Carolina.
The Hawaii Bowl is 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.
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