Hawaii Bowl stays
with Dec. 24

The Sheraton Hawaii Bowl will be played on Christmas Eve again this year, game officials announced yesterday.

Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Hawaii time, director of operations Dave Matlin said. The Dec. 24 date and ESPN time slot are confirmed because the NFL has decided it will not play on that day.

"Christmas Eve was great for us last year. Now we'll also be on a Saturday, a traditional football day," Matlin said. "It's the first time we'll be on a real weekend day, so that's a positive."

The Hawaii Bowl, going into its fourth year, is up for its annual certification by the NCAA on April 21-24 in Phoenix.

"We anticipate no problems," Hawaii Bowl executive director Jim Donovan said.

This year's game will be the final in the current contract between the Western Athletic Conference and Conference USA.

Hawaii has won the last two Hawaii Bowl games, beating UAB last year and Houston in 2003. UH fell to Tulane in the first Hawaii Bowl, in 2002.