For only the fifth time in the two decades of Hawaii Bowls, the game will not be held in its traditional Christmas Eve slot.
The 2023 EasyPost Hawaii Bowl will be held Dec. 23 between representatives of the Mountain West Conference and American Athletic Conference at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex, event organizer ESPN Events announced on Wednesday. It will kick off at 5:30 p.m. Hawaii time on ESPN.
It will be the 20th Hawaii Bowl since its inaugural edition in 2002. The 2020 and 2021 editions were cancelled during the pandemic.
“Saturday evening, under the lights at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex will be a fantastic atmosphere for our participating teams and fans as we celebrate the 20th edition of Hawaii’s college football bowl tradition,” Hawaii Bowl executive director Daryl Garvin said in a news release.
The last edition of the game not played on Dec. 24 was in 2018, when Hawaii faced Louisiana Tech on Saturday, Dec. 22. (See below for complete game history.)
Garvin confirmed to Spectrum News that the NFL’s 10-game Christmas Eve schedule on Sunday, Dec. 24 contributed to ESPN Events' decision to move the game up by a day. There are still two NFL games on Dec. 23, with the last kicking off at 3 p.m. between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers on Peacock. Three more NFL games take place on Christmas Day.
ESPN Events’ other holiday event, the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, was also moved up a day, to Dec. 21, 22 and 24 — the first time in its history it will not be held on Dec. 22, 23 and 25.
Hawaii has not played in the Hawaii Bowl since 2019 and has appeared in just three of the last 10 editions of the game. UH was to appear in the 2021 edition but backed out against Memphis the day before due to a pandemic-related shortfall of available players.
Also Wednesday, it was announced that one of the teams in the 2023 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic college basketball tournament, Saint Mary’s, has withdrawn from the eight-team holiday field. CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported that SMC will instead participate in the 2023 Continental Tire Main Event in Las Vegas.
Garvin told Spectrum News that the DHC is searching for a replacement team to join Hawaii, Georgia Tech, Nevada, Old Dominion, TCU, Temple and UMass.
Saint Mary’s had its previous slated appearance in the DHC, 2020, wiped out because of the pandemic. Randy Bennett took his team to play in the event in 2009 and 2013; he has not yet played in Hawaii’s signature tournament since his protégé, Eran Ganot, became UH coach in 2015.
“I think Saint Mary’s is a great team and would be great to have in the field,” Ganot, a former SMC assistant coach, told Spectrum News.
2002, ConAgra Foods, Dec. 25, Wednesday: Tulane 36, Hawaii 28
2003, Sheraton, Dec. 25, Thursday: Hawaii 54, Houston 48, 3OT
2004, Sheraton, Dec. 24, Friday: Hawaii 59, UAB 40
2005, Sheraton, Dec. 24, Saturday: Nevada 49, UCF 48, OT
2006, Sheraton, Dec. 24, Sunday: Hawaii 41, Arizona State 24
2007, Sheraton, Dec. 23, Sunday: East Carolina 41, Boise State 38
2008, Sheraton, Dec. 24, Wednesday: Notre Dame 49, Hawaii 21
2009, Sheraton, Dec. 24, Thursday: SMU 45, Nevada 10
2010, Sheraton, Dec. 24, Friday: Tulsa 62, Hawaii 35
2011, Sheraton, Dec. 24, Saturday: Southern Miss 24, Nevada 17
2012, Sheraton, Dec. 24, Monday: SMU 43, Fresno State 10
2013, Sheraton, Dec. 24, Tuesday: Oregon State 38, Boise State 28
2014, None, Dec. 24, Wednesday: Rice 30, Fresno State 6
2015, None, Dec. 24, Thursday: San Diego State 42, Cincinnati 7
2016, None, Dec. 24, Saturday: Hawaii 52, Middle Tennessee 35
2017, None, Dec. 24, Sunday: Fresno State 33, Houston 27
2018, SoFi, Dec. 22, Saturday: Louisiana Tech 31, Hawaii 14
2019, SoFi, Dec. 24, Tuesday: Hawaii 38, BYU 34
2020, None, Undetermined: Cancelled
2021, EasyPost, Dec. 24, Friday: Cancelled
2022, EasyPost, Dec. 24, Saturday: Middle Tennessee 25, San Diego State 23
2023, EasyPost, Dec. 23, Saturday: TBD
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.