C-USA to Participate in Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Day

Conference USA has reached a multi-year agreement with the Hawaii Bowl to provide a team for its inaugural game this December 25 in Honolulu. The C-USA representative will face an opponent from the Western Athletic Conference. This year’s game is tentatively scheduled to kickoff at 8:00 p.m. EST and will be televised by ESPN. The agreement gives Conference USA five bowl tie-ins for the 2002 season.

"We are excited to be a part of the Hawaii Bowl. Having five bowls gives us tremendous postseason opportunities for our players and coaches," said Conference USA Commissioner Mike Slive. "The addition of the Hawaii Bowl, its outstanding destination and the continued exposure on ESPN will be a wonderful addition for C-USA football.”

Conference USA’s champion earns a bid to the AXA Liberty Bowl in Memphis. C-USA’s second selection goes to the GMAC Bowl in Mobile and the league also has agreements with the Houston Bowl (formerly galleryfurniture.com Bowl) and the New Orleans Bowl.

The affiliation also presents Conference USA with the possibility of playing four different conference champions in postseason play. The league will play the champion of the Mountain West Conference in the AXA Liberty Bowl and the champion of the Sun Belt in the New Orleans Bowl. C-USA could also play the champions of the Mid-American Conference (GMAC Bowl) and the Western Athletic Conference (Hawaii Bowl).

This marks the second time that C-USA has been affiliated with the Western Athletic Conference in a bowl game, as the two leagues squared off in the first two Mobile Alabama (now GMAC) Bowls in 1999 and 2000. Members of the WAC include: Boise State, Fresno State, Hawai’i, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, Rice, San Jose State, SMU, Texas-El Paso and Tulsa.

The inaugural Hawaii Bowl marks the return of postseason college football to the Islands after a one-year abscence. The Aloha Bowl was played at Aloha Stadium from 1982-2000 and the Oahu Bowl was also staged from 1998 to 2000 as part of a college football postseason doubleheader.

This will be the first time that C-USA has had five guaranteed bowl selections in one season. The league had four bowl tie-ins during each of the last two campaigns and produced six bowl-eligible teams in each of those years.

Conference USA’s seventh football season gets underway on Saturday, August 31.