Along with punctuating the end of a season, the outcome of a bowl game can set a tone leading into the next.

For Boise State and Oregon State, today’s Sheraton Hawaii Bowl represents an opportunity to head into the offseason with positive momentum.

Boise State earned a 12th straight bowl trip with an 8-4 regular season that left the Broncos second in the Mountain West Conference’s Mountain Division. Oregon State won six straight before dropping the next five and brings one of the nation’s most productive passing attacks to Aloha Stadium.

"We became bowl eligible faster than just about anybody in the country, but then that was it," Oregon State coach Mike Riley said. "We hit the hard part of our schedule, we didn’t win. A lot of that put us in limbo as to where we might go and then we landed into obviously one of the great places we could ever hope to be.

"When I look at the matchup, we all know about the BCS games and those are going to be the biggest games, but I see this being as good as most any bowl game that’s out there right now."

The last time Oregon State played a bowl game in Hawaii, the Beavers broke a 34-year postseason drought with an appearance in the Jeep Oahu Bowl. Since that turnaround season, Oregon State has qualified for 10 bowl games over the past 14 years and will be hunting its first postseason win since 2008.

Boise State will be looking for its fourth straight bowl win over a Pac-12 team after beating Utah, Arizona State and Washington in the past three MAACO Las Vegas Bowls.

Oregon State has five players from Hawaii on the roster and four former University of Hawaii assistant coaches on staff, and today’s game will mark the Beavers’ first appearance at Aloha Stadium since a meeting with Hawaii to close the regular season in 2006.

Boise State visited just last year, when the Broncos rolled to a Mountain West Conference win over UH. While bowl week provides a far more festive atmosphere leading up to the game, the Broncos maintained that their focus remains on business.

"This trip is a little bit different because we have a little more activity time in the beginning of the week," said Boise State receiver Kirby Moore, who will play his third game at Aloha Stadium. "Now we’re really focusing in on the game."

The Broncos’ focus has been tested since early December as the program heads into a transition phase with the departure of head coach Chris Petersen for Washington and the hiring of Bryan Harsin. Bob Gregory, the Broncos’ linebackers coach and assistant head coach in the regular season, was installed as interim head coach on Dec. 6.

They are also dealing with the situation surrounding senior quarterback Joe Southwick’s suspension. Southwick was sent home on Friday for allegedly urinating off a hotel balcony, a charge the senior disputed in a television report in Boise on Sunday.

Oregon State has also dealt with the adversity of a faltering finish to the regular season. The Beavers began the season ranked, lost to Eastern Washington in their opener, then won six straight. But they haven’t savored a victory since beating California on Oct. 19, falling to three ranked teams in a five-game skid.

The Beavers remained an attractive pick for the Hawaii Bowl with an offense that arrived in Honolulu ranked third nationally in passing, led by quarterback Sean Mannion and receiver Brandin Cooks.

"(Cooks is) probably the best we’ve seen all year. Very well deserving of the Biletnikoff Award," Gregory said. "Catches the ball very clean, great route runner, you can just tell he’s very strong and they do a great job of getting him the ball different ways."

On the other side, even with Petersen no longer calling the shots, the Beavers still expect Boise State to supplement a balanced attack with the trickery that has become one of the program’s signatures.

"They’re well coached, they always have a wrinkle or two, they’re always going to keep you on your toes," Riley said. "You’re going to have to play a very good football game and you’re going to have to play a game of awareness. You’re going to have to keep your eyes wide open and make sure you cover everything."

Chances are a good number of the coaches on the sideline and in the booth for today’s game will be back at Aloha Stadium next fall. Several Boise State assistants are expected to join Petersen at Washington, which opens next season against UH on Aug. 30. Oregon State returns to Hawaii the following week.

Notes

Hawaii Bowl executive director David Matlin said close to 28,000 tickets had been distributed for today’s game as of Monday afternoon. He noted sales usually slow over the weekends and is hopeful the matchup generates sizable walk-up sales today.

"There is some interest in Oregon State and Boise State, so we’re hoping for a pretty good walk-up, a better walk-up than usual," Matlin said.

Aloha Stadium’s lower and upper Halawa parking lots will open at 10 a.m. The Salt Lake Boulevard main gate and the Kam lot gate open at 11 a.m. Stadium turnstile gates open at 1:30 p.m., with kickoff set for 3.