Three of the major ingredients that have helped the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl endure for 12 years are its Christmas Eve date, exclusivity and a tie-in with the University of Hawaii.

At this point it is fair to wonder how many of them it might have for this, the 13th season.

Normally the Hawaii Bowl announces its date and time immediately after the NFL releases its schedule. But not this year.

Thanks to an expanded lineup of bowls that is scheduled to reach a record 39 this season and a more compact window to jam them into, the Hawaii Bowl is still waiting to see if it will retain its traditional Dec. 24 date and remain the only football game that day.

"I’d like to think we’ll stay on Christmas Eve, but there are still a lot of pieces to the puzzle," said David Matlin, the game’s executive director. "You never know in this business."

For the better part of its history, the Hawaii Bowl has been a Dec. 24 fixture, occupying that date each of the last six years and nine of the past 10. 

Meanwhile, for every year following the inaugural game in 2002, when it shared a Dec. 25 date with the Las Vegas Bowl, the Hawaii Bowl has been the only bowl game — and, usually, the only football game — on TV.

The NBA annually uses Christmas Day, but the football audience belonged to the Hawaii Bowl and its TV ratings — the lifeblood of the game for an event owned and operated by ESPN Regional Television — thrived.

Last year, there were 35 bowl games, but the NCAA has approved four new ones for 2014-15, with games in the Bahamas; Boca Raton, Fla.; Montgomery, Ala.; and Orlando, Fla. The Christmas Bowl is also expected to debut in 2014.

With a national title elimination this year, fewer games will be played in January. There were 12 this past season. Meanwhile, they have to be stuffed somewhere between Dec. 20 and 31.

Whether there might be enough of the 128 teams bowl-eligible without resorting to one with a losing record remains to be seen. Especially with three schools — Penn State, Nevada-Las Vegas and Idaho — so far not eligible for the postseason by NCAA dictate.

More problematic, of course, is whether the hometown Rainbow Warriors will qualify to play in the Hawaii Bowl. Under terms of its deal with the Mountain West Conference, the Hawaii Bowl would get UH as long as the ‘Bows are bowl eligible, meaning they win at least seven of their 13 regular-season games.

When it comes to filling the void in years in which UH isn’t available, having the game in Hawaii and on ESPN are prime assets.

But the ‘Bows, who have not appeared in the game the past three years, their longest drought since it was founded, face one of their more challenging schedules. 

All of which means hanging onto the Dec. 24 date and maintaining exclusivity would become even more important.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.