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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii quarterback Chevan Cordeiro picked up yardage against Louisiana Tech during last year’s Hawaii Bowl at Aloha Stadium. Louisiana Tech won 31-14.
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The Hawaii Bowl is returning to its traditional Christmas Eve slot and could also recast a popular matchup.
If the University of Hawaii and Brigham Young achieve bowl eligibility this season their likely reward would be a Dec. 24 matchup at Aloha Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
ESPN Events, which owns and operates 15 bowl games, announced Thursday the game will be played on Christmas Eve for the 14th time in its 18-year history. Last year the bowl was played on Dec. 22, its earliest date.
There are currently no other bowls or NFL games on the date, though that could change when Fox and CBS Sports announce their bowl game schedules. The NBA doesn’t normally schedule games on Christmas Eve.
“I’m excited about the date,” said Daryl Garvin, the game’s executive director. “We’ve kind of built a tradition of being on Christmas Eve.”
This year the bowl has contractual agreements with the Mountain West Conference, BYU and the American Athletic Conference.
Garvin declined to discuss potential matchups, saying “it is too early to speculate.”
But if UH and BYU breach bowl eligibility — likely meaning seven wins for the Rainbow Warriors, who play a 13-game regular-season schedule and six for the Cougars who play 12 — and are not selected to a New Year’s Six bowl game, their first postseason encounter would be very attractive in terms of attendance and TV audience.
The teams have met 31 times but never in a bowl. BYU leads the series 23-8.
This will be the second year of a two-year contract with SoFi as the title sponsor.
