RANT SPORTS – The 2024-2025 college football bowl invitations have started to be issued beginning with the Hawaii Bowl with two fun to watch team. The University of South Florida, with a 6-6 record representing the American Athletic Conference, will travel to Honolulu to face the Mountain West representative San Jose State, which holds a 7-4 record. The game is scheduled for Christmas Eve at 8 p.m. and will be nationally broadcast by ESPN.
The two programs are excited about the game
This marks the Bulls’ second consecutive bowl appearance under second-year head coach Alex Golesh. It also signifies the first bowl appearance for new head coach Ken Niumatalolo, the former Navy leader, with his new team.
“We are excited for the opportunity to compete in the Hawai’i Bowl against a very good San Jose State team,” USF head coach Alex Golesh said. “Hawai’i is a unique and beautiful destination that our players are excited to experience, and we look forward to productive bowl practices and a great game as we continue to build our program.”
“It’s an honor to be selected to compete in the Hawai’i Bowl for a second consecutive season. It speaks to our brand and what Ken (Niumatalolo) has done in his first season at San José State,” said SJSU Director of Athletics Jeff Konya. “It’s an elite bowl game for experiences that are provided to the participants, and furthermore, San José State has many rich ties and connections to the area, including our head coach and other staffers. We look forward to playing on ESPN as the only nationally televised college football game on December 24th.”
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How the two teams got to the bowl
San Jose State is advancing to the Hawai’i Bowl following a 34-31 win at home against Stanford Cardinal, concluding the regular season with a 7-5 overall record and a 3-4 standing in the Mountain West Conference.
The Spartans achieved a 7-5 record in Coach Ken Niumatalolo’s inaugural season, concluding the regular season with a victory against Stanford. San Jose State’s standout receiver, Nick Nash, tops the FBS with 104 receptions, 1,382 receiving yards, and 16 receiving touchdowns. Nash is also a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, which is awarded to the nation’s best receiver.
USF 4-2 in their last 6 games wrapping up the 2024 regular season. The Bulls have a commendable record of seven wins in their last 11 bowl games, with three victories in the most recent four, including a notable 45-0 win against Syracuse in the 2023 Boca Raton Bowl.
With 12 bowl appearances in the first 24 FBS seasons, USF is recognized for having the fourth-most appearances of any program since 1980. Their next bowl game against San Jose State marks the Bulls’ inaugural matchup with a team from the Mountain West Conference. USF has maintained a balanced record of 2-2 against teams from this conference historically.
The site of the game will be on the campus of the University of Hawaii
The two teams are set to compete at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex, which accommodates 15,000 spectators and serves as the replacement for the Aloha Stadium that closed in 2020. This cozy yet boisterous stadium promises to be an exciting destination for the Bulls and Spartans supporters traveling to the event.