|
Christmas on Waikiki?
C-USA
cops Hawaii Bowl deal
From Staff and C-USA reports
Conference USA football fans, don't finalize your Christmas holiday travel
plans just yet. A new tropical destination just became available.
The league, which has rapidly built upon the lone flagship affiliation it
started with upon its founding in 1996 — the Liberty Bowl — has reached a multi-year agreement with the Hawaii Bowl to
provide a team for the event's inaugural game in Honolulu's Aloha Stadium.
The C-USA representative will face an opponent from the
Western Athletic Conference. The newly-certified bowl is tentatively
scheduled to kickoff at 8:00 p.m. EST on Christmas Day and will be televised
by ESPN. In combination with the its recently announced
pact to send a team to the New Orleans Bowl to challenge the Sun Belt Conference champion,
the Hawaii Bowl agreement gives C-USA more bowl slots than
the four it had a year ago — despite the expiration of its contract with the
Motor City Bowl. The conference's commissioner, Mike Slive,
noted the positives of the new tie-in for the league's teams and fans in a
news release.
|
C-USA Bowl
Tie-ins for Next Season |
|
View the Complete 28-game Bowl Slate... |
| December 17,
2002 |
NEW ORLEANS BOWL, New Orleans, LA
December 17, 2002, at 9 p.m. ET
Televising Network: ESPN2
Facility: Louisiana Superdome (65,000)
Title Sponsor: Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation
Teams: Sunbelt #1 vs. C-USA |
| December 18,
2002 |
GMAC BOWL,
Mobile, AL
December 18, 2002, at 8 p.m. ET
Televising Network: ESPN2
Facility: Ladd Peebles Stadium (40,048)
Title Sponsor: Mobile Alabama, Inc. and GMAC Financial
Services
Teams: MAC vs. C-USA #2 |
| December 25,
2002 |
HAWAII BOWL - Honolulu, HA
December 25, 2002, at 8 p.m. ET
Television Network: ESPN
Facility: Aloha Stadium (73,258)
Teams: C-USA vs. WAC |
| December 27,
2002 |
HOUSTON BOWL,
Houston, TX
December 27, 2002, at 1 p.m. ET
Televising Network: ESPN
Facility: Reliant Astrodome (55,800)
Teams: Big 12 vs. C-USA |
| December 31,
2002 |
AXA LIBERTY BOWL, Memphis, TN
December 31, 2002, at 3:30 p.m. ET
Televising Network: ESPN
Facility: Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium (62,000)
Title Sponsor: AXA Financial Group
Teams: C-USA #1 vs. MWC #1 |
|
|
View the Complete 28-game Bowl Slate... |
|
"We are excited to be a part of the Hawaii Bowl. Having five
bowls gives us tremendous postseason opportunities for our players and
coaches," he said. "The addition of the Hawaii Bowl, its outstanding
destination and the continued exposure on ESPN will be a wonderful addition
for C-USA football.” The Hawaii Bowl tie-in assures that
almost half of the league's 11 members will be guaranteed bowl berths —
subject to meeting the NCAA's minimum 6-6 won-loss benchmark for postseason
eligibility. 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. The league also has agreements with the Houston Bowl, in addition to
the New Orleans Bowl.
The Hawaii Bowl affiliation also presents C-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.
Depending upon various factors, C-USA could also play the champions of the
Mid-American Conference in the GMAC Bowl and the Western Athletic Conference
in the Hawaii Bowl.
This marks the second time C-USA has been affiliated with the Western
Athletic Conference in a bowl game. Teams from 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, Hawaii, 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 island of Oahu after a one-year absence. The Aloha Bowl was played at
Aloha Stadium from 1982-2000 and the Oahu Bowl was staged at the same venue
from 1998 to 2000 as part of a college football postseason doubleheader.
This will be the first time C-USA has had five guaranteed bowl selections in
one season. The league had four bowl tie-ins the last two years and produced
six bowl-eligible teams each season.
- 30 -
----- |
