The San Jose State Spartans and South Florida Bulls will play in the 2024 Hawai’i Bowl, the bowl has officially announced.
This season, the Hawai’i Bowl returns to its traditional spot on Christmas Eve. San Jose State and South Florida will square off on Tuesday, December 24, 2024 at the Clarence T. C. Ching Athletics Complex in Honolulu, Hawai’i. The game, the 21st edition of the bowl, will kickoff at 10:00pm ET (3:00pm local time) and it will be televised nationally by ESPN.
In their first and only matchup on the gridiron in 2017, South Florida defeated San Jose State, 42-22, in San Jose, Calif.
“On behalf of ESPN Events and our Executive Committee, we’re thrilled to welcome South Florida and San José State to the Hawai’i Bowl,” Executive Director Daryl Garvin said. “Players, coaches and fans from both coasts will enjoy bowl week in paradise, while we showcase the natural beauty of Hawai‘i to television viewers around the world.”
San Jose State will be making their second consecutive appearance in the Hawai’i Bowl, following its contest last season against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. The Spartans came up short in that game, 24-14.
San Jose State heads into the Hawai’i Bowl after closing its regular-season with a 34-31 victory at home over the Stanford Cardinal. The Spartans finished the 2024 regular-season 7-5 overall and 3-4 in Mountain West Conference play.
San Jose State will be making its 14th bowl game appearance and the Spartans have an overall bowl game record of 7-6.
“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.”
South Florida (USF) will enter the Hawai’i Bowl with a 6-6 overall record (4-4 American) after dropping its regular-season finale on the road against the Rice Owls, 35-28.
The USF Bulls have played in 11 post-season bowl games, but have never appeared in the Hawai’i Bowl. USF most recently played in the 2023 Boca Raton Bowl and defeated the Syracuse Orange, 45-0, to improve their overall bowl record to 7-4.
“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.”
The Hawai’i Bowl is the first of two confirmed bowl matchups this season, the other being the IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl (South Alabama vs. Western Michigan). The South Carolina State Bulldogs, who won the MEAC championship this season, will appear in the Cricket Celebration Bowl against the SWAC champion, which will be either Southern or Jackson State.
The 2024 season marks the debut of the 12-team College Football Playoff. The complete field is set to be announced on Selection Day on Sunday, Dec. 8 on ESPN.
The College Football National Championship concludes the college football season on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. The two playoff semifinal winners will meet at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta and the game will be televised by ESPN at 7:30pm ET.
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A nice homecoming for Coach Ken and the Spartans who were picked in preseason to finish 10th in the MW. USF on the other hand had a very up and down season despite at one point trailing only by 1 against Alabama in the 4th quarter in week 2. The stretch of consecutive losses to Miami, Tulane, and Memphis put the season in jeopardy but Golesh and his Bulls were able to go 4-2 down the stretch of the season. Regardless this should be an intriguing matchup with two teams on the verge of competing for top spots in their respective conferences next season.