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PROVO — BYU has known for a long time — really, before the season, but officially since receiving an invitation following a 42-10 win over FCS Idaho State back on Nov. 16.
Now the Cougars have an opponent — and they’ll be visitors in their house.
The SoFi Hawaii Bowl announced Sunday the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors as BYU’s upcoming bowl opponent in the game owned by ESPN Events that will be played Dec. 24 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii (6 p.m. MST, ESPN).
"Hawaii is a really good team and I’m looking forward to the matchup," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. "I have tons of respect for Nick Rolovich and his entire coaching staff. I love the way they play the game. It will be an honor for us to take the field with them at Aloha Stadium."
BYU will be playing in its 37th bowl game, dating back to the 1974 Fiesta Bowl. The Cougars last played in the 1992 Aloha Bowl against Kansas, when the game was played on Christmas Day.
The Hawaii Bowl was formed in 2002 after the Rainbow Warriors finished the 2001 season with a 9-3 record but did not receive a bowl invitation due to logistical concerns.
“I’m excited about having them. It’s been a long time for BYU to play in the Hawaii Bowl; we’ve never had them. I think they played in the Aloha Bowl, if memory serves me right,” said ESPN’s Pete Derzis, a member of the Hawaii Bowl committee. “But that’s going back quite a few decades.”
Hawaii, which is 1-1 all-time in the Hawaii Bowl, wrapped up a runner-up finish in the Mountain West Conference and 9-5 record with a loss to Boise State in the conference championship game.
"BYU at Aloha Stadium on Christmas Eve, there may not be a better combination for Hawaii fans," Rolovich said. "The SoFi Hawaii Bowl has been a tremendous experience every time we've been in it and we look forward to representing our state and university again on a national stage. The Cougars have had a great season and we're looking forward to our fans coming out to Aloha Stadium to see a battle with a classic rival."
The game will pit the host institution against a university with a large following in the islands, owing to the profuse influence of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hawaii and a sister campus of BYU in BYU-Hawaii. Missionaries for the church first arrived in the then-Sandwich Islands in 1843, an area that currently estimates a membership of more than 68,000 in the islands scattered among 15 stakes, 122 wards, 10 branches and one mission, according to a church report from the beginning of the decade.
With more than 5% of the Hawaiian population numbering Latter-day Saints, selling tickets to the 50,000-seat Aloha Stadium shouldn’t be an issue.
That’s the hope, at least — much like it is with all postseason bowl games.
“It’s kind of a second home for a lot of (BYU’s) fans, and a lot of alums that are living there,” Derzis said of Hawaii. “With a little advance notice, hopefully, some folks will be able to get their airline tickets booked before prices continue to go up.
“I don’t think there’s any great pressure in terms of bringing people. We expect them to have a solid following like they always have.”
The Rainbow Warriors (9-5) won the Mountain West’s West division, finishing second to league champion Boise State (12-1) following a 31-10 loss in the conference championship game. With Memphis’ win over in the American Athletic Conference championship securing the Group of Five bid to a New Year’s Six bowl game, the Broncos were slotted into the Las Vegas Bowl.
The trickle-down effect left Hawaii playing at home. BYU was contracted to face an opponent from the Mountain West or American Athletic Conference, and the Rainbow Warriors — once available — made sense.
So, too, did the bowl committee’s decision to move the game back to Christmas Eve after taking a year off the traditional date due to Monday Night Football.
“What we don’t get in the stands on a given year we quite frankly make up in the ratings,” Derzis said. “There are a lot of people on Christmas Eve who are snowed in that are watching the game. It cuts both ways.
“The window has worked fairly well, and consistently well for 19 years. The first couple of games were on Christmas Day, and then we moved to Christmas Eve before last year because of the calendar and the NFL. But it’s been a pretty good marriage. It’s got pros and cons, some challenges, but it works; and the teams finish the game and get back home on the red-eye by Christmas morning. Everyone has enjoyed it.”
The Rainbow Warriors are making their second-straight appearance in the Hawaii Bowl, losing to Louisiana Tech 31-14 a year ago.
The Cougars are 23-8 all-time against Hawaii, including a 10-game winning streak from 1978-88. The Old WAC rivalry dates back to the 1930 season when the Warriors won 49-13 in Honolulu.
But BYU has won the past four meetings, and eight of the last nine dating back to 1993. The two sides most recently met in 2018, a 49-23 win for BYU in Provo that was the first start of now-sophomore quarterback Zach Wilson’s career.
Hawaii is the fourth Mountain West team to play former conference rival BYU during the 2019 season. The Cougars beat Boise State and Utah State, but lost at San Diego State in the regular-season finale, 16-6.
A win over the Rainbow Warriors, who lost to the 19th-ranked Broncos 31-10 in Saturday’s Mountain West Championship game, could go a long way toward assuaging BYU’s final loss. The Cougars practice three times after returning from Southern California, all while keeping one eye on other results and an ear toward the bowl committee’s official announcement.
Tickets are available now, and can be purchased beginning at $35 through BYU at byutickets.com.
