Hawaii Bowl 2018: 3 reasons to watch Hawaii vs. Louisiana Tech

Louisiana Tech faces Hawaii on their home turf in Halawa this postseason. Here are three reasons you won’t want to miss the Hawaii Bowl on Dec. 22.

Traditionally held on Christmas Eve over the past decade, the Hawaii Bowl is pushing up a few days earlier in the calendar to its earliest point ever on the college football postseason schedule. The game, which first launched in 2002, will feature a familiar face for the hometown audience at Aloha Stadium.

The game, originally launched as a successor to four previous incarnations of bowl games in Hawaii, has a stipulation that allows them to guarantee a spot to the local Rainbow Warriors if and when they achieve bowl eligibility. This year marks the eighth time in 17 editions of the game that Hawaii will be on one of the sidelines.

Their opponent this year, Louisiana Tech, has consistently been among the toughest challengers in Conference USA over the past few years. The Bulldogs have never played at the Hawaii Bowl before, but their head coach is familiar with the game. Skip Holtz won the 2007 Hawaii Bowl in a 41-38 thriller over Boise State while he was the coach at East Carolina.

How will this contest shake out when the Bulldogs square off against the Rainbow Warriors on December 22, and why will you want to make sure to watch? Here are three reasons to catch this year’s Hawaii Bowl.