HONOLULU – The University of Hawai‘i will represent the Mountain West in the 2018 Hawai‘i Bowl against Louisiana Tech of Conference USA on Saturday, Dec. 22. Kick-off is 5:30 p.m., at Aloha Stadium.
Head coach Nick Rolovich has led the Rainbow Warriors (8-5) to a five-win improvement from last season. Hawai‘i, which finished as runners-up in the MW’s West Division, will make its eighth all-time Hawai‘i Bowl appearance and second in the last three seasons. The Warriors defeated Middle Tennessee, 52-35, in Rolovich’s inaugural campaign.
UH appeared in the Hawai‘i Bowl in 2002-04, ’06, ’08, ’10, and ’16. The Warriors will also make their 12thall-time bowl appearance, sporting a 6-5 mark.
“The University of Hawai‘i is honored to be participating in the 2018 Hawai‘i Bowl,” said UH Athletics Director David A.K. Matlin. “This is a special holiday tradition and an amazing experience for our student-athletes who continue to inspire our state. This game gives us one last chance to thank our fans for all the support they’ve given us throughout the season and a great send-off for our senior class.”
Louisiana Tech finished as runners-up in C-USA’s West Division however ended the year with back-to-back losses. Coached by Skip Holtz, the Bulldogs will make their fifth straight bowl appearance and will seek their fifth straight bowl win.
“We’re extremely proud to represent our University in the Hawai‘i Bowl,” Rolovich said. “We’re also very excited to rekindle some old WAC battles against a very talented Louisiana Tech team on December 22. It could very well be one of the more exciting games of the bowl season.”
UH and LA Tech were once members of the Western Athletic Conference where they met every year from 2003-11. Hawai‘i leads the all-time series 8-2 including a 44-26 victory in the teams’ last meeting in Ruston, La., in 2011.
Hawai‘i appeared in six of the Hawai‘i Bowl’s first nine games. UH has faced a C-USA team in the Hawai‘i Bowl five times with a 3-2 record with wins over Houston (2003), UAB (2004) and Middle Tennessee (2016) and losses to Tulane (2002) and Tulsa (2010).
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Derek Inouchi
Director of Media Relations
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
Athletics Department
1337 Lower Campus Rd. | Honolulu, HI 96822
