HONOLULU – Mountain West Conference Championship runner-up University of Hawai‘i has been selected to participate in the 2019 SoFi Hawai‘i Bowl. Hawai‘i will face BYU (7-5), which accepted its bowl invitation on November 16. The Cougars became bowl eligible with wins over Tennessee, USC, Boise State, Utah State, Liberty and Idaho State. The game is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 24, airing at 3 p.m. HT, on ESPN from Aloha Stadium. Tickets are currently on sale online at etickethawaii.com, at the Stan Sheriff Center Ticket Office and Aloha Stadium Box Office or on the phone at 808-944-2697. “The University of Hawai‘i has enjoyed a tremendous season and we are thrilled the Rainbow Warriors accepted an invitation to play BYU,” Garvin said UH (9-5) will be making a record ninth appearance in the SoFi Hawai‘i Bowl’s 18-year history. The Rainbow Warriors will appear in back-to-back games for the first time since making three consecutive appearances from 2002-05. Hawai‘i owns a 4-4 record in the bowl. “We are honored to play in the 18^th annual SoFi Hawai‘i Bowl,” UH Athletics Director David Matlin said. “It is a great reward for our well deserving student-athletes, coaches and staff and a special Christmas Eve matchup against BYU for our local fans. ESPN Events and the Hawai‘i Bowl staff are incredible hosts and provide a first rate experience for our student-athletes.” Overall, this marks UH’s 13^th all-time bowl appearance and third in four seasons under current head coach Nick Rolovich. UH is 1-1 in the SoFi Hawai‘i Bowl under Rolovich with a win over Middle Tennessee in 2016 and a loss to Louisiana Tech last season. “BYU at Aloha Stadium on Christmas Eve, there may not be a better combination for Hawai‘i fans,” Rolovich said. “The SoFi Hawai‘i 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 Rainbow Warriors and Cougars have a long and storied history when the two were members of the Western Athletic Conference. The Cougars own a 23-8 advantage in the all-time series that started in 1930. The teams played every year but once from 1978-1998. This year marks the third straight season which the teams have met with BYU prevailing 30-20 in 2017 at Aloha Stadium and 49-23 last season in Provo, Utah.   ESPN Events ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, owns and operates a large portfolio of 34 collegiate sporting events nationwide. The roster includes three Labor Day weekend college football games, the FCS opening-weekend game, 16 college bowl games, 11 college basketball events, a college softball event and two college award shows, which accounts for approximately 375-plus hours of live programming, reaches nearly 64 million viewers and attracts over 800,000 attendees each year. With satellite offices in Albuquerque, Birmingham, Boca Raton, Boise, Dallas-Fort Worth, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Montgomery and Tampa, ESPN Events builds relationships with conferences, schools and local communities, as well as providing unique experiences for teams and fans. For more information, visit the official website, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube pages.   SoFi SoFi helps people achieve financial independence to realize their ambitions. Our products for borrowing, saving, spending, investing, and protecting give our more than 900,000 members fast access to tools to get their money right. SoFi membership comes with the key essentials for getting ahead, including career advisors and connection to a thriving community of like-minded, ambitious people. SoFi is also the naming rights partner of SoFi Stadium, future home of the Los Angeles Chargers and the Los Angeles Rams, opening in July 2020. For more information, visit SoFi.com or download our iOS and Android apps.   Hawai‘i Tourism Authority The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority is the State of Hawai‘i agency responsible for strategically managing its support of the tourism industry. Established in 1998 to support Hawai‘i’s leading industry and largest employer, HTA continually strives to help ensure tourism’s sustainability and the benefits it brings to residents and communities statewide. For more information about HTA, please visit www.hawaiitourismauthority.org. Follow updates about HTA on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (@HawaiiHTA) and its YouTube Channel.