2016 Hawaii Bowl, Middle Tennessee vs. Hawaii: Date, time, location and everything to know

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College football’s most scenic bowl game is back for another year. This will be the 15th edition of the Hawaii Bowl, which started in 2002 and has persisted as an exotic postseason destination for a couple of bowl-eligible teams every year since then.

The Hawaii football team has appeared in this game more often than anyone else, but the Rainbow Warriors aren’t eligible this year. So the game becomes a fun traveling expedition for both sides, and they get to play in a venue that’s hosted a bunch of Pro Bowls. The weather’s usually great, and it’s a fun setup for the players. The tie-ins this year are from the Mountain West and Conference USA.

Sheraton Hotels has sponsored the game for most of its existence, though the name of the bowl is a standalone “Hawaii Bowl” at this point. The game’s first sponsor, when it came onto the scene in 2002, was ConAgra Foods.

Here’s everything you need to know about this game and its history.

Date and time: Dec. 24, 8 p.m. ET

TV channel: ESPN

Location: Honolulu, Hawaii

Stadium: Aloha Stadium

Last year’s score: San Diego State 42, Cincinnati 7

Last year’s attendance: 22,793

Teams with the most all-time appearances: Hawaii, 6

Teams with the most all-time wins: Hawaii, 3

Middle Tennessee (8-4, 5-3 in Conference-USA)

Middle Tennessee knew it was going bowling by the midpoint of the Blue Raiders’ season. The team made it to bowl eligibility after beating FIU on Oct. 29, which brought its season record to 6-2 on the year. The Blue Raiders followed that up by losing two straight games to Texas-San Antonio and Marshall, but beat Charlotte and FAU to get to eight wins.

Blue Raiders running back I’Tavius Mathers has been impressive all season, rushing for 1,504 yards along with 16 touchdowns during the season. In his final game of the regular season against FAU, he rushed for 213 yards along with three touchdowns. The offense hasn’t had any trouble putting up points.

Middle Tennessee State actually hasn’t won a bowl game in quite some time. In 2010, 2013 and 2015, the Blue Raiders went 0-3 in those contests. A bowl victory would be the cherry on top of a pretty decent year for head coach Rick Stockstill, who is currently 1-4 in the postseason at MTSU.

Hawaii (6-7, 4-4 in Mountain West)

The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors have had an interesting season, to say the least. The team had a tough opening couple of games against Michigan and Cal, which were both losses. The Rainbow Warriors were able to win three out of their next four, but then had a three-game losing skid to New Mexico, San Diego State, and Boise State. They ended the season with wins over Fresno State and UMass, bringing them to six wins on the season.

The Rainbow Warriors’ offense is led by quarterback Dru Brown, who went over 2,000 yards passing this year. Wide receiver Marcus Kemp has been on the receiving end of more than 1,000 of those, turning in a great year.

Hawaii’s problem is defense. The Rainbow Warriors have one of the worst units in the country on that side of the ball, and they’ve struggled to keep teams from lighting up the scoreboard.