 On December 1 , 2007 , Hawaiʻi Bowl representatives announced East Carolina and Boise State as the competitors in the 2007 edition of the game . It would be the first time in history that the two teams had ever met . Two weeks after the announcement , Boise State 's top wide receiver Jeremy Childs , cornerback Keith <unk> , and linebacker Ben Chandler were declared out for the game after violating team rules . In an online contest held by ESPN.com in the weeks leading up to the game , 98 % of the participants voted that Boise State would beat East Carolina . Participants also gave 32 out of 32 " confidence points " on average , indicating the highest possible confidence in the predicted outcome . 
