The 2005 appearance of the UCF Knights at the Hawaii Bowl was the first ever bowl game in that school 's history . In 2006 , the Pac-10 replaced Conference USA ( C-USA ) as the WAC 's opposition , with C-USA as an alternate . Since Christmas Eve fell on a Monday in 2007 , the game was scheduled for the night prior ( December 23 ) to avoid a conflict with '' Monday Night Football '' ( also on ESPN ) . In 2008 , the bowl organizers selected Notre Dame as an at-large bid , marking the first time an independent played in the contest . C-USA again became a primary tie-in starting in 2009 . The 2011 game featured the C-USA champion for the first time , as Southern Mississippi played instead of going to the Liberty Bowl , where the C-USA champion typically plays . The bowl featured the Mountain West champion for the first time in 2015 , as San Diego State played instead of going to the Las Vegas Bowl , where the Mountain West champion typically plays
independent
NCAA Division I FBS independent schools
Hawaii Bowl