Owls head to Hawaii Bowl for the holidays; tickets on sale

BY CHUCK POOL

The 2014 Rice Owls will become the first football team in school history to play in three consecutive bowls when they take on Fresno State in the Hawaii Bowl Dec. 24. The game will be played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu and broadcast nationally by ESPN.

Tickets for the game are on sale through the Rice Athletics Ticket office (713-522-OWLS) and online. Owl fans are reminded to order their tickets through Rice to be able to access the school’s block of seats. Information on special ticket packages is available here. For more information, including Hawaii Bowl events, go to the official Hawaii Bowl Central page.

Rice Athletics has partnered with Anthony Travel to assist fans with travel arrangements to the Hawaii Bowl. Fans can click here for more information or by calling 800-736-6377.

“We hope that many of our fans and supporters will be able to make it to the game,” said Joe Karlgaard, director of Athletics. “We know that our kids have fought hard this year and have overcome some obstacles. We’re really happy for them and think they’ll have a great experience. It’s a tough matchup against a team that historically has had some success.”

An official Houston Rice Hawaii Bowl watch party will take place at the Mezzanine Sports Bar and Grill, 2200 Southwest Freeway, starting at 6 p.m. Dec. 24. Other watch parties will be posted at http://alumni.rice.edu/events as they are scheduled.

Rice (7-5) earned the 12th bowl bid in school history by reaching seven wins for the third consecutive season. The Owls have posted a 24-15 record over the past three seasons, their best production over any similar time frame in school history. The Owls’ three-bowl streak is the longest active streak in Conference USA.

“This is … a great reward for all the hard work that our players and staff have put into this program,” Bailiff said. “I know they are very proud to be the first team to earn a third straight bowl berth, and they have the longest active bowl streak in Conference USA, but they are not going to be satisfied with a bid. We have great respect for Fresno State and the great job that (head coach) Tim DeRuyter has done with their program. I know our players will be excited at the chance to travel to Hawaii and experience the great atmosphere of the islands, but I have no doubt that our team is also looking forward to the opportunity to end our season on a winning note.”

The Fresno State Bulldogs (6-7/5-3) will head to Honolulu after dropping a 28-14 decision to Boise State in the Mountain West Championship game. The Bulldogs have also qualified for three consecutive bowls and will be making their second appearance in Honolulu in the last three years.

This will be the seventh meeting between the two schools, with the Bulldogs having won each time. Both schools were members of the Western Athletic Conference during the previous six meetings between 1996 and 2004.

“What a great Christmas present for this football team,” Bailiff said. “We get to play on Dec. 24, and we’ll try to get a win and get home for Christmas.”