Tiffany Greene (play-by-play), Jay Walker (analyst), and Marilyn Payne (sideline) (ESPN) Kevin Winter (play-by-play) and Trevor Matich (analyst) (ESPN Radio)
The game took five overtime periods to decide, which at the time set a new record for the most overtime periods in a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) bowl game.[6][7] However, this record was surpassed just two days later when the 2024 GameAbove Sports Bowl took six overtimes to decide.[8]
Teams
Consistent with conference tie-ins, the game featured South Florida from the American Athletic Conference (The American) and San Jose State from the Mountain West Conference (MW).[9] South Florida and San Jose State had played once before, in 2017, which South Florida won, 42–22.[10] The game was San Jose State's second appearance in the Hawaii Bowl, and South Florida's first.
The Bulls started their season with a win over Bethune–Cookman, but fell the following week to eighth-ranked Alabama. South Florida had a three-game losing streak in the middle of the season, but were able to recover in the latter half of the year, clinching bowl eligibility on November 23 after beating Tulsa, 63–30, at home. The Bulls ended their regular season with a loss to Rice, which brought their regular season record to 6–6.
The Spartans started their season with three consecutive wins before losing to Washington State in double-overtime. They then alternated winning and losing games before clinching bowl eligibility on November 9 by beating Oregon State, 24–13. San Jose State ended the regular season with a 34–31 win against Stanford in the Bill Walsh Legacy Game to bring their record to 7–5.