Hula Bowl

Template:Short description Template:Short description Template:Template other The Hula Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game held annually, usually in January. From inception through the 2021 playing, it was held in Hawaii; since the 2022 edition, it has been played in Orange County, Florida near Orlando.

The game was first staged in 1947, between mainland collegiate players and local Hawaiian players; it has been played exclusively with collegiate players since 1960. The bowl was paused following its 2008 edition, then was revived in January 2020.

The game was originally held at Honolulu Stadium in Honolulu, then moved to Aloha Stadium in Halawa starting with the January 1976 edition. The game remained at Aloha Stadium through the 2021 edition, except for eight editions played at War Memorial Stadium on the island of Maui. The University of Central Florida (UCF) agreed to host the January 2022 playing of the game, due to Aloha Stadium being closed for repairs and upgrades.

History

File:Case-Ernie-1941.jpg

UCLA quarterback Ernie Case played in the inaugural 1947 game.

In late 1946, the first Hula Bowl was organized by Paul Stupin and Mackay Yanagisawa. When the inaugural game was played on January 5, 1947, the teams were composed of mainland college players (the "Southern California Rose Bowl Stars", led by UCLA quarterback Ernie Case) pitted against a local team of graduates of Leilehua (the "Leialums"), a local high school in Wahiawa, Hawaii—the mainland team won, 34–7. The teams played a two-game series every January until 1951, when the format was changed to allow National Football League (NFL) players to join the Hawaiian all-stars, in an effort to create a more competitive environment. From 1960 onward, the game featured only collegiate players, and game results are listed in NCAA records. Players were historically rostered by college location; North vs. South or East vs. West. Since 2000, team names of Aina and Kai, the Hawaiian words for land and ocean, have been used multiple times.

The game was originally played in Honolulu Stadium in Honolulu through the January 1975 playing, then moved to Aloha Stadium in neighboring Halawa. In 1997, the then-mayor of Maui County, Linda Lingle, obtained authorization to spend $1.2 million to improve War Memorial Stadium in the town of Kahului on the island of Maui, which then hosted the game for the 1998 through 2005 playings. However, due to poor attendance and reduced revenue, the Hula Bowl returned to Oahu for its 2006 game and stayed at Aloha Stadium through the 2008 playing.

The game has predominantly been played in January as one of the final games of the college football postseason, allowing players who competed in bowl games with their collegiate teams to participate. The game has been held in early February twice, in 2002 and 2003.

For many years, the Hula Bowl was distinguished from a similar event, the Senior Bowl, by playing by collegiate rules rather than professional rules, and by remaining amateur (the Senior Bowl paid players through its 1988 edition). This was very important for those wishing to remain eligible to compete in other collegiate sports (such as college baseball) or otherwise retain amateur status. At one point the longest-running sporting event in Hawaii, it was considered a premier venue to launch professional careers in the NFL.Template:According to whom

Changing direction

File:US Navy 050122-N-3019M-002 Navy Midshipman Kyle Eckel stands at attention during the playing of the National anthem at the 2005 Hula Bowl All-Star game in Kahului, Maui, Hawaii.jpg

Kyle Eckel of Navy at the 2005 game

On July 1, 2006, it was announced that the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) would end its ten-year relationship with the Hula Bowl due to "philosophical differences" over the future plans for the game, including proposed changes for the 2007 game — such as reintroducing the "Hawaiian Islands versus Mainland" matchup used from 1947 to 1959. University of Hawaii and former NFL head coach June Jones expressed a willingness to coach a potential Hawaiian Islands team, which would have a mix of Hawaiian and Polynesian players and, bowl organizers hoped, would draw more fans to the game. The Hula Bowl had also discussed the idea of allowing junior status players to participate in the game and bringing over college football players from Japan, something the game had done in the recent past. Game officials also discussed awarding a national "Hula Bowl Player of the Week" to college players during the regular season; the winning players would have been invited to play in the Hula Bowl and been able to direct a $1,000 donation to a charity in their state.

Dormancy

After the January 2008 playing, the bowl remained dormant. Organizers searched "for opportunities to reintroduce and reimagine the historic bowl game", and in November 2016, announced their intent to restart the game in North Carolina in January 2018. However, in March 2017, additional news reports indicated that a revival of the game was unlikely, as a key supporter of the proposal, North Carolina governor Pat McCrory, left office at the start of that year.

Revival

On October 29, 2019, it was announced that the Hula Bowl would be revived; the 2020 edition was played at Aloha Stadium on January 26, 2020. It featured "NCAA college football players from all divisions, along with international players". Aloha Stadium also hosted the 2021 edition, played on January 31, 2021, held without spectators after the facility was "deemed unsafe to hold crowds" in December 2020. In August 2021, with Aloha Stadium closed for repairs and upgrades, the University of Central Florida (UCF) agreed to host the 2022 playing—scheduled for January 15—at its home stadium, then known as FBC Mortgage Stadium and now as Acrisure Bounce House, near Orlando, Florida.

Game results

Key

East win	West win
North win	South win
Aina win	Kai win
Tie

The Hula Bowl has used four different pairs of team designations. Before 2000, teams were rostered as either North vs. South or East vs. West, with the exception of the 1994 game, which was College Stars vs. Hawaii Ponoʻi ("Hawaii's own"). Since 2000, the matchup has been Aina vs. Kai, except for 2005 and 2006, which reverted to East vs. West. Past NCAA records have substituted North or West in place of Kai ("ocean"), and South or East in place of Aina ("land").

Date	Winner		Loser		Attendance
January 10, 1960	East	34	West	8	23,000
January 8, 1961	East	14	West	7	17,017
January 7, 1962	East 7, West 7				20,598
January 6, 1963	North	20	South	13	20,000
January 4, 1964	North	20	South	13	18,177
January 9, 1965	South	16	North	14	22,100
January 8, 1966	North	27	South	26	25,000
January 7, 1967	North	28	South	27	23,500
January 6, 1968	North	50	South	6	21,000
January 4, 1969	North	13	South	7	23,000
January 10, 1970	South	35	North	13	25,000
January 9, 1971	North	42	South	32	23,500
January 8, 1972	North	24	South	7	23,000
January 6, 1973	South	17	North	3	23,000
January 5, 1974	East	24	West	14	23,000
January 4, 1975	East	34	West	25	22,000
January 10, 1976	East	16	West	0	45,458
January 8, 1977	West	20	East	17	45,579
January 7, 1978	West	42	East	22	48,197
January 6, 1979	East	29	West	24	49,132
January 5, 1980	East	17	West	10	47,096
January 10, 1981	West	24	East	17	39,010
January 9, 1982	West	26	East	23	43,002
January 15, 1983	East	30	West	14	39,456
January 7, 1984	West	21	East	16	34,216
January 5, 1985	East	34	West	14	30,767
January 11, 1986	West	23	East	10	29,564
January 10, 1987	West	16	East	14	17,775

Venues

Honolulu Stadium (1960–1975)

Aloha Stadium (1976–1997, 2006–2008, 2020–2021)

War Memorial Stadium (Maui; 1998–2005)

FBC Mortgage Stadium (Orlando; 2022–2025)

Spec Martin Stadium (DeLand, Florida; 2026)

Date	Winner		Loser		Attendance	Ref.
January 16, 1988	West	20	East	18	26,737
January 7, 1989	East	21	West	10	25,000
January 13, 1990	West	21	East	13	28,742
January 19, 1991	East	23	West	10	21,926
January 11, 1992	West	27	East	20	23,112
January 16, 1993	West	13	East	10	25,479
January 22, 1994	College Stars	28	Hawaii Ponoʻi	15	33,947
January 22, 1995	East	20	West	9	19,074
January 21, 1996	East	17	West	10	25,112
January 19, 1997	South	26	North	13	24,725
January 18, 1998	South	20	North	19	20,079
January 24, 1999	South	34	North	14	23,719
January 22, 2000	Aina 28, Kai 28				23,719
January 20, 2001	Kai	31	Aina	23	23,719
February 2, 2002	Aina	45	Kai	28	24,000
February 1, 2003	Aina	27	Kai	24
January 17, 2004	Aina	26	Kai	7
January 22, 2005	East	20	West	13
January 21, 2006	East	10	West	7
January 14, 2007	Aina	18	Kai	10	8,000
January 12, 2008	Aina	38	Kai	7
January 26, 2020	Kai	23	Aina	7	5,500
January 31, 2021	Kai	15	Aina	13	0
January 15, 2022	Kai	21	Aina	20
January 14, 2023	Kai	16	Aina	13	8,314
January 13, 2024	Kai	24	Aina	17
January 11, 2025	Aina	10	Kai	3

All-time series (updated through January 2025 game)

East leads West, 15–11–1

North leads South, 8–6

Aina and Kai tied 6–6–1

College Stars lead Hawaii Ponoʻi, 1–0

MVPs

1947–2008

Table

Year Name College 1947 John Johnson UCLA 1948 Dick Hagen Washington 1949 Jerry Williams Washington State 1950 Dick Kempthorn Michigan 1951 Sonny Grandelius Michigan State 1952 Vic Janowicz Don Coleman Ohio State Michigan State 1953 Tom Stolhandske Texas 1954 Bobby Garrett Stanford 1955 Carroll Hardy Colorado 1956 Bob Davenport UCLA 1957 Paul Hornung Notre Dame 1958 John David Crow Lou Michaels Texas A&M Kentucky 1959 Bob Ptacek Sam Williams Michigan Michigan State 1960 Richie Lucas Larry Grantham Penn State Ole Miss 1961 Fran Tarkenton Mike Ditka Georgia Pittsburgh 1962 Lance Alworth Merlin Olsen Arkansas Utah State 1963 Kermit Alexander Dave Watson UCLA Georgia Tech 1964 Peter Liske Dave Wilcox Penn State Oregon 1965 Larry Elkins Jeff Jordan Baylor Tulsa 1966 Steve Juday Carl McAdams Michigan State Oklahoma 1967 Charlie Brown Dave Williams Missouri Washington 1968 Larry Csonka Harry Gunner Syracuse Oregon State 1969 Bill Enyart Tim Buchanan Oregon State Hawaii 1970 Bobby Anderson Floyd Reese Colorado UCLA 1971 Jim Plunkett Jack Ham Stanford Penn State 1972 Jerry Tagge Walt Patulski Nebraska Notre Dame 1973 Greg Pruitt Jim Merlo Oklahoma Stanford 1974 Norris Weese Lucious Selmon Ole Miss Oklahoma 1975 Condredge Holloway Rubin Carter Tennessee Miami (FL) 1976 Cornelius Greene Lee Roy Selmon Ohio State Oklahoma 1977 Tony Dorsett Ron Crosby Pittsburgh Penn State 1978 Dave Turner Ricky Odom San Diego State USC 1979 Rick Leach Ted Brown Michigan NC State 1980 Billy Sims Steve McMichael Oklahoma Texas Year Name College 1981 Samoa Samoa Kenny Easley Blane Gaison Washington State UCLA Hawaii 1982 Walter Abercrombie Leo Wisniewski Baylor Penn State 1983 Dan Marino Paul Soares Pittsburgh Navy 1984 Jim Sandusky Freddie Gilbert San Diego State Georgia 1985 Al Toon Freddie Joe Nunn Wisconsin Ole Miss 1986 Doug Gaynor Rogers Alexander Long Beach State Penn State 1987 Chris Miller Louis Brock Oregon USC 1988 Aaron Cox Dennis Price Arizona State UCLA 1989 Anthony Dilweg Deion Sanders Duke Florida State 1990 Cary Conklin James Francis Washington Baylor 1991 John Langeloh Derrick Brownlow Michigan State Illinois 1992 Derrick Moore Steve Israel Northeastern State Pittsburgh 1993 Lamar Thomas Ron Carpenter Miami (FL) Miami (OH) 1994 Andre Coleman Chris Maumalanga Kansas State Kansas 1995 Kordell Stewart Robert Baldwin Colorado Duke 1996 Winslow Oliver Regan Upshaw New Mexico California 1997 Archie Amerson Andy Russ Northern Arizona Mississippi State 1998 Chris Howard Eric Ogbogu Michigan Maryland 1999 Kevin Daft Ricky Williams Brad Scioli UC Davis Texas Penn State 2000 Bashir Yamini Todd Husak Brian Young Iowa Stanford UTEP 2001 Jonathan Beasley Reggie Germany Kansas State Ohio State 2002 Nick Rolovich Chester Taylor Hawaii Toledo 2003 David Kircus Kassim Osgood Grand Valley State San Diego State 2004 Wes Welker Fred Russell Colby Bockwoldt Texas Tech Iowa Brigham Young 2005 Ronald Stanley Derrick Wimbush Michigan State Fort Valley State 2006 Brent Hawkins Brad Smith Illinois State Missouri 2007 Will Proctor Chad Nkang Clemson Elon 2008 Bernard Morris Angelo Craig Marshall Cincinnati

2020–present

Year	Name	College	Ref.
2020	Reggie Walker Niko Lalos	Kansas State Dartmouth
2021	Mekhi Sargent Carlo Kemp CJ Marable Nick McCloud	Iowa Michigan Coastal Carolina Notre Dame
2022	Template:Ubl	Template:Ubl
2023	Template:Ubl	Template:Ubl
2024	Template:Ubl	Template:Ubl
2025	Template:Ubl	Template:Ubl

Coaches

Coaches for the first Hula Bowl played exclusively with college players, in January 1960, were Bud Wilkinson of Oklahoma and Paul Dietzel of LSU. Dietzel's East squad defeated Wilkinson's West team, 34–8. Multiple inductees of the College Football Hall of Fame have coached in the Hula Bowl, including: Bobby Bowden, Terry Donahue, Johnny Majors, Ara Parseghian, Bo Schembechler, and Barry Switzer. Larry Price coached in eight Hula Bowls (1969–1976) while Dick Tomey coached in seven Hula Bowls (1978–1979, 1981, 1983, 1985–1986, 1991); both while they were coaching with Hawaii. For coaches from the mainland, Lou Holtz has the most appearances, with five (1979, 1989–1990, 1993, 1997). These totals include both head coach and assistant coaching appearances.

Hall of fame

In 2019, the Hula Bowl announced the creation of a hall of fame. The hall's inductees are:

Hula Bowl Hall of Fame

Year	Name	Role	College	Career highlights
2020	Junior Ah You	Player	Arizona State	CFL (1972–1981), Canadian Football Hall of Fame
	Eric Dickerson		SMU	NFL (1983–1993), 6× Pro Bowl, Pro Football Hall of Fame, College Football Hall of Fame
	Anthony Miller		Tennessee	NFL (1988–1997), 5× Pro Bowl
	Mike White	Coach	Cal (1977) Illinois (1988)	as player: Cal (1955–1957) as head coach: Cal (1972–1977), Illinois (1980–1987), Oakland Raiders (1995–1996)
	Rich Miano	Contributor	Hawaii	Hula Bowl executive director; NFL (1985–1989; 1991–1995)
2021	Drew Brees	Player	Purdue	NFL (2001–2020), 13× Pro Bowl
	Tim Brown		Notre Dame	NFL (1988–2004), 9× Pro Bowl, Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1987 Heisman Trophy, College Football Hall of Fame
	Jesse Sapolu		Hawaii	NFL (1983–1997), 2× Pro Bowl
	Steve Spurrier	Coach	Florida(1992)	as player: Florida (1964–1966), 1966 Heisman Trophy, College Football Hall of Fame, NFL (1967–1976) as head coach: Duke (1987–1989), Florida (1990–2001), Washington Redskins (2002–2003), South Carolina (2005–2015)
	Pat O'Farrell	Contributor	West Point	Hula Bowl ambassador to the armed forces
2023	Steve Bartkowski	Player	Cal	NFL (1975–1986), 2× Pro Bowl, College Football Hall of Fame
	Brandon Marshall		UCF	NFL (2006–2018), 6× Pro Bowl
	Willie Roaf		Louisiana Tech	NFL (1993–2005), 11× Pro Bowl, Pro Football Hall of Fame, College Football Hall of Fame
	Ron Simmons		Florida State	CFL (1981), USFL (1983–1983), College Football Hall of Fame
	Darryl Talley		West Virginia	NFL (1993–1996), 2× Pro Bowl, College Football Hall of Fame
	Reggie White		Tennessee	USFL (1984–1985), NFL (1985–1998; 2000), 13× Pro Bowl, Pro Football Hall of Fame, College Football Hall of Fame
	Bobby Bowden	Coach	Florida State (1987, 1991, 1997)	as player: Alabama (1948), Howard (1949–1952) as coach: Howard (1959–1962), West Virginia (1970–1975), Florida State (1976–2009)

Head coach appearances in the Hula Bowl are listed in parentheses in the College column.

In popular culture

In 1997, a storyline in the comic strip Funky Winkerbean had Harry Dinkle and the Scapegoats marching band preparing to perform at the Hula Bowl.

See also

• Poi Bowl (1936–1939)
• Pineapple Bowl (1940–1941, 1947–1952)
• Aloha Bowl (1982–2000)
• Oahu Bowl (1998–2000)
• Hawaii Bowl (2002–present)
• List of college bowl games