By By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
GREENVILLE — East Carolina’s football players were all smiles with the prospect of playing some pigskin in paradise.
The Pirates (7-5) officially accepted a bid Saturday afternoon to play at Aloha Stadium in the Dec. 23 Hawaii Bowl, which will kick off at 8 p.m. EST and air on ESPN.
ECU will face the Boise State Broncos (10-2), who accepted a bid to the Hawaii Bowl on Sunday. The Broncos, ranked 22nd in the USA Today poll and 24th in the Associated Press poll, finished second in the Western Athletic Conference behind 10th-ranked Hawaii.
It will be the first meeting between the Pirates and Broncos.
The Pirates will be looking for their first bowl victory since taking a 40-27 nod over Texas Tech in the 2000 galleryfurniture.com Bowl. ECU is 7-6 overall in bowl games.
Both teams are coming off bowl appearances a year ago. ECU fell 24-7 to South Florida in the Papajohns.com Bowl, while Boise State took a thrilling 43-42 overtime win against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl to cap an undefeated 13-0 season.
The Broncos, who will be playing in a bowl game for the sixth consecutive year, are 5-2 in seven previous bowl appearances.
Kass said playing in last year’s bowl game will help him prepare for the Hawaii Bowl.
It won’t be all football for the Pirates. The players and coaches will get a chance to visit Pearl Harbor, the Diamond Head volcano, Waikiki beach, the Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park, a Shriners Hospital and experience a luau.
While it will be a nice pre-Christmas vacation, the team is taking a serious attitude with regards to the bowl game.
ECU running back Chris Johnson, the C-USA Special Teams Player of the Year, is hoping to use the bowl game as a springboard to an NFL career.
Hawaii took a 41-24 victory over Arizona State in last year’s Hawaii Bowl. In previous Hawaii Bowl games, Nevada topped UCF 49-48 in overtime in 2005, Hawaii beat UAB 59-40 in 2004, Hawaii got past Houston 54-48 in triple-overtime in 2003 and Tulane slipped past Hawaii 36-28 in 2002.
Tickets in the Pirates' section for the Hawaii Bowl are available by calling the ECU Athletics Ticket Office at (800) DIAL-ECU or going online at www.ECUPirates.com. Pirate Club priority will apply for all tickets ordered by Dec. 7. After that time, tickets will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. In addition, Pirate fans unable to attend the game are asked to purchase tickets to be donated to local military bases on the island of Oahu. For more information or to donate, fans may call the athletics ticket office or visit East Carolina's official athletics website.
ECU BOWL HISTORY
(All-time record: 7-6)
1952
LIONS BOWL
Clarion 13, East Carolina 6
1954
ELKS BOWL
Morris-Harvey 12, East Carolina 0
1963
EASTERN BOWL
East Carolina 27, Northeastern 6
1964
TANGERINE BOWL
East Carolina 14, Massachusetts 13
1965
TANGERINE BOWL
East Carolina 31, Maine 0
1978
INDEPENDENT BOWL
East Carolina 35, Louisiana Tech 13
1992
PEACH BOWL
East Carolina 37, N.C. State 34
1994
ST. JUDE LIBERTY BOWL
Illinois 30, East Carolina 0
1995
ST. JUDE LIBERTY BOWL
East Carolina 19, Stanford 13
1999
MOBLE BOWL
TCU 28, East Carolina 14
2000
GALLERYFURNITURE.COM BOWL
East Carolina 40, Texas Tech 27
2001
GMAC BOWL
Marshall 64, East Carolina 61, 2OT
2006
PAPAJOHNS.COM BOWL
South Florida 24, East Carolina 7
2007
SHERATON HAWAII BOWL
East Carolina vs. Boise State
BOISE STATE BOWL HISTORY
(All-time record: 5-2)
1999
HUMANITARIAN BOWL
Boise State 34, Louisville 31
2000
HUMANITARIAN BOWL
Boise State 38, UTEP 23
2002
HUMANITARIAN BOWL
Boise State 34, Iowa State 16
2003
FORT WORTH BOWL
Boise State 34, TCU 31
2004 LIBERTY BOWL
Louisville 44, Boise State 40
2005
MPC COMPUTERS BOWL
Boston College 27, Boise State 21
2006
FIESTA BOWL
Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42, OT
2007
SHERATON HAWAII BOWL
East Carolina vs. Boise State