The 2023 Hawaii Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 23, 2023, at Clarence T. C. Ching Athletics Complex in Honolulu, Hawaii. The 20th annual Hawaii Bowl featured the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers of the Sun Belt Conference and the San Jose State Spartans of the Mountain West Conference. The game began at approximately 6:30 p.m. HST and was aired on ESPN. The Hawaii Bowl was one of the 2023âÂÂ24 bowl games concluding the 2023 FBS football season. The game was sponsored by shipping API EasyPost and was officially known as the EasyPost Hawaii Bowl.
The game featured the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers from the Sun Belt Conference and the San Jose State Spartans from the Mountain West Conference. This was the first time Coastal Carolina and San Jose State played each other, and the first time either team played in the Hawaii Bowl.
The Chanticleers opened their regular season with a 27âÂÂ13 loss on the road at UCLA. After winning two home games, they lost their next two games, against Georgia State and Georgia Southern, to fall to 2âÂÂ3. However, a win on the road against Appalachian State started a five-game winning streak to reach 7âÂÂ3 and clinch bowl eligibility. The Chanticleers finished the regular season at 7âÂÂ5 after losing to James Madison in their final game, 56âÂÂ14.
The Spartans lost five of their first six regular-season games to open the year at 1âÂÂ5, including losses to USC, Oregon State, and Toledo, each of which appeared in the College Football Playoff rankings late in the season. San Jose State then ended their regular season on a six-game winning streak, clinching bowl eligibility with a 24âÂÂ13 win over San Diego State on November 18.