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.
[6] The Chanticleers opened their regular season with a 27–13 loss on the road at UCLA.
The Chanticleers finished the regular season at 7–5 after losing to James Madison in their final game, 56–14.
The Spartans lost five of their first six regular-season games to open the year at 1–5, 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 24–13 win over San Diego State on November 18. at Clarence T. C. Ching Athletics Complex • Honolulu, Hawaii No scoring