First Two College Football Bowl Game Matchups Announced

Matchups for the Salute to Veterans Bowl and the Hawai'i Bowl are official.

South Florida Bulls running back Kelley Joiner (8) gets past Florida Atlantic Owls defensive end Chris Jones (49) during the second half at FAU Stadium. / Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

College football bowl season officially kicks off on Saturday, Dec. 14. The FBS postseason schedule has expanded this season, courtesy of the 12-team College Football Playoff, with the Salute to Veterans Bowl set to be played that day—the same Saturday as the Celebration Bowl and Army-Navy Game.

That first bowl game pits a pair of 6-6 Group of 5 programs: Western Michigan out of the MAC and South Alabama from the Sun Belt. The game, played in Montgomery, Ala. at the Cramton Bowl, will kick off at 9 p.m. ET. on ESPN.

🏈 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐔𝐏 𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐄𝐓 🔥@SouthAlabamaFB and @WMU_Football will meet in the 11th Annual 𝗜𝗦𝟰𝗦 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗩𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗕𝗼𝘄𝗹 at the historic Cramton Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 8 p.m. (CT) and will be televised by @espn.

Reserve your seat today:… pic.twitter.com/cxmdF3N0iD

— IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl (@Salute2VetsBowl) December 3, 2024

Five days later, South Florida (6-6) and San Jose State (7-5) will play in the Hawai'i Bowl in Honolulu at 8 p.m.

🎳 Bowling in Paradise 🏝️

It’s Official! @USFFootball & @SanJoseStateFB will be facing off in the Hawaiʻi Bowl 🏈🏟️ #bowlseason #MWFB #nolimitsonus #gohawaii #mālamakuʻuhome #hawaiiflieswithus #visitoahu #hawaiihta #kilohanabycnha #hawaiiancouncil #CollegeFootball pic.twitter.com/bjgjH3GJC0

— The Hawai'i Bowl (@HawaiiBowl) December 3, 2024

The Hawai'i Bowl marks just the second matchup between the Spartans and Bulls. South Florida won the first game between the two programs, a 44–22 game played in San Jose to open the 2017 season. San Jose State returns to the game for the second year in a row, after losing to Coastal Carolina last season, 24–14.

The Salute to Veterans Bowl will be the first-ever game between the Jaguars and Broncos. South Alabama played in the 2014 edition of the game, then called the Camellia Bowl, losing to Bowling Green. Western Michigan will make its debut in the game.

The College Football Playoff selection committee will announce the 12-team field on Sunday, Dec. 8, following Saturday's conference championship games. Most of the bowl slate will be released after the announcement of the CFP field. Sports Illustrated's projections for the full bowl slate are available here.

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