MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama football will finish its 2012 season with a game at Hawaii on Dec. 1 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, athletic director Joel Erdmann announced Wednesday.
A Single Game Financed by Hawaii
The matchup is a one-game agreement rather than a home-and-home series, and the University of Hawaii will finance the Jaguars’ trip.
“We are tremendously excited about this game, as it will be the last in our journey to full NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and Sun Belt Conference membership,” Erdmann said. “We are fortunate that the trip will be financed by the University of Hawaii, as it is a single game at their stadium and not a home-and-home series. We encourage our fans to clear their calendars and join us for this memorable trip.”
First Season of Sun Belt Play
The 2012 season will be South Alabama’s first with a Sun Belt Conference schedule, including eight games against league opponents. The Jaguars will not be eligible for a bowl game until the 2013 season.
Non-conference opponents already set for 2012 include road games at Mississippi State and North Carolina State and a home game against Texas-San Antonio.
Room for a 13th Game
NCAA bylaws allow programs that play a game in Hawaii to exclude that game from the maximum number of regular-season contests. As a result, South Alabama will be able to schedule a 13th game in 2012.
Jones: “Like a Bowl”
Head coach Joey Jones said the trip will serve as a reward at the end of the season.
“That will be our first year playing a Sun Belt Conference schedule, we’ll also face Mississippi State and North Carolina State and now we have Hawaii at the end of the year,” Jones said. “We’re not bowl eligible that year, so for us it’s like a bowl that’s been built into the schedule. Our players, as well as everyone else in the program, are very excited to play that game at their place at the end of the season. Most of them haven’t been there, so I think it will be exciting for us to play a quality program like Hawai’i and have a fun trip as well.”
