By By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
GREENVILLE — C.J. Wilson is excited about heading to paradise.
Wilson and the rest of the East Carolina Pirates will be heading to Honolulu to play in the Dec. 23 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl. The game, which will kick off at 8 p.m., will be televised by ESPN.
This will be the first time the Hawaii Bowl will be played on Dec. 23. It was played on Christmas Day the first two years and on Christmas Eve the past three years.
It’s the second bowl game in as many years for Wilson, a former standout at Northside High School. The Pirates fell 24-7 to South Florida in last year’s Papajohns.com Bowl, which was played on Dec. 23.
There was speculation that the Pirates could head to the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala. However, the Pirates accepted the bid to the Hawaii Bowl Saturday afternoon.
The Pirates (7-5) will play a Western Athletic Conference opponent.
Possible opponents include No. 11 Hawaii (11-0), who played Washington late Saturday evening, and the No. 24 Boise State Broncos (10-2). If Hawaii won last night, the Warriors would likely play in the Sugar Bowl.
The bowl game will be the second in three seasons at East Carolina for Holtz.
In a statement released by ECU Director of Athletics Terry Holland, he said playing in the Hawaii Bowl is good for the team and the program.
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.
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.
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)
LIONS BOWL
Clarion 13, East Carolina 6
ELKS BOWL
Morris-Harvey 12, East Carolina 0
EASTERN BOWL
East Carolina 27, Northeastern 6
TANGERINE BOWL
East Carolina 14, Massachusetts 13
TANGERINE BOWL
East Carolina 31, Maine 0
INDEPENDENT BOWL
East Carolina 35, Louisiana Tech 13
PEACH BOWL
East Carolina 37, N.C. State 34
ST. JUDE LIBERTY BOWL
Illinois 30, East Carolina 0
ST. JUDE LIBERTY BOWL
East Carolina 19, Stanford 13
MOBLE BOWL
TCU 28, East Carolina 14
East Carolina 40, Texas Tech 27
GMAC BOWL
Marshall 64, East Carolina 61, 2OT
South Florida 24, East Carolina 7
SHERATON HAWAII BOWL
East Carolina vs. WAC opponent