Christmas Eve is all about traditions, and one of the best for sports fans is the Hawaii Bowl — the lone game on December 24.
This year, the home side Rainbow Warriors will play host to the Cal Golden Bears. It’s the first time Hawaii has been bowling since 2020, and it’s a homecoming for Cal QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele.
So, with all the eyes and a ton of storylines, you know we’ve cooked up a great California vs. Hawaii SGP for this game.
For more college football picks, check out my Cal vs. Hawaii predictions.
Our best California vs Hawaii SGP for the Hawaii Bowl
New head coach Tosh Lupoi did enough to convince Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele to stay in Berkley. Now, JKS can focus on his homecoming in the Hawaii Bowl.
JKS, from Ewa Beach, Hawaii, has battled his consistency this season, but when he was on, he was really on.
Just look at his regular-season finale against SMU. JKS torched the Mustangs for 330 yards with four touchdowns and no picks. In fact, he’s been on fire over the last three games, with 922 passing yards and no picks.
Meanwhile, Hawaii enters this bowl with an 8-4 record, earning its first bowl berth under Timmy Chang.
Hawaii’s strength this season was its defense, and it has solid numbers against the pass. However, the Rainbow Warriors haven’t exactly faced too many good passing teams this season in the Mountain West. The one time they did, UNLV beat them 38-10.
On the other side of the ball, the Rainbow Warriors are always going to be a pass-first team, but that is the strength of his Cal defense, which ranks 43rd in success rate on dropbacks.
I like the JKS and the Golden Bears to get off to a good start in the Hawaii Bowl. But this game could be a back-and-forth battle for 60 minutes. I already like JKS and Cal to put up some numbers in this one, but he won’t be the only one.
Hawaii QB Micah Alejado threw for 2,832 yards with 21 touchdowns compared to nine interceptions over his 10 games played this season, helping Hawaii put up 31 or more points in six of their last eight games.
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