This year's Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl will have the earliest date yet of its six seasons, Dec. 23.

Jim Donovan, executive director of the bowl, said kickoff will be on a Sunday at 3 p.m. for the game that will match representatives of the Western Athletic Conference and Conference USA.

"We looked at what matched up best (with the calendar) and that came out to be Sunday afternoon, which I think is better in a bunch of respects," Donovan said. "It is a couple days away from Christmas, it is a day off for pretty much everybody and we think it will work best for traffic, parking and attendance. It is probably the best date we could have gotten, not being on the traditional Christmas Eve or Christmas Day we've usually had."

The past three games were played on Christmas Eve and the first two on Christmas Day.

The game will be shown live by ESPN, which is the parent company of the bowl's owner and operator, ESPN Regional Television.

The University of Hawai'i will represent the WAC as long as the Warriors win a majority of their games to become bowl-eligible. If there is a 13-game schedule, that would require seven victories against eligible competition. Schools may count one Division I-AA opponent toward the total under certain conditions.

C-USA, which furnished opponents for four of the first five Hawai'i Bowls, is contracted to provide a representative this year.

Last year UH beat Arizona State of the Pac-10, 41-24, before an announced crowd of 43,435, the largest in the game's history. The bowl has an option with the Pac-10 for 2008.

Although the NFL schedule has yet to be released, bowl officials do not believe there will be a conflict because of the Hawai'i Bowl's starting time. "Worst-case scenario, an NFL game might just be finishing up as we start," Donovan said.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com.