IRVING, Texas – Houston has been selected to play in the 2020 New Mexico Bowl.
 
The New Mexico Bowl will be played Thursday, Dec. 24, at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The game will be televised on ESPN at 3:30 p.m. ET. Houston will face Hawaii (4-4) in the game, marking the first postseason meeting between those schools since 2003.
 
Houston has gone 3-4 against a challenging schedule in 2020 – a ledger made tougher by the fact that eight games were either postponed, canceled or rescheduled to COVID-19 issues.
 
Houston will make its 27th appearance in a bowl game and its sixth in eight seasons as a member of the American Athletic Conference. The Cougars will look for their first bowl win since a 38-24 victory against Florida State in the 2015 Peach Bowl.
 
The New Mexico Bowl will be held for the 15th time in 2020, while Houston becomes the first team to play in the bowl as a member of The American (Temple won the 2011 New Mexico Bowl prior to the formation of The American). Because of COVID-19 restrictions in the state of New Mexico, the bowl will be played this season at Toyota Stadium, which serves as the host facility for Major League Soccer’s FC Dallas and for the NCAA Division I FCS Championship Game.
 
Houston and Hawaii’s only previous meeting was in the 2003 Hawaii Bowl, when the Rainbow Warriors took a 54-48 win. 
 
The New Mexico Bowl is owned and operated by ESPN Events
 
Additional bowl selections regarding American Athletic Conference institutions will be announced as they are made final.