The ‘Bows are bowl-bound.

The University of Hawaii football team on Sunday accepted an invitation to play the Houston Cougars in the New Mexico Bowl on Christmas Eve.

The game will be played at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas this year due to COVID-19 regulations within the state of New Mexico. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN with kick-off scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Hawaii time.

"We're extremely happy for student-athletes, coaches, and staff for this special and rare opportunity for a mainland bowl game," UH Athletics Director David Matlin said in a press release. "We'd like to thank ESPN for helping to make this happen, as well as Hawaiian Airlines for once again stepping up with transporting our team. They've been absolutely vital for us all season."

It's not really Christmas unless #HawaiiFB plays in a bowl game! @NMBowl

Bowl Bound ➡️ https://t.co/35d7vPi01w pic.twitter.com/zKLFPdCVtJ

— Hawaii Football (@HawaiiFootball) December 13, 2020

The game will mark just the third mainland bowl in program history and the first since it lost to Georgia in the 2008 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

Hawaii will be playing in its 14th overall bowl and third in as many years. UH defeated rival BYU, 38-34, in the 2019 Hawaii Bowl and has secured a bowl bid in four of the last five seasons. The only time UH won a mainland bowl game was the 1992 Holiday Bowl, when it defeated Illinois, 27-17, in San Diego.

"I am so excited for our team and staff," Graham said in the press release. "They've worked hard throughout this entire season, under such challenging circumstances. This game is a great chance to showcase our team to the people of Texas and to a national television audience. Houston is a fine program and we can't wait to compete against them on Christmas Eve. Go ‘Bows!"

Graham, a native of Mesquite, Texas, is 5-4 in bowl games with four different programs (Rice, Tulsa, Pittsburgh, Arizona State). The New Mexico Bowl will mark Graham's 10th bowl game in his 13th season as an FBS head coach.

Houston went 3-4 this year in the American Athletic Conference with wins over Tulane, Navy and South Florida. Two of its losses came against nationally-ranked Cincinnati and BYU.

The Cougars lost to Memphis, 30-27, in their regular-season finale Saturday.

Hawaii (4-4) is coming off of Saturday night's 38-21 win over UNLV.

The teams faced off in the 2003 Hawaii Bowl, with the Rainbow Warriors pulling out a 54-38 triple-overtime win over the Cougars.

The city of Frisco is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Toyota Stadium, home to FC Dallas of Major League Soccer as well as the FCS championship game, is located about 30 minutes north of downtown Dallas.