Several angles to note here for San Jose, which is familiar with this locale, having played in Honolulu twice last season, including laying an egg in the bowl game vs. Coastal Carolina. All before Ken Niumatalolo took over as coach. Top wideout Nck Nash and his whopping 104 catches will be absent, but Justin Lockhart is very available after catching 52 passes, and the offense mostly moved smoothly once jr QB Walker Eget took over at midseason, including his 4 TD passes in the reg-season finale vs. Stanford. Mountain West sources report returning SJSU players hellbent to atone for last December's poor showing. Last note...special trip for Niumatalolo, a local product native and alum of Hawaii. Play San Jose State (Hawaii Bowl at Honolulu)

South Florida (6-6) lost 11 players to the transfer portal ahead of Tuesday's Hawaii Bowl against San Jose State (7-5). The Spartans also won't have several key players, including star wideout Nick Nash, who opted to prepare for the NFL Draft. Seven others entered the transfer portal. San Jose State closed on a 2-6 ATS skid, but in a vote of SportsLine Discord members, a whopping 89 percent favored the Spartans to cover. Note that the vote was taken on a line of San Jose State --3. To join the Discord, click "Join Our Community" from the SportsLine homepage.

I'm not even sure San Jose State should be favored with All-American WR Nick Nash opting out -- he won the receiving Triple Crown during the regular season nationally and was a Biletnikoff finalist. A few defensive starters also are out. USF might get back starting QB Byrum Brown after he went down injured in late September. Even sans Brown, the Bulls were the nation's best offensive team in November. USF head coach Alex Golesh has called the school's first-ever game in Hawaii as "the trip of a lifetime.'' San Jose State was just in the 2023 Hawaii Bowl and lost.

This matchup pits San Jose State's fourth-ranked passing offense against South Florida's 133rd-ranked pass defense. The Spartans boast one of the top receivers in the country in Nick Nash, who scored in 11 of 12 games this season. On the other side, the Bulls averaged 39 points per game over their final six games, including a 7-point dud vs. Navy. Expect the scoreboard to be lit up in Hawaii on Christmas Eve. San Jose State 40, South Florida 31.