Shutdown Fullcast - 40 FOR 40: The 2025 Hawaii Bowl

Episode Date: December 23, 2025

WWWWWWWWELCOME to the return of 40 For 40, our bowl preview series where every bowl game gets its own episode and each episode is exactly as long as that game deserves.Who decides what “deserves” means? We do! Thank you for askingThis episode ends exactly when it’s supposed to! Thank you for askingNow through December 31, 100% of proceeds from all PTKU merch sales will be donated to Trans Ohio. Visit preownedairboats.com to purchase BRAND-NEW BLUE SHARKS GEAR #EXCLUSIVEThis episode was produced by Michael Ray SurberFullcast theme 40 For 40 intro arranged and performed by Russell PowellFullcast theme 40 For 40 outro arranged and performed by MattDID YOU KNOW: Spencer and Holly write Channel 6, a year-round newsletter that is mostly about football, until it’s notBefore the world ends (again), treat yourself to Jason’s critically praised novel and other workTravel in your mind palace to Phantom Island, Ryan’s new show with Steven Godfrey, which is not a college football show because another simply cannot existCheck out Surber’s band Killer Antz and his new show Podcasterino

Aloha! Wow. I am paying my respects because this is our 40-for-40 preview for the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl. That's right, because the real sponsor is Hawaii. It's in Hawaii. They don't even have to try. They're just like, yeah, we have a bowl game in Hawaii. You should come to it.

You should have more than one. Hawaii. There's been like a thousand. Yeah. There have been many bowl games in Hawaii. This edition of it features Hawaii v. Cal. Hawaii v. Cowh, Hawaii are perfect darlings. Come here, my son.

Sit on this chair next to me and let me tell you how proud I am of everything about this Hawaii team. wrought from the wreckage of the Hawaii football program into an eight and four team coached by local hero timmy chang like everything about this team rules like they are first of all local boy timmy chang legend manages to take them back to respectability and then to being outright good at eight and four their kicker is consee Matsuzawa that's all-American kicker Kansey Matsuzawa who was 25 for 26 was a finalist for the Lou Groza Award this year and was a perfect 37 for 37 on extra points. He is the one who subsidized his budding career as a kicker, which he learned by watching YouTube videos by working at Wharton's Steakhouse in Tokyo. So by day practicing kicking in his apartment by night, serving steak to the hungry patrons of Tokyo. That is their kicker. Their quarterback, Micahalajado, he's awesome because he's 5-10 and plays at a run-ins, basically a glorified run-and-shoot, like a slightly modernized run-and-shoot offense.

He is Bishop Borman's finest. He is fun as hell to watch. And Hawaii, I know, I think they've already won. First of all, they get to sleep at home for this game. That's cool. And they live in Hawaii. Nice bonus. Two, Hawaii beat Stanford in Week Zero.

Like, everything else has just kind of been a bonus since then. this game's pretty good it's on christmas eve a lot of you will just have it on but it's pretty good you can use tick that appointed church that's right i got to watch this counts this church it's fine i got to watch my god hawaii plays in the hawaii bowl so much there is a saint timothy like hawai in its existence has played in 15 bowls and one two three four of them have no sorry three of them have not been on the island of Hawaii, in Hawaii. Counting the Oahu, the Aloha. And a bunch of Hawaii balls.

And there's a bunch of other Hawaii bowls that they, um, that I think we should retroactively send them to as well. Yes. Yes. They do not like, yeah, it is convenient.

It might be fun now and again to let Hawaii go to a non-Hawai. I guess Hawaii travels plenty during. Yeah, that's a lot of fucking flight. I could go either way. Like, I don't want to send these dudes to Orlando. I like maybe a potato

maybe they'd really like LA sure but otherwise they went to the sugar bowl once they did go to sugar bowl once they did go to sugar once they're attendees yeah man they sure were there they were there

they made it they made it let's never make them do that again I was trying to figure out what the longest distance that teams are that combined teams have to travel to a bowl game now that Hawaii is one of these teams

and Cal as the other. Yeah. I actually think it might be the Frisco Bowl because UNLV is like 1,200 miles from Frisco. And Athens, Ohio is close to 1,100. A little go on the Friskins. Friskins. Yeah, and the other team is Cal and boy.

Hmm. I was really trying to find some upside for Cal and all of this. Welcome back, Nick Rolovich. They kept JKS. Right? They kept their... So far. Yeah.

Yeah, so far. They probably will. I mean, he's already, you know, made it public. And yes, people can go back on their word. But, you know, once you make it public, I think that adds a little bit of confidence that'll stick around. Yeah. This is, enjoy your time in Hawaii, Cal, that's what I'm saying. It's been a long year.

You really should just, you can investigate things that have nothing to do with football. That's it. Every story I've heard about a bowl game where they're like, yeah, man we just had a good time and then we got killed and that was fine because it was worth the vacation there's your plot yeah yeah players more than just about anybody have the correct attitude i think towards these games in general i think michigan texas might be second in the distance rankings going to the citrus bowl oh yeah that's a tough one yeah hawai's collective distance is like 800 feet it's cozy

A little cozy Hawaii game on Christmas Eve for you.