Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

When Christmas Eve falls on a weekday and there are no NFL games, it’s one of the slowest sports days of the year in the United States because the NBA and NHL go dark. There is one major live event this year, however, and it’s the Hawaii Bowl featuring the host Warriors of the Mountain West Conference against independent school BYU with an 8 p.m. ET kickoff. The Cougars are 2-point favorites but have failed to cover their past six as betting favorites.

It’s a record ninth Hawaii Bowl appearance for the host school, which has gone 4-4 in the previous eight. Hawaii and BYU used to be members of the Western Athletic Conference and this is the third straight year they meet. BYU won 49-23 last year in Utah.

No bowl games on Christmas but two on December 26. The first at 4 p.m. ET is the Independence Bowl from Shreveport, Louisiana, with Conference U.S.A.’s Louisiana Tech facing Miami of the ACC. The Bulldogs will clearly have the fan advantage as the Tech campus in Ruston is only about 70 miles away. The Bulldogs have played in this bowl four times, last in 2008. They are in a bowl game for a sixth straight season and have won the past five.