“It’s my great honor, on behalf of SMU, to accept the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl’s invitation to play in their bowl on Christmas Eve in Honolulu, Hawaii.”

With those words, athletic director Steve Orsini ended the a 25-year stretch in which the SMU football team spent the holidays at home, watching other teams compete in bowl games. That streak officially ended Tuesday in SMU’s Hughes-Trigg Student Center when Orsini accepted the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl’s invitation to play in the Dec. 24 game.

Athletic director Steve Orsini, left, and head coach June Jones announced SMU's first bowl bid in 25 years (photo by SMU athletics).

On a stage with SMU president R. Gerald Turner and head coach June Jones, and in front of an atrium packed with media, alumni, players and students, Orsini thanked everyone involved, from Turner to the Hawaii Bowl officials and the fans who stuck with the team through two and a half lean decades. He then lauded Jones, the architect of the Ponies’ surge to bowl-eligibility, and the student-athletes who make up the current team.

“They had the biggest turnaround in wins in the whole nation this year,” Orsini said. “This bowl is truly a fitting reward for all of your hard work and dedication and what you’ve given up for a lot of us to be able to go to our first bowl in 25 years.”

For Jones, the game will hold an extra element of sentimentality, as he will return to the state he still considers his home. If Hawaii beats Wisconsin Saturday, the Ponies likely will play Jones’ former team. If the Badgers prevail, SMU’s opponent will emerge from a pool of teams that includes Fresno State, Nevada or perhaps even Notre Dame — SMU’s opponent in its last bowl … the 1984 Aloha Bowl.

“It’s going to be a special time,” Jones said, “not just for all the kids and all the fans, but it’s really going to be special for the people of Hawaii, for our whole football team, and for me, personally.

“Whoever we play over there is probably going to be as good, or better than we are, but these kids have learned how to win. The older kids are the ones I’m most excited for, because of all they’ve been through here, and the younger kids are going to be able to teach our recruits coming in what we’re about, and how to win. That’s what’s exciting.”