The Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl appears headed for the first Sunday kickoff in its five-year history, a Christmas Eve date this year.

Officials of the bowl have tentatively scheduled the game for a 3 p.m. (Hawai'i time) kickoff on Dec. 24 at Aloha Stadium, barring a late programming change.

It will be the bowl's third Christmas Eve date. The inaugural game was held on Christmas Day.

The NFL announced some of its 2006 schedule yesterday but did not mention its Dec. 24 plans. The remainder of the schedule is expected to be announced next week, but bowl officials said they do not anticipate going head-to-head with the NFL, believing any games will be played earlier on Dec. 24, if at all.

"There's a good chance we'll be the only football game in that time slot," said Jim Donovan, Hawai'i Bowl executive director.

The Hawai'i Bowl moved off its original Christmas Day date in large part to avoid competing with the NFL.

This year, for the first time, the Hawai'i Bowl will feature a Pac-10 team if the conference has at least six bowl-eligible teams. The bowl has matched representatives from the Western Athletic Conference and Conference USA, but an agreement reached six months ago allows the bowl to take a Pac-10 team in 2006, with options for '08 or '09. It will revert to C-USA in 2007.

The University of Hawai'i is eligible to represent the WAC if the Warriors win at least seven of their 13 regular-season games. Last year was the first time in the bowl's history UH did not participate. UH finished 5-7 and was not bowl eligible.

The game is owned and operated by North Carolina-based ESPN Regional Television.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com.