1998 Humanitarian Bowl
The 1998 Humanitarian Bowl was the second edition of the bowl game, held on December 30 at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho. Played on the blue turf, it featured the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles and the Idaho Vandals, the champions of the Big West Conference. Idaho was in its first-ever bowl game and upset Southern Miss 42–35, after entering as a 16-point underdog.
| 1998 Humanitarian Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 30, 1998 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1998 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Bronco Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Boise, Idaho | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | John Welsh, QB – Idaho | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Southern Miss by 16 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Nick Define (MAC) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 19,667 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Payout | US$750,000 per team | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Wayne Larrivee, Randy Wright | ||||||||||||||||||
It was Idaho's third season back in Division I-A; the Vandals had been in Division I-AA from 1978 through 1995 and were frequently in its postseason. Six weeks earlier, Idaho had defeated rival Boise State on this field by one point, scoring a two-point conversion in overtime to gain their only Big West title. Southern Miss was 5–1 in Conference USA, runner-up to undefeated Tulane; it was their tenth bowl game.