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Tuesday, February 22, 2000
Rainbows in
hunt for coverage
of opener on Fox
Hawaii-Texas is among the
By Paul Arnett
WAC football games the
network is considering
Star-BulletinHawaii athletic director Hugh Yoshida is hopeful the Rainbows' season opener in football will be shown on the Fox Network.
The Western Athletic Conference is looking at marquee matchups and discussing them with Fox, which owns the broadcast rights to the league this coming campaign.
"We feel like we have a good opportunity to have the game shown on Fox -- at least on a regional basis," Yoshida said. "Winning the Oahu Bowl makes us more marketable out there.
"We all know how popular Texas is around the country. They've had two great recruiting classes, so we're looking forward to the possible television exposure."
Texas is a key component of the Fox Sports Net Southwest region. The geographic area is Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico. Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and LSU are the major universities shown in that region.
Hawaii is a member of Fox Sports Net West/West 2. The areas covered in this region are Southern California, Southern Nevada and Hawaii. The major schools shown in this area are USC, UCLA, Hawaii and Nevada-Las Vegas.
Last year Fox broadcast three WAC games nationally -- Arizona at TCU, Fresno State at Southern Methodist and SMU vs. TCU -- and 10 regional meetings. Hawaii's opener with Southern California was one of those regional matchups. The other four involving the Rainbows were Hawaii vs. Tulsa and Rice in October, and Hawaii against Fresno State and Washington State in November.
"Getting that kind of exposure always helps your program, especially in recruiting," Yoshida said.
The WAC is in the second year of an agreement with Fox to broadcast up to 18 football and 40 men's basketball games. As part of the contract, there will be five national and five regional games this season. Fox reaches more than 68 million homes through 22 regional networks and recently signed a five-year deal to broadcast the Silicon Valley Bowl, which features a top team from the WAC against an at-large opponent. The first game will be Dec. 31.
The WAC has several marquee games the opening weekend of Sept. 2. In addition to Hawaii hosting Texas, UTEP travels to North Carolina, San Jose State plays at Nebraska and Fresno State opens at Ohio State.
"To gain respect on the national scene, you have to schedule those teams and try to be respectable," WAC commissioner Karl Benson said.
Hawaii's season finale with Wisconsin also could catch the eye of Fox programming directors. The Rainbows' dramatic turnaround was a major story last season.
Second-year head coach June Jones will try to keep the magic going this fall. Spring football begins March 16 and will conclude April 15.
"We're looking forward to getting out there and try to keep this thing moving in the right direction," said Jones, who is coming off one of the more successful recruiting classes locally in Rainbow history.
"Texas is an outstanding football team. We're going to be a little thin at certain positions, but by fall camp, we should have a pretty good idea of where we're at."
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
