Tuesday, November 6, 2001
WAC stigma could The Hawaii football team needs to win only one of its last four games to become bowl game-eligible.
cost Warriors a bowl
Hawaii could win 10 games
and still find itself shut out
of serious bowl chancesBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comBut seven is not a lucky number when you are in the Western Athletic Conference and the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Ten wins might not even be enough.
If Hawaii (6-2, 5-2 WAC) wins out, it would still probably have to take the WAC championship to get a slot in one of the two bowl games (Silicon Valley and Humanitarian) to which the conference is tied; the conference championship is not likely, because Louisiana Tech (5-3, 5-1) finishes its league season against Texas-El Paso and Tulsa, the WAC's weakest links.
Also, most WAC teams -- including those without Hawaii's travel considerations -- are not attractive to bowl game committees, even if they should find themselves scrambling for teams.
An example is the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, Fla. The game is supposed to match the fifth-place team from the Big East and the fifth-place team from the ACC. Unless Pitt wins the rest of its games, the fifth-place Big East team won't have enough wins to be eligible. A source in Orlando says in that case the Tangerine Bowl would much prefer a mid-level Big Ten team like Ohio State, Penn State or Michigan State than any team from the WAC.
Another potential problem for Hawaii is that it completes its season Dec. 8 -- late in the bowl selection process -- against nationally ranked Brigham Young. If there is a choice between UH and another team, a bowl game might pick one that is already done with its season or is not at serious risk of a loss.
The national bowl game picture is always cloudy this time of year, but no one is projecting postseason play for more than two teams from the WAC. Commissioner Karl Benson tried to remain optimistic, saying last week many combinations of things that can happen could help the conference land another bowl team.
Warriors coach June Jones isn't speculating.
"Who knows? I don't think anybody knows," he said yesterday. "I know there's some other possibilities out there. And we bring a lot to the table."
Hawaii could bring a lot to the tables -- the gaming tables. But the Christmas-Day Las Vegas Bowl is committed to the Mountain West's second-place team and the fifth-place team from the Pac-10. Luring enough UH fans to any other mainland city would be a dicey proposition.
This looks like a year that the Warriors would have benefited from the home-based Aloha and Oahu bowls. But Honolulu went from hosting two bowls to zero during the past offseason. There is a proposal in the works for a new bowl game in Hawaii, but that won't be reality until 2003, if ever.
"While there are never guarantees, it was made clear from the outset that with seven wins Hawaii would always have a home, never be left out," said Lenny Klompus, who ran the Aloha and Oahu bowls up until last year's games. "We felt very good about being involved to take care of the home team."
Klompus always keeps a close eye on the bowl game screen. He, like most others, doesn't see Hawaii on it at all this season.
"But there's still a lot of football left to be played," he said.
UH Athletics
