Conference USA Hawaii football fans will watch scoreboards around the country in the coming weeks, trying to determine who the Warriors will play in the ConAgra Foods Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Day.
is not a lock
for Hawaii Bowl
If the league doesn't have
Warrior notebook
enough teams eligible for
bowls, UH could have
some appealing optionsBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comUH athletic director Herman Frazier accepted an invitation from Hawaii Bowl executive director Jim Donovan minutes after the Warriors' 40-31 victory over San Jose State at Aloha Stadium on Saturday, making Hawaii the first school in the nation to lock up a bowl bid.
The opponent is supposed to come from Conference USA, but there is a possibility that league might not have enough bowl-eligible teams at the end of the season for the five postseason slots the league has to fill.
Eight of the ten teams in Conference USA have a chance to finish the season with six or more wins and be bowl eligible. But it is mathematically impossible for all eight to qualify.
Only Texas Christian (7-1) is in so far. Other possibilities are Louisville (5-3), Southern Miss (5-3), Alabama-Birmingham (4-4), and Houston (4-4).
Tulane (6-3) would probably play in the New Orleans Bowl, and if Cincinnati (3-5) becomes bowl eligible, it is unlikely to play in the Hawaii Bowl since it plays UH here Nov. 23.
The only definite rule is the league champion goes to the Liberty Bowl.
Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson said if fewer than five C-USA teams qualify for the postseason, it is quite possible the Hawaii Bowl will be left looking for an opponent -- but that could be a blessing, since available teams could be from big-name programs in big-name conferences and increase the game's gate and TV appeal.
"It could happen that they elect to keep four eligible teams on the mainland and we would be given an opportunity to look at a large pool of teams," Benson said. "Right now it looks like the Pac-10, Big East, Big 12, SEC and ACC may all have extra teams."
Hawaii athletic director Herman Frazier, whose previous job was AD at Alabama-Birmingham, seconded Benson's analysis.
"ESPN (which owns the Hawaii Bowl) would probably be involved, too," Frazier said. "I think they'd probably look toward the West Coast, because there would be an opportunity to bring in a team that has a lot of fans that would come to the game."
Also, most Pac-10 teams have strong followings here.
The Pac-10 has six bowl tie-ins, but seven teams are likely to qualify for the postseason, and an eighth, Washington, has a chance.
Hawaii Bowl executive director Jim Donovan said it's not a given, though, that Conference USA would opt out of the Hawaii Bowl because of expenses.
"It comes down to exposure vs. cost," he said. "The network (ESPN) might not like two teams from the West because of ratings considerations. It's not automatic either way."
Frazier said it is too early to determine if UH will make money through its bowl game. The financial dynamics have changed in recent years, and the conference shares in profits and expenses brought on by postseason games.
"Last time Hawaii was in a bowl (the Oahu Bowl in 1999) the minimum payout was $750,000 per school," Frazier said. "But because things have changed we will have to figure out our budget first, including things like transportation and other expenses. We'll start on that right away. Then we'll know if there's a windfall. What people should understand is that first of all this is a celebration for our players and coaches for having a great year."
Donovan said 75 percent of money generated from bowl games goes to the conferences, with $750,000 being the minimum. So if more than $2 million is generated, the payouts go above the minimum.
"If we can sell 45,000-50,000 seats, we'll definitely have the makings of going over $2 million," he said.
Benson said the main reason the conference is involved in members' postseason game finances is to ensure programs don't go into the red by going to bowls.
"We've developed a bowl revenue sharing plan in recent years where we want to make sure teams don't lose money. If money is made, it is shared across the rest of the league," he said. "The exposure is more important than the financial gain. Obviously, with Hawaii in the game we expect to maximize our revenues.
"By financially investing in three games, we try to spread the liability best we can."
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