Fresno State would
relish Hawaii trip

If Hawaii doesn't win its last three games, it is not bowl eligible. That opens the Hawaii Bowl door for another Western Athletic Conference team, probably Fresno State or Texas-El Paso -- or possibly another team, from a different conference.

"It'd be great to come to Hawaii," Bulldogs coach Pat Hill said. "I think the people there are awesome. If Fresno comes out, hopefully they'll come out and support us. They have great fans. I think there's great respect between our programs and it would be a lot of fun for our players. I know they'd love to come out to Hawaii."

Fresno State might be a tough ticket to sell locally, considering the 70-14 bite the 'Dogs put on UH the other night. Denizens of the San Joaquin Valley might storm the islands in force, though, since they're desperate to see their team play postseason anywhere other than a few klicks up the road. After four Silicon Valley Classics in a row, they know the way to San Jose, and don't ever want to travel it again for a bowl game.

How about the Miners?

"It'd be great," UTEP coach Mike Price said. "We'll play any place, any time for a bowl game. We're bowl hungry."

Maybe the 51-20 shellacking the Miners administered to the Warriors is long enough ago for UH fans to forgive and forget. And UTEP is actually ranked, No. 24 in the Associated Press poll and No. 25 in the coaches'.

You want unbeaten No. 13 Boise State you say?

Stand in line. The Liberty Bowl might have first dibs.

If Utah wraps up an undefeated regular season by beating rival Brigham Young, the Utes will probably crash the BCS party. That means the Liberty Bowl is deprived of the Mountain West champion it is contracted to get, and the Broncos are the best alternative.

The Liberty Bowl's payout is $1.3 million. With that much kala, the Broncos can visit Elvis country and then have a Blue Hawaii party at their own stadium at their leisure.

Coach Dan Hawkins didn't sound too excited about stuffing stockings at the Waikiki Sheraton, anyway.

What do you think about the possibility of playing in the Hawaii Bowl, coach?

"I'm thinking about the possibility of playing LaTech on Saturday. That's all I'm thinking about."

That's OK, WAC commissioner Karl Benson was overjoyed enough for everyone about the Boise boys moving up to No. 9 in the BCS rankings. He might be the first person associated with a midmajor conference to use the word "fair" in describing the BCS.

"I'd like to go on record saying I support the BCS system," Benson said. "Anytime you have bowls and formulas it will be subject to criticism. Boise State could jump to No. 6 this year. A lot of teams would have to lose, but it's not out of the question."

As for that whole idea of "renting out" the Hawaii Bowl to another conference if there aren't enough eligible teams to go around:

"It's too early to come to any conclusion that we would vacate one over another," Benson said.