UH, WAC to pursue new bowl game for Hawai'i
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
RENO, Nev. — Western Athletic Conference and University of Hawai'i officials have agreed to be partners in creating and managing a postseason college football bowl game in the Islands.
If sponsorships and NCAA approval can be secured soon, the game could be played as early as December 2002 at Aloha Stadium, WAC commissioner Karl Benson told The Advertiser yesterday.
Benson declined to estimate how much it would cost the league and UH to start a bowl game, but he said ESPN already has expressed interest in televising a Hawai'i bowl.
Benson said he did not know what role the WAC or UH would play in running the bowl — whether it would be as an owner, sponsor or manager.
A void was created this year when Bowl Games of Hawai'i moved the Aloha Bowl and O'ahu Bowl to San Francisco and Seattle, respectively.
Two years ago, the WAC and UH were separately offered a chance to buy the Aloha Bowl and O'ahu Bowl, but an agreement could not be reached.
Now, the WAC and UH are on the verge of landing their own bowl.
"Hawai'i has proven itself as a bowl destination," Benson said.
Benson and UH athletic director Hugh Yoshida discussed the matter yesterday in Reno, where the league is conducting its annual Football Media Preview, and are scheduled to meet again next month.
"It's a very good possibility this will get done," Benson said.
UH officials had asked that any bowl in Hawai'i would include a clause that would provide a berth for the Warrior football team, providing it met a certain criteria, such as a winning record over Division I-A teams.
UH's last bowl appearance was in the 1999 O'ahu Bowl, when the Warriors beat Oregon State 23-17. UH also played in the 1989 Aloha Bowl.
The NCAA has a moratorium on adding bowls, but Benson said the moratorium is expected to be lifted in the next few months.
The WAC receives automatic berths in the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho, and Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, Calif. Benson said neither of those bowls will move to Hawai'i.
"Our plans would be to re-establish a game in Hawai'i and not move one of our existing games," Benson said.
When the moratorium is lifted, Benson said, "it would pave the way to play a game in Hawai'i."
