UH may know bowl foe Monday

Advertiser Staff

The University of Hawai'i might have to wait until Monday before it knows who it will play in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl.

While Louisville (8-3) is expected to wind up in the Christmas Day game at Aloha Stadium, Conference USA officials, who must approve the match, say they probably won't be able to announce pairings until next week.

"We're going to have to wait for the results of this week's games before we know how it is going to all shake out," said Russell Anderson, associate commissioner of C-USA.

"Regardless of the outcome of Saturday's games, my sense is that we will have a compelling matchup for the University of Hawai'i," said Pete Derzis of ESPN Regional Television, which operates the game.

The Hawai'i Bowl gets the third choice of bowl-eligible C-USA teams.

The Liberty Bowl, which gets the first choice, wants Southern Mississippi (8-3) to win the title outright Saturday before it commits. While the Liberty Bowl is compelled to take the champion, in the event East Carolina (1-10) upsets the Golden Eagles, there could be a tie with Texas Christian (10-1), allowing the Liberty Bowl a choice.

The GMAC Bowl, which gets the second pick, is expected to get TCU but might pick Louisville or Memphis over Southern Mississippi, if the Horned Frogs are taken by the Liberty Bowl.

The GMAC Bowl, located in Mobile, Ala., is said to fear that fans of Southern Mississippi, which is located in Hattiesburg, Miss., only about 100 miles away, will make a day trip to the game and won't fill the hotels. Louisville, which took more than 20,000 to the Liberty Bowl two years ago and is more than 500 miles away, is viewed as a school that "travels" well. Similarly, Memphis might take significant numbers.

Meanwhile, UH could wind up the tie-breaker in the Western Athletic Conference bowl equation. If Boise State (10-1, 6-0) beats Nevada (6-5, 4-3) Saturday and Hawai'i (7-4, 5-2) on Dec. 6, Tulsa's win over UH could give the Golden Hurricane (8-4, 6-2) the WAC's second bowl slot in the Silicon Valley Bowl over Fresno State (7-5, 5-2), which lost to UH.

Tulsa and Fresno State did not play each other this season. The WAC is trying to place Tulsa in another bowl so Fresno's fans, 10,000 or more who have gone to San Jose in recent years, will make the Silicon Valley Bowl a success.

Boise State has already clinched a berth in the Humanitarian Bowl.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.