UAB goes to front of Hawai'i Bowl list
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writer
The first bowl game appearance in Alabama-Birmingham's Division I-A football history looks like it will come with a lei greeting.
The Blazers, "it is fair to say, are probably the leader in the clubhouse (to represent Conference USA)," said Pete Derzis, vice president of ESPN Regional Television, which owns and operates the Dec. 24 Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl.
Who UAB (7-3, 5-2 C-USA) would play at Aloha Stadium remains up in the air while officials await the final returns on the University of Hawai'i, which needs to win its final two games to become bowl eligible.
UH (5-5) hosts Northwestern Saturday and Michigan State Dec. 4 needing seven victories to be the Western Athletic Conference representative.
Without a UH presence, bowl officials could take another WAC team or, if the conference agrees to vacate the bowl, pick an at-large team. Navy (8-2) is among the candidates ERT has talked to, U.S. Naval Academy officials said.
Derzis and WAC Commissioner Karl Benson said it is too early to nail down contingencies until UH's situation is resolved.
What is known is the Hawai'i Bowl gets the third pick of eligible C-USA teams. With Louisville (8-1) apparently headed for the Liberty Bowl and a possible meeting with Boise State and the GMAC Bowl poised to take Memphis (7-3), UAB is the likely pick here.
The Blazers, who have not played in a bowl since moving to Division I-A in 1996, could finish 8-3 and in second place with a win at Southern Mississippi Saturday.
"Based upon the call with (C-USA) on Friday, they (the Blazers) are certainly high on our list," Derzis said.
UAB wide receiver Roddy White is second in the nation in receiving yards per game (120.7). Also of interest to the bowl is that UAB's men's basketball team will be playing in the Rainbow Classic (Dec. 20 to 23).
Meanwhile, don't look now but Boise State (10-0), with a little help, could find itself knocking on a Bowl Championship Series scenario if it wins out and Texas A&M upsets Texas. Boise is 10th in both polls and, should it vault into the top six in the BCS ratings (it was ninth last week), would be guaranteed a BCS berth.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.
