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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, August 1, 2005

Warrior fans must fight urge

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

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Every time there is a change in the Western Athletic Conference membership, guaranteed somebody gets the bright idea the University of Hawai'i should go independent in football.

Naturally, given the revolving door that has been the WAC, this makes it something of an annual issue around here.

Fans — and, sad to say, even an occasional UH type — who have advocated independence have largely done so more out of frustration or ignorance than reason.

To see why independence would be a mistake, you need only look at UH's potential scheduling crisis for 2006. With 13 months remaining before the kickoff of '06, UH is still short two games of filling out its slate.

UH was already one game shy for '06 before the NCAA Board of Directors decreed in the spring that Division I-A schools may begin playing an extra game above the usually allowed 11 (12 for UH and teams that claim the Hawai'i exemption) and be allowed to count a I-AA team in the process.

Nor is it '06 alone. Recall the scrambles that resulted in getting Appalachian State in '03 and Florida Atlantic last year.

To hear reports from the WAC Football Media Preview, the Warriors are getting nervous. You know things are bad when head coach June Jones tells The Advertiser's Stephen Tsai, "And, now, we're having a hard time even getting a I-AA team to come out" to Hawai'i.

If you're getting turned down by Appalachian State and the like, clearly you are having problems.

So, if you can't fill a full lineup or are struggling when you are already guaranteed eight games by virtue of being in the WAC, how much sense does it make to entertain leaving the conference and facing a wider gap in the schedule?

Historically, UH has usually been able to secure non-conference opponents early in the season and at the end of the year. Witness Southern California's appearance on Sept. 3 and the year-end visits by Wisconsin (Nov. 25) and San Diego State (Dec. 3).

But it is the middle of the season, that eight- or nine-week stretch between mid-September up until Thanksgiving, where pickings have traditionally been thin.

That's where most teams are deep into conference schedules and unable to find wiggle room for a non-conference game. And the few that might consider it think better of the notion when they look at the travel impacting a return to conference play.

UH might find a few stragglers out there but, as an independent, would be leveraged into paying a high price to get them to come here. Failing that, the Warriors would find themselves playing more games on the road and in bigger chunks, hardly a friendly proposition.

While it is easy to groan about what conference UH is — or isn't — in, the idea of going independent is really no alternative at all.