The University of Hawai'i football team will have to finish in the top two in the Western Athletic Conference standings this year to be guaranteed a berth in its fourth consecutive Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl.

But even without the guarantee, WAC commissioner Karl Benson said he does not see the situation "as a threat to the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl."

Since the game's inception in 2002, the Warriors have been guaranteed a berth as long as they won a majority of their games to be bowl eligible under the terms of a WAC agreement.

Until this year the conference had contracts for berths in three bowls, but the NCAA's decision not to relicense the San Jose, Calif.-based Silicon Valley Football Classic has reduced the options to two: the Hawai'i Bowl and the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho.

Because of that, WAC members voted in the spring to guarantee only their top two finishers this year and Benson has tried to secure an additional berth elsewhere.

In each of the past two seasons Benson has managed to place a WAC team in another bowl. In 2003, Boise State went to the Fort Worth Bowl, and last year the Broncos played in the Liberty Bowl.

Benson attempted to secure agreements with the Memphis, Tenn.-based Liberty Bowl and debuting Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego, the only two bowls with openings.

"Despite only having two guaranteed bowl berths, I am very confident that the WAC will be able to secure a third spot prior to the end of the season," Benson said. "I do not see this as a threat to the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl."

UH coach June Jones said this week, "my opinion on that is that the rule needs to be changed, otherwise there won't be a (Hawai'i) bowl. If we're bowl-eligible and not playing in our own bowl, there may not be a bowl the next year. We already found that out (with the Aloha and O'ahu) bowls."

Benson said: "The WAC is committed to the bowl and will do whatever it can to protect its interests as well as the interests of the University of Hawai'i and its other member institutions."