BOISE, Idaho — The picture-dotted wall in the downstairs game room of Lenny Chow's home here is vivid testament that not everybody from Hawai'i will be rooting for the University of Hawai'i today in its game against Boise State.

Enshrined on Chow's "Hawaii Wall of Fame" are a couple dozen of the 100 or so players with Hawai'i roots who have played for Boise since the late 1940s.

Some, like Chow, a Saint Louis School graduate from Palolo, came here nearly a half-century ago and stayed. In the process, they have helped to build the foundation of a football program that is currently ranked 25th in the major polls.

Today nearly 50 of them and their families will gather to tailgate, tell stories, wave some ti leaves and, yes, root for the Broncos against the Warriors.

"Hawai'i has been my home but the Broncos are my team," said Chow, a two-way tackle on the national junior college champion Boise Junior College team of 1958. Fifteen players on that team came from Hawai'i, he said.

The 66-year-old retired insurance broker and former football coach on the high school and college levels in Idaho, has assembled a gallery of pictures that are a virtual timeline of the Hawai'i-Boise State relationship and experience. One that illustrates how the Hawai'i legions have helped lift Boise State through its remarkable rise from a junior college, through NCAA Division II, I-AA and, now, I-A power in the Western Athletic Conference.

The eldest brother of Norm Chow, the Tennessee Titans' offensive coordinator, Lenny helps coordinate the gatherings of the Hawai'i Broncos. "I think every Hawaiian in that area has been to one of his deals," Norm said.

There are, for example, David Hughes of Kamehameha Schools and Kimo von Oelhoffen of Moloka'i, who went from Boise State to the NFL.

"For some of us, this was our chance to keep playing football and get an education," Chow said. "And as more came, word of mouth brought even more," he said. "We'd bring some of them here (to his home) to fill them with some rice and keep them from getting homesick," Chow said.

Current BSU coach Chris Petersen said he hopes to continue recruiting in Hawai'i.

SUCCESS BRINGS LUXURY

When UH returns to Boise in 2008, it could be to a new-look Bronco Stadium.

School officials said the school will ask the state in November for approval to build more than 30 luxury boxes plus an undetermined number of club seats. Construction could start as soon as 2007, if approved.

Sports information director Max Corbet said the money would be raised by the school and not involve state money. He said there are already pledges to purchase most of the luxury boxes at the price of $2,200 per season.

Bronco Stadium currently seats 30,000.

TODAY'S GAME SOLD OUT

The UH-Boise State game sold out by Wednesday with most of the 5,500 seats allotted for students going on Monday, the day they were put on sale.

Students at Boise State pay an athletic surcharge as part of their fees with a portion going to the athletic department. In return the department sets aside free tickets for students.

The leadership of the Associated Students of the University of Hawai'i has proposed a similar arrangement for Manoa, though it could be another year or more before it even gets to a vote.

COOL GREETING FOR UH

Temperatures are forecast to be in the low 50s for the 6:05 p.m. Mountain time kickoff today.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com.