Warrior football fans statewide celebrated an early Christmas present yesterday: The news the team they fervently followed through a perfect season will be squaring off against Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day.

The fans' faith in a team that didn't lose all year paid off in an explosion of jubilation after Saturday night's come-from-behind win over Washington, which reached even new heights yesterday with UH's Sugar Bowl announcement.

Karen Ostborg, of Kane'ohe, wore a Warrior football fan T-shirt yesterday that read, "Believe" and "12-0." She bought it when the team was 10-0.

"I am euphoric," Ostborg said. "This is the best thing that's happened to Hawai'i in a long time. This year is something special."

For many UH fans, the road to the Sugar Bowl has been a long one.

Some have been waiting more than 30 years for yesterday, after sticking with the Warriors through seasons filled with disappointments and frustrations.

"We've cheered for them all the way through," said Kane'ohe resident Beverly Hamada. "It's been a really fabulous season."

Michelle Alves of Makiki has been supporting the Warriors since the 1980s. "We always believed they would pull it out," Alves said, laughing. "I think it's a season of a lifetime."

At the Stan Sheriff Center, more than 7,500 pumped-up fans gathered with the team to hear the announcement of the Warriors' fate live on the Fox Sports' Bowl Championship Series Selection Show. When word came down about 3:20 p.m., the arena erupted in a deafening roar.

NO. 10 RANKING

Before the announcement, starting quarterback and Heisman Trophy contender Colt Brennan addressed fans, who were chanting "Colt! Colt!"

Brennan said getting to the Sugar Bowl has been a team effort. "This hasn't been about individuals," he said.

He also thanked fans who cheered the team on game after game.

And he told them the season isn't over yet — there's still one more win to be had. "It's not about getting to the BCS bowl game," he said. "It's about winning a BCS bowl game."

Coach June Jones also spoke to the crowd, while the entire football team — many wearing WAC champion T-shirts — sat in the stands nearby. "It's been a whirlwind for the last four games," he said. "We knew we would have to win them all to be here."

The Warriors, the nation's only unbeaten team, clinched their perfect streak by rallying from a 21-point deficit to beat Washington 35-28 Saturday night at Aloha Stadium. The win secured the team a berth in the prestigious Bowl Championship Series.

The Sugar Bowl matchup will be the Warriors' eighth bowl appearance, but just the second outside of Hawai'i. UH played in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego in 1992. Hawai'i is 5-2 in bowl games.

Hawai'i needed to finish in the top 12 of the BCS standings yesterday to earn an automatic at-large berth into a BCS game. The standings are based on two polls — the USA Today and Harris Interactive Top 25s — and six computer rankings.

Hawai'i was ranked No. 10 in both polls yesterday.

YEAR OF THE WARRIORS

Mayor Mufi Hannemann, an avid Warrior fan, was at the Stan Sheriff Center yesterday to congratulate Jones and his team. He also made it to the nail-biter Washington game, after participating in Honolulu City Lights festivities.

"He couldn't be happier that they're in a BCS bowl," said spokesman Bill Brennan. "It's been a magical season."

Hannemann, Gov. Linda Lingle and University of Hawai'i athletic director Herman Frazier also attended a banquet last night for the Warriors, in which the governor delivered a proclamation declaring 2007 the year of the Warrior football team.

"Our Warriors remain the only undefeated college team in the nation," the proclamation said. "This special season will be one that you will always remember and go down in the books as one of the most remarkable in the University of Hawai'i's ... proud history."

'HISTORY IN THE MAKING'

Although the doors of the Stan Sheriff Center didn't open until 2:15 p.m. yesterday, fans were already lining up at 11:30 a.m.

By 2 p.m., the line stretched around the arena.

Admission to the event was free, and was meant to show off Warrior football spirit to the millions of viewers tuned in to the Fox BCS selection show. There were live shots of the crowd shown on the air, and live interviews with Brennan and Jones.

While they waited for the BCS announcement, fans were fired up with performances from the UH cheerleaders, dancers and pep band.

The UH football team also performed the ha'a and the haka.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime event," said Brandi Yamada, 18. Yamada and her sister, Breeann, sported green paint on their faces and a black "UH" on each cheek. "This is history in the making," 17-year-old Breeann Yamada added with a smile.

FANS RIDING HIGH

After nearly an hour of cheering on the Warriors, fans left the Stan Sheriff Center with wide grins and hoarse voices. Many vowed to fly to Louisiana for the Sugar Bowl, and several said they had already made flight arrangements with travel companies.

"We're going wherever they go," said fan Nancy Namiki.

There was an atmosphere of euphoria and excitement outside the center after the announcement. Raymond Lee, a Hawai'i Kai resident, walked out of the arena nearly speechless.

"What happened today is unbelievable," he said.

Ed Coda and his grandson, Tristan Soriano, were still high yesterday from the Saturday win. The bowl game announcement was icing on the cake, they said.

"It was just crazy," 11-year-old Soriano said of the season.

Coda added, "It has been the most electrifying experience."

Tai Emosi-Lyerson, whose son Jason Rivers is on the Warriors football team, held an armful of ti leaves to wave in the arena.

"We knew they had the potential," she said. "They just had to put it in action."

Beth Dunham, a longtime Warrior fan, said she left the Stan Sheriff Center yesterday with chicken skin. Dunham and seven of her friends — all Warrior fanatics — are going to Louisiana to watch the Sugar Bowl together.

Janyce Higa, one of her friends, said the group has stuck with the Warriors through ups and downs.

And now it has paid off.

"We're not fair-weather fans," she said. "We're fans."

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.