The first Bowl Championship Series ratings of the season are scheduled to be released today and the University of Hawai'i could be held down by its strength of schedule, observers say.

Announcement is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. (Hawai'i time) on Fox.

The Warriors were ranked 16th in both the Associated Press and USA Today polls last week but could be several spots lower in the BCS once computer-generated ratings, which rely heavily on strength of schedule, are factored in.

"They may move up or down a spot in the (coaches and media polls) but my guess is that the computers will push them to 18 or 20 in the BCS rankings remembering that the computers are one third of the rankings," said Karl Benson, commissioner of the Western Athletic Conference.

An ESPN mock up had the Warriors No. 20 entering the week. None of the computer polls has UH above No. 30 and the main reason was strength of schedule, where UH ranged from 119 to 218.

Teams UH have already played had a combined 5-26 record against Division I-A competition.

UH quarterback Colt Brennan said he had, "no idea where we'll be. All I know is that we have to keep winning games or it doesn't matter."

The BCS uses a combination of polls and computers to rank teams for the purpose of determining who will play in its five lucrative postseason games.

The final ratings on Dec. 2, one day after the regular season ends, set the pairings for the national championship game and the Rose, Sugar, Orange and Fiesta bowls.

Champions of six conferences, the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and Southeastern, are guaranteed berths.

A team from the WAC, Conference USA, Mountain West, Mid American or Sun Belt may be selected if it meets either of two criteria. A team must finish in the top 12 of the BCS rankings or top 16 if it is higher than the champion of one of the guaranteed conferences.

Last season Boise State of the WAC was chosen for the Fiesta Bowl. The previous year Utah of the Mountain West played in the Fiesta Bowl. UH is currently the only team from a non-guaranteed conference ranked in the top 20 of the national polls.

A Fiesta Bowl representative attended UH's 42-35 overtime victory at San Jose State Friday.

Among the polls, only the USA Today coaches poll and Harris Interactive poll of media and former coaches and administrators are factored into the BCS ratings.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com.