The University of Hawai'i was the big winner in the ultimate Western Athletic Conference championship this just-concluded fiscal year: the stroll to the bank.

Thanks in large part to its Sugar Bowl appearance, UH received a $4,922,062 disbursement check from the WAC, nearly three times that of the next highest school, Boise State.

Boise, which received $5.2 million last year after appearing in the Fiesta Bowl, earned $1,672,056 this time. New Mexico was last in the nine-member conference at $432,197.

UH received $1,433,265 the previous year, including nearly $400,000 in Bowl Championship Series money.

The lion's share of UH's latest payoff came from the BCS payout, $4,385,555, for the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl appearance against Georgia. Other conference members received $410,555 each in BCS money.

The check, which UH said it deposited last week, "came at a timely moment in light of our budget situation," said athletic director Jim Donovan. The funds will likely allow UH to balance its $29.15 million budget for the 2007-08 fiscal year that ended June 30 and show a slight surplus, Donovan said.

The WAC distributed $13.1 million, down from the record $14.3 million last year. WAC officials, however, said the conference actually generated more this year but distributed less because of increased bowl expenses. UH's trip to New Orleans, compared to its Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl appearance of 2006, and Boise State's journey to the Hawai'i Bowl in 2007, compared with its Fiesta Bowl game of the previous season, were said to be major factors.

"For two years in a row we've had a BCS windfall and it is to Boise State and Hawai'i's credit that the other schools got over $400,000 (each)," WAC commissioner Karl Benson said.

UH received a $95,000 "inconvenience" fee for agreeing to move its Boise State game from a Saturday to Nov. 23, a Friday, to accommodate ESPN. The game wound up being the WAC title game. In addition, UH received $349,692 from the WAC's share of the NCAA men's basketball tournament pool. Other major sources of income included $40,000 from the WAC Basketball Tournament and $90,000 from the entry fees paid by Utah State, New Mexico State and Idaho to join the conference.