The 2008 schedule is done...and it is good!

About the criticism he took for the 2007 schedule, HF said:
"A lot of people put a lot of stock in that. But that's not indicative of how we operate. I said, 'We'll get it fixed,' and we did." (HA)


About how he targeted the Big East Conference for their regular-season finale, since they do not have a league title game and would create an attractive matchup for national TV, HF said:
"There's appeal from the East Coast to the West, and it will be the last game (of the NCAA's regular season)." (HA)


About how he negotiated with Syracuse and Cincinnati, HF said:
"Syracuse probably was my first choice, to be honest with you. We were talking to Cincinnati at the same time. I like what I see (with Cincinnati). I think we match up very well." (HA)


HF said that Cincinnati will be paid:
"competitive to what we play the Pac-10 schools." (HA)

HA Note: "According to contracts made public by UH, Washington will receive $350,000 for playing Dec. 1 at Aloha Stadium, and Washington State will earn $300,000 for next year's game."


About how Cincinnati officials vowed never to play again in Hawaii after the 2002 post-game fight, HF said:
"There's new management in Cincinnati. That's all I'll say." (HA)

"Not at all. There's new management there. They're no longer in Conference USA, they're in the Big East. Anytime we play against a Big East team it's important for us. In fact, we targeted the Big East for this game. The other team we were looking at was Syracuse. What it does for us is it gives us a quality team and an opportunity to be on national TV with an East Coast market." (HSB)


About how he wanted a I-AA opponent on 9/6 so the WAC couldn't assign them a conference game, HF said:
"I insisted on having a game in there so that couldn't happen." (HA)

HA Note: "He said Weber State, UC Davis, Montana and Montana State were among the I-AA teams expressing an interest. He said it came down to Weber State and Montana. Weber State accepted first. Weber State's head coach is Ron McBride, who previously coached at Utah and was a finalist for the UH head coaching job that went to June Jones in December 1998."


About Weber State's coach Ron McBride, GM (who was McBride's defensive coordinator at Utah) said:
"Coach McBride is a great guy." (HA)


Tyler said that their 13-game schedule for 2008 is:
"sweet. The more we play, the better. Cincinnati's a good team. I'm excited." (HA)

"All eyes will be on us if we continue to play well and go undefeated this year. We could have a pretty good ranking going into next season and a lot of games on national TV. We'll have to step it up and continue the tradition." (HSB)

HSB Note: "It marks the first time Hawaii plays four teams from BCS conferences during the regular season."


About their 2008 schedule, JJ said:
"This is a demanding schedule, but we are excited." (HSB)