Could Hawaii go Independent

[Cusefan]

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When the University of Hawaii pounced upon an invitation to join the Western Athletic Conference in 1978, the jubilation was half in where UH was going and half in what it was leaving behind.

Gone forever, then-athletic director Ray Nagel and others said, were the days of struggling to get by as an independent 2,500 miles off the beaten path.

But now, as UH waits to see what might become of the WAC—its home for going on 32 years—in the fast-changing college landscape, there has been a growing willingness to at least ponder whether returning to independent status could be a future option if the WAC withers.

http://www.staradvertiser.com/sports/sportsnews/20100627_Leaving_the_WAC.html

Interesting Idea for ESPN to pick up Hawaii games as the last game of the night.

[Cebby]

Re: Could Hawaii go Independent

Nobody is going independent.

[Aggies7]

Re: Could Hawaii go Independent

Yea I do not see this happening...Dont really see anyone going independent

[Shawnj86]

Re: Could Hawaii go Independent

Not going to happen

[yankeesgiants]

Re: Could Hawaii go Independent

Going independent is the easiest way to build a program. However, doing it in todays landscape is a financial disaster.

[Cusefan]

Re: Could Hawaii go Independent

So what would Hawaii's plan be incase the WAC falls apart?

[TheGamingChef]

Re: Could Hawaii go Independent

So what would Hawaii's plan be incase the WAC falls apart?

I don't think the WAC is going to fall apart. The teams in it have nowhere else to go. The WAC now without Boise State may be the lowest prestige conference of them all. The teams in it really don't stand much of a chance without that conference. It will stick together. I don't see New Mexico State going independent anytime soon, so Hawaii has no reason to, either.

[ODogg]

Re: Could Hawaii go Independent

Yeah I agree TheGamingChef, Hawai'i ain't going anywhere. And I do wish they'd air them on TV each week, even if it is at 3 or 4am..LOL

[chilli311]

Re: Could Hawaii go Independent

Going Independent would be a horrible idea for a team like Hawaii. Do they honestly think they could get six teams to fly to Hawaii every year without conference help? Definitely no quality teams would take them up on that.

[Cusefan]

Re: Could Hawaii go Independent

Going Independent would be a horrible idea for a team like Hawaii. Do they honestly think they could get six teams to fly to Hawaii every year without conference help? Definitely no quality teams would take them up on that.

Sure they could, right now the NCAA allows teams to schedule a 13th game against Hawaii. If Hawaii could get a exclusive ESPN deal then it could be pretty lucrative.

[Cebby]

Re: Could Hawaii go Independent

Sure they could, right now the NCAA allows teams to schedule a 13th game against Hawaii. If Hawaii could get a exclusive ESPN deal then it could be pretty lucrative.

1. The deal wouldn't be lucrative at all. Hell, it probably wouldn't be any better than the current WAC payout. There's not much of a market for Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday games, let alone the 3:30 AM Sunday morning games for most of the country.

2. The bigger reason they won't go independent is their non-revenue sports would be destroyed and sink the athletic department. They would almost never play home games. I can't imagine the WAC letting them stay for other sports, and I doubt any other conference wants the huge travel costs without football. For basketball, they'd probably be looking at a 15 games in 20 days type of road trip to keep costs down.

[chilli311]

Re: Could Hawaii go Independent

Sure they could, right now the NCAA allows teams to schedule a 13th game against Hawaii. If Hawaii could get a exclusive ESPN deal then it could be pretty lucrative.

Any idea what it costs to provide a flight for an entire team, the coaches, and all the equipment to Hawaii? During the four years I lived there, the cheapest round trip flight that I ever found from Honolulu to LAX was around $400, average around $500. With hotel for two-three nights, you're looking at over $1000 per head IF it's a West Coast team. If Hawaii had an exclusive ESPN deal, and agreed to pay the $100K+ per team to get six home games per year, they might be in luck. If not, I don't see enough teams willing to shell out that much on their own, and I'm sure that UH doesn't have $600K+ just to spend on six football games. If they did, maybe that stadium wouldn't suck so bad. I'm not sure how they do it now, but I'd be willing to bet that the WAC helps with the costs right now.

[MassNole]

Re: Could Hawaii go Independent

The only way this could begin to work for Hawaii would be to have a deal like Notre Dame has with the Big East, because there is no way Hawaii's athletic program could survive if the school went independent. I don't even think the football program could for that matter but it would be the only way it would begin to be feasible.

[willIam9387]

Re: Could Hawaii go Independent

Yeah Hawaii should stay in the WAC so they can have the financial security. Plus they don't have the big-time rivalries or connections Notre Dame has to go out on their own and still schedule home games against quality opponents. Plus, their fan base doesn't seem to be to good, judging by the few times I've watched them on espn 2 at like two in the morning, and their stadium is only half full.

[jake44np]

Re: Could Hawaii go Independent

Any idea what it costs to provide a flight for an entire team, the coaches, and all the equipment to Hawaii? During the four years I lived there, the cheapest round trip flight that I ever found from Honolulu to LAX was around $400, average around $500. With hotel for two-three nights, you're looking at over $1000 per head IF it's a West Coast team. If Hawaii had an exclusive ESPN deal, and agreed to pay the $100K+ per team to get six home games per year, they might be in luck. If not, I don't see enough teams willing to shell out that much on their own, and I'm sure that UH doesn't have $600K+ just to spend on six football games. If they did, maybe that stadium wouldn't suck so bad. I'm not sure how they do it now, but I'd be willing to bet that the WAC helps with the costs right now.

What you are forgetting is that teams that travel to Hawaii are not flying Delta/Southwest or the like, they are taking there own flights and do not pay $500 per kid.