This Saturday marks perhaps the biggest football game of Greg McMackin's head coaching career at the University of Hawaii.
With a fifth straight win coach Mac and his players would turn in a winning record at 7-6 and earn the opportunity to face former Warrior head coach June Jones in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve.
“If we could win this one we get to go to a bowl game and the bowl game is against June Jones and SMU,” said UH Athletic Director Jim Donovan. “You got to give credit to coach McMackin, his staff and the players to put themselves in this situation so on Saturday night we can play for all the marbles.”
“That would be a dream match-up,” said Sheraton Hawaii Bowl Executive Director David Matlin of the possible UH-SMU match-up. “Most people thought we couldn't top Hawaii-Notre Dame (last year) but I think this does.”
Standing in the way of a showdown with Jones and his Mustangs are the University of Wisconsin Badgers, who hail from the mighty Big 10 Conference.
At 8-3 the Badgers are heavy favorites and promise to test all that the Warriors can muster. But then again Navy was supposed to beat UH last week before falling 24-17 in front of a raucous crowd at Aloha Stadium.
“If we would have that crowd come out again and help cheer us on and be that twelfth man you never know what could happen,” said Donovan.
As of Tuesday morning about 34,000 tickets had been sold for the Wisconsin game. UH officials are hoping for a turnout of 40,000 or more by the time kickoff rolls around at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
“A lot of that depends on weather on the day of the game,” Donovan told Khon2. “We got our fingers crossed that we'll have a great crowd.”
Saturday’s game will be televised nationally on ESPN2 with the broadcast expected to reach all viewers in Hawaii who subscribe to cable.
SHERATON HAWAII BOWL BANKING ON JONES
While the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl has never sold out in its seven year history, Jones’ return to Aloha Stadium on Christmas Eve adds a certain level of intrigue and excitement to the game.
“I think selling out will be a challenge on Christmas Eve - it always is,” said Matlin, “but I think we'll have a very solid crowd. I think June makes the event very relevant (and) very interesting to the local market as well as national.”
"We set this bowl as a goal before the season started and I am so happy that our players will be able to have this experience," Jones was quoted on SMU’s website Tuesday after accepting the bowl birth. “Reaching our first bowl game in 25 years is special - not only for our current student-athletes, but also for the guys who came before them and our student body, staff and fans.”
The last time SMU appeared in a bowl game was in 1984 when the Mustangs beat Notre Dame 27-20 in the Aloha Bowl, considered one of the 90 greatest moments in the program’s history.
Matlin says a generation later SMU is pulling out all the stops for the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl. He says the school is considering bringing its band members as well as two of its mascots to help fans celebrate.
“I think they’re planning on bringing in some mustangs possibly if we can get that arranged. We're working through quarantine and all that to see if it's logistically feasible.”
And just how bad did Jones want to play in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl? Both Matlin and Donovan say the former UH head coach purchased his plane ticket back in August before the college football season even began.
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