When the University of Hawai'i plays two-time defending national football champion Southern California on Saturday, will it be the last time the Warriors have a Western Athletic Conference officiating crew for a marquee non-conference home game?

Not necessarily, UH officials say, but you have to wonder given the renegotiation that has allowed Wisconsin to bypass WAC officials for the Nov. 25 game at Aloha Stadium in favor of a Pac-10 crew.

With that door now opened wide, will Purdue, which comes in next year, also be demanding outside officials? And Michigan State down the road? And, then ...

Understandably, WAC officials, who might have worked the Badgers' game, say they are "very disappointed" at the precedent that has been set. Very few WAC schools host Big Ten or other Bowl Championship Series conference opponents, and when UH, under pressure, asks its conference to grant exceptions, it can't go down well.

In the language of UH's standard contracts with USC, Wisconsin, Purdue, etc., game officials are "assigned" or "appointed" by the "Western Athletic Conference." Likewise, when UH played USC at the Coliseum two years ago, it was a Pac-10 crew that worked the game under a conference rule that mandates Pac-10 officials in Pac-10 stadiums. Period.

And, you know what UH will find when it goes to East Lansing, Mich., in another week: a Big Ten crew.

The whole thing, of course, is fallout from November when UH rallied to beat both Northwestern and Michigan State, two Big Ten schools, on its run to the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl.

Northwestern coach Randy Walker, who made some curious calls himself, bemoaned the officiating. And Michigan State coach John L. Smith, who was in full whine even before getting on the plane to come here, led his team in a shrill chorus of complaint afterward.

"They got accomplished what they wanted to get accomplished," Smith told the Lansing (Mich.) State Journal after UH rallied from a 28-14 deficit to win, 41-38.

Rumor has it WAC officiating was ripped in conference meetings, prompting Wisconsin's demand to UH that "neutral" officials be used. A Big Ten spokesman said the football coaches' meetings are considered an "executive session" and declined comment. Spokesmen from Wisconsin, Michigan State, Northwestern and Purdue also refused comment.

UH's last encounter with Pac-10 officials was memorable, too, ending with Verle Sorgen, the conference's supervisor of officials, admitting the crew erred on two controversial calls in 2003. Not that it did much to influence the outcome in a 61-32 blowout at USC.

Time will tell if in preserving scheduling peace with the Big Ten, the Warriors got bullied into a bad deal.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.