Who would you rather see the University of Hawai'i play in football:

Washington or Houston?

California or Tulane?

Had the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl's just announced future Pac-10 tie-in been in place in 2002 and '03, it would have been the Huskies rather than the Cougars in '03 and the Golden Bears instead of the Green Wave in '02.

And, who knows, had there been a Hawai'i Bowl berth on the line last year, maybe even Oregon instead of Alabama-Birmingham. Had the Hawai'i Bowl existed in 2001, under the new formula it would have been UCLA against the Warriors.

Nothing against Conference USA mind you — well, maybe a little — but the Pac-10 does more for ticket-buying fans in Hawai'i, not to mention the UH players, than anything C-USA can send us. For the Hawa'i Bowl game to grow, it needs a Pac-10 tie.

That's why the agreement designed to bring even a sixth-place Pac-10 team to Aloha Stadium in 2006 and could furnish two of them in a three-year period is not only notable but important.

C-USA has been a good partner to the bowl game since its inception in '02. It has sent representative teams that have been thrilled about the opportunity the game provided. But, let's face it, those teams aren't where the local ticket-buying public's hearts are. That isn't where the familiarity is.

To a lot of people hereabouts, Conference USA sounds like a cell-phone package. It is a geography thing. Not unlike what it would be if the citizens of Mobile, Ala., or New Orleans, La., suddenly found one of their homegrown teams playing UH in their backyard bowl. You think they wouldn't rather have UAB playing Georgia Tech or Tulane against Auburn?

Even in the newly constituted C-USA, the ties with Hawai'i are flimsy at best. Its appeal — especially now that Louisville has fled to the Big East — is zip. And new members Rice, Tulsa and Southern Methodist weren't any draw in Hawai'i even when they were in the WAC. Now that they have left it is less so.

Meanwhile every Pac-10 team except the two Arizona schools has shown it is a capable draw here. All have brand recognition and alumni. They are teams UH players and fans have grown up watching.

Think a lot of people wouldn't get fired up about UH playing Oregon State and ex-Warrior coach Mike Cavanaugh's team in the postseason? There are a handful of coaches at UH that would love to have the shot.

The Pac-10, which wasn't always thrilled about some of the past bowl operators in Hawai'i, is giving this relationship another shot beginning with 2006. If things go well, a team would be back in '08 or '09.

For the Hawai'i Bowl, it is a chance to grow. For UH, it is an opportunity to build some ties. And for fans, it is the best available football Christmas present.

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