Arizona State hopes to send Dirk Koetter, its soon-to-be released head football coach, out with a victory over the University of Hawai'i in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl.

The Sun Devils (7-5), who yesterday accepted a bid to play the No. 24-ranked Warriors (10-2) in the Dec. 24 game at Aloha Stadium, said that Koetter, who is not being retained for the final three years of his contract, will coach the team in the bowl.

"Our guys are going to want to send our coaches out right with a win," tight end Zach Miller told the Arizona Republic. "They deserve that. Most all the players believe that. We'll go out and play inspired and with a lot of emotion."

The game will be the first meeting between UH and ASU since 1979 when Hawai'i won 29-17 to close the season in which ASU fired Frank Kush.

"We are extremely excited to accept this invitation to participate in the 2006 Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl," said Lisa Love, ASU's vice president for university athletics. "Our (players) have played their hearts out all year and this is a great reward for their season of hard work."

Koetter went 40-33 in six years at ASU and the Hawai'i Bowl will be his third consecutive bowl appearance.

The Hawai'i Bowl extended an invitation to ASU after the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco invited UCLA (6-5) to play Florida State (6-6). The Emerald Bowl had the fifth pick of bowl-eligible Pac-10 teams and Hawai'i the sixth.

With the Hawai'i Bowl's matchup, the four-bowl Western Athletic Conference postseason lineup is coming into focus. San Jose State (7-4) accepted a bid to play hometown New Mexico (6-6) in the inaugural New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque, N.M.

It is the first bowl for the Spartans in 16 years.

Meanwhile, Boise State (12-0) and Nevada (8-4) both have pretty good ideas about where they are headed. WAC champion Boise State will likely play the Big 12 champion in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1.

Nevada, the WAC's third-place team, is expected to play Miami (6-6) in the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho.

With four of its nine teams in bowls, the WAC matches its second-highest total. In 1992, the WAC placed five of 10 members in the postseason, including UH, which won the Holiday Bowl.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com.