Phil Steele's 2007 College Football Preview magazine says the University of Hawai'i football team "may have the most explosive offense in the country."

Other publications gush in similar tones about the Warriors. All nice, of course, and, you hope, full of portent for the coming season that, with a Sept. 1 kickoff, isn't all that far away.

But real honest-to-Aretha Franklin r-e-s-p-e-c-t isn't to be found on the pages of the magazines. Or preseason polls. Genuine esteem, the kind that flows from peers, is to be found on the schedule.

Want to know how the Warriors are really regarded? Check the schedules to see how many times they are listed as somebody's homecoming game. That's been a traditional yardstick for measuring UH's respect index. The more the Warriors are feared, the less likely they are to turn up as designated victims for homecoming festivities where cheesy plastic lei are handed out.

And this year, unlike last season and, indeed, most years, nobody wants to take a chance on the Warriors raining plenty of points on their homecoming parade.

From two homecoming bookings in 2006 to none in 2007 is hardly a coincidence. It might be the first time UH has played four or more road games in a season and nobody has booked them for the straight man.

Coincidence? Hardly. Marketing folks aim to please the alumni. Alums give money and buy season tickets and do more of both when they're happy.

With their habitual struggles on the road, it is a rare season in which the Warriors aren't projected as somebody's idea of a good time. Coming off a 5-7 finish in 2005, they were both Fresno State's and New Mexico State's vision of victory in 2006 and likely would have been even more widely booked if two of their road games, Alabama and Boise State, were more toward the prime middle-of-the-year homecoming stretch, than in the first month.

A good indication that you're being taken bargain basement cheap is when a team that is coming off an 0-12 season designates you as the homecoming foe as New Mexico State did with UH last season.

But after the hail of points with which the Warriors emptied the stadiums early in Fresno, 68-37, and at New Mexico State, 49-30, folks have wised up and looked elsewhere. Nobody wants UH for homecoming. Idaho and Fresno State, who were both 4-8 last season, are among the more popular WAC picks this year.

UH's own choice for homecoming: Oct. 27 with New Mexico State, which also went 4-8.

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