UNLV-Hawaii rivalry won’t resume until ‘06

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, May 26, 2004 | 9:32 a.m.

If Hawaii head coach June Jones had his way, his Warriors football team would make an annual trip to Las Vegas to play UNLV.

"I'd like to play them every year there," Jones said recently. "We love coming to Vegas and so do our fans."

But thanks to shortened 11-game NCAA schedules and the Mountain West's addition of TCU, which also eliminated a nonconference game each year for the Rebels, Jones and company will have to wait until 2006 to make a return visit to San Boyd Stadium.

UNLV athletic director Mike Hamrick confirmed Tuesday that the two schools have agreed to play a home-and-home series but are still working on some minor contract details.

UNLV would host the Warriors in 2006 and then return to Honolulu in 2008.

"There are still a few things that need to be worked out before the contract is signed," Hamrick said. "But we have an agreement to play."

That's good news for the large Hawaiian contingent that has migrated to the Las Vegas area. An estimated 10,000 Hawaii fans were among the crowd of 34,287 that turned out for UNLV's nationally televised 33-22 victory against the Warriors last September at Sam Boyd Stadium. That was the third-largest home crowd in Rebels football history.