I am opening up the season in style. I am making like the Brady Bunch and catching a big bird to Hawaii. The Rainbow Warriors are hosting the Arizona Wildcats. Hawaii has slowly been improving the last couple of seasons, finishing 8 – 6 last year. Arizona went 5 – 7 last year. Though the PAC 10 was down in 2018, it is still a better conference than the Mountain West. Hopefully the combination of all the above means that it will be a competitive game. Tickets are running about $20 for this game and there are plenty of seats available. The tailgate will be a light one because I will probably Uber to the game. Do they sell poi to go?
The only other game on the slate is Miami versus Florida at Orlando. This feels like two teams going in separate directions, but right now everyone is still in it. Heck, even if you lose this weekend, you still have a shot unless you are a Group of Five team – one loss and your playoff dreams are over. Power Five teams, on the other hand, can still redeem themselves if they choke on the opener. The opening games are usually non-conference match ups and that makes for some strange bedfellows. Those teams are tied at the hip the rest of the year, with a vested interest in their early season foe’s final record. Expanding the playoffs to eight teams will help but it won’t completely solve the problem.
One thing is sure. Whether it is a good game or not, it really won’t matter that much. I mean, I’m in Hawaii.