WSU football coaches were happy to learn Friday (June 28) that the Cougs won’t be traveling to Hawaii on Nov. 30, as originally scheduled. Instead, Alabama has announced it will replace WSU as Hawaii#s opponent in Honolulu.
The Cougars wanted out of the game after switching their Nov. 17 road game at UCLA to Dec. 7 so they could participate in a national ABC-TV tripleheader.
WSU coaches didn#t want to play University of Washington in Pullman Nov. 23, then have to travel to and from Hawaii for a nonconference game before playing UCLA in a game that is expected to have bowl consequences.
The Alabama-Hawaii game will be televised by ESPN.
Alabama was available to take WSU’s place because the Crimson Tide is on probation and reportedly wants to use the trip to Hawaii as a bowl replacement and as an incentive to keep players from transferring.
Dropping Hawaii gives the Cougars a 12-game regular-season schedule, which is allowed for all Division I schools by the NCAA this year.
The Cougars are slated to play at Hawaii in 2003 and 2007. Hawaii will play in Pullman in 2005.
The Cougars are coming off a 10-2 season and have been picked as high as No. 6 in the nation by preseason publications.
For a complete listing of WSU#s football schedule, go to http://wsucougars.ocsn.com.
