The Mountain West released its 2019 football schedule on Monday, completing the University of Hawaii’s 13-game schedule. The schedule includes 13 games, eight at home and five on the road. The eight home games marks the most in a regular season since 2002.
For the first time under head coach Nick Rolovich, the Rainbow Warriors will open at home, in Week 0 against Arizona. The meeting against the Wildcats is the first of three consecutive match-ups against Pac-12 teams, followed by Sept. 7 vs. Oregon State and Sept. 14 at Washington. UH has the first of two bye weeks following the Arizona game.
After hosting Central Arkansas on Sept. 21, the Warriors open Mountain West play on the road at Nevada (Sept. 28) followed by their second bye week. UH will then travel two of its next three weeks – at Boise State (Oct. 12) and at New Mexico (Oct. 26), sandwiching a rivalry game against Air Force (Oct. 19) at Aloha Stadium for the Kuter Trophy.
In the final month of the season, the Warriors will play at home four times, hosting conference foes Fresno State (Nov. 2), San Jose State (Nov. 9), and San Diego State (Nov. 23) before closing out the regular season against Army (Nov. 30). UH will play at UNLV on Nov. 16.
The Mountain West Football Championship Game will be played Saturday, Dec. 7.
A total of six of UH’s 13 opponents appeared in bowl games last year while three won 10-plus games (Fresno State, 12; Army, 11; and Boise State, 10). Fresno State and Army finished No. 18 and 19, respectively, in the final Associated Press poll.
The scheduling format for the 12-member Mountain West consists of five intra-divisional games and three cross-divisional contests. The announcement represent the first phase of the 2019 football schedule process. MW national television partners CBS Sports Network and ESPN will now initiate a selection procedure which will include the shifting of particular games to Thursdays and Fridays. That will be followed by the identification of network outlets and kick times, along with the picks for regional partner AT&T SportsNet, Stadium, and Spectrum Sports.