Hawaii had to share a division championship with San Diego State last year, but got the last laugh with a 14-11 head-to-head victory on November 23 that sent the Warriors to the conference championship game. The West was pretty top-heavy last year, and with their first 10-win season since 2010, Hawaii represented the third-best record in a conference featuring two nationally-ranked teams. Not too shabby. 

In any case, Hawaii will look quite different in 2020. Mountain West Coach of the Year Nick Rolovich (who resigned abruptly on January 13 to take the head job at Washington State) and his staff have moved on, so Todd Graham will now coach the Warriors. Graham brings along OCs GJ Kinne and Tony Hull, and Victor Santa Cruz will fill the defensive coordinator duties along with Jacob Yoro. Needless to say, it’s a somewhat unexpected new era for Hawaii football. 

Looking at the schedule, Hawaii has a couple of big matchups right out of the gate with a road game at Arizona and a home game against UCLA. There’s an Oregon trip right before the open week, and a lot of intimidating matchups beyond. The Warriors will have to contend with Nevada, Air Force, Boise State, Fresno State and San Diego State later in the season, all of whom should have pretty stout teams in 2020. Hawaii is going to have to figure out their new team identity quickly to avoid getting swallowed. 

Pick: I’m staying under. The number here seems right on so this one is tough, but the offseason coaching shakeup has left Hawaii in a pretty precarious position. Are there seven potential wins on the schedule? Yes, but the Warriors will have to take out at least a couple of pretty darn good teams to get there, and I don’t know that Hawaii will be able to gather much of a rhythm behind a new coaching staff and a strange offseason. This is probably a rebuilding year best suited to gauge the new coaching staff and the Warriors’ future potential. 

2020 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors Football Schedule 

Day, Date                                     Opponent

Saturday, August 29                       at Arizona 

Saturday, September 5                   UCLA 

Saturday, September 12                 Fordham  

Saturday, September 19                 at Oregon 

Saturday, September 26                 OPEN 

Saturday, October 3                       Nevada  

Saturday, October 10                     New Mexico State  

Saturday, October 17                     at Air Force   

Saturday, October 24                     Boise State 

Saturday, October 31                     at Fresno State 

Saturday, November 7                   New Mexico 

Saturday, November 14                 UNLV 

Saturday, November 21                 at San Jose State 

Saturday, November 28                 at San Diego State 

Saturday, December 5                   MWC Championship