They didn't want to start the season in Palo Alto, Calif., so they decided to go to Honolulu.

The Arizona football team will open up the 1998 football season on the "Island of Paradise" when it takes on Hawaii on Sept. 5.

UA associate athletic director Butch Henry, who was responsible for putting together the schedule, said that UA was interested in playing a game before facing Stanford on Sept. 12. Stanford will play a game before the two teams meet as well.

"And Hawaii agreed to pay our expenses," he said.

Another plus for the Wildcats is that the game will not count as one of the 11 games that qualify a team for postseason play. In an 11-game season, a school must win six games against Division I teams to qualify for a bowl bid.

Arizona head coach Dick Tomey, who would be in his 12th season at Arizona in 1998, coached the Rainbows from 1977-86 and was named the Western Athletic Conference coach of the year in 1981.

The last time Arizona played Hawaii was Tomey's first year in Honolulu. Current Wildcat assistant Marc Lunsford led UA to a 17-10 victory.

The rest of the 1998 nonconference schedule includes a Sept. 19 home game against Iowa, a Sept. 26 road trip to San Diego State and an Oct. 24 home game against Northeast Louisiana. The game against Northeast Louisiana was scheduled after a tentative agreement to play Virginia fell through.

The 1997 nonconference schedule includes home dates against Alabama-Birmingham and San Diego State, as well as a Sept. 20 road game with Ohio State.

When speaking to Arizona softball head coach Mike Candrea earlier this year, Tomey said that he would love to coach a sport where Southern Cal does not have a team, which is the case with softball.

Well, Tomey will get his chance during the '97 and '98 seasons, as Arizona does not play the Trojans.

Every two years, one Pac-10 school is left off the schedule. This fall, Arizona will miss Stanford for the second year in a row.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.