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Arizona vs. Hawaii football: TV channel, game time, odds and predictions (August 24, 2019)

Q: How many times has Arizona and Hawaii played each other?

5 times. Arizona has won every time..

By Kevin Duffey

Published: Aug 24, 2019 · 1:23 PM EDT

The Arizona Wildcats face off against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors on the opening night of college football for the 2019 season. Arizona and Hawaii will play on Saturday night, August 24, 2019 at 10:30 p.m. eastern time. The game is taking place in Honolulu, Hawaii. The stadium is Aloha Stadium.

These teams are not strangers, as they played each other as recently as 2016 when Arizona welcomed Hawaii and beat the Rainbow Warriors by a score of 47-28. The teams have played each other off and on going back decades.

Neither Arizona or Hawaii are currently ranked going into the 2019 season, though Arizona is a team getting much attention with second year head coach Kevin Sumlin and renowned quarterback Khalil Tate. Tate struggled with injuries last season, and Sumlin’s debut at Arizona wasn’t exactly what fans were hoping for. But optimism is high going into the 2019 campaign.

The Arizona Wildcats went 5-7 during the 2018 season, a disappointing season for new head coach Kevin Sumlin. The Wildcats scored important wins over Oregon State, Cal, Oregon and Colorado, but suffered losses against Utah, UCLA, Houston, Washington State, BYU and most importantly, their rival, Arizona State. Last year, Sumlin’s squad got off to a rocky start by losing the opener to BYU by a score of 28-23. Arizona is indeed hoping for a better outcome for the 2019 opener.

The Arizona vs. Hawaii game was scheduled to the current “Week zero” time slot along with the Florida-Miami game giving the game quite a bit more attention than it likely would have received had it been scheduled for next weekend. This “week zero” weekend slot is important as the nation’s attention will be squarely on Arizona and Hawaii.

Arizona Wildcats vs. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football TV channel

The Arizona-Hawaii game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network. The kickoff is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. eastern time.

This game will take place after the other big national matchup of Florida-Miami which takes place at 7:00 p.m. and will air on ESPN.

Arizona Wildcats vs. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football players to watch

You can’t talk Arizona football without talking about quarterback Khalil Tate. Going back to the 2017 season, the college football world was enamoured with Khalil Tate. Tate broke on to the scene when he came off the bench against Colorado in the 2017 season and rattled off 327 rushing yards (which broke a record for quarterback rushing in FBS). He finished the year with over 1,400 rushing yards and nearly 1,600 passing yards. This performance put him on Heisman lists as we approached kickoff for the 2018 season, but then 2018 was a bit of a dud for Tate.

To open the season, Tate’s Wildcats lost to BYU and Houston and Tate’s rushing yards were almost non-existent. Tate was also dealing with injuries (notably his ankle) through much of the season. So, now, Tate is supposedly healthy and ready to rebound. Can he return to what college football thought he could be at the end of the 2017 season? How Arizona and Tate play tonight against Hawaii will go along way toward getting the Tate momentum going again.

Other players that will be important for Arizona during the Hawaii game are defensive end Kylan Wilborn, defensive end Justin Belknap and defensive tackle Finton Connolly.

Arizona Wildcats vs. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football key stories

Hawaii returns 20 starters this season and is coming off of its first winning season since 2010. Offensively, Hawaii returns nine starters from a unit that was one of the best in the country in passing office: 9th nationally with 310.3 passing yards per game.

This is the 8th time in ten years that Hawaii opens the season against a Pac-12 team. Hawaii’s last six power-five wins have come against Pac-12 teams.

The August 24th start date is the earliest opener ever for Hawaii.

Arizona Wildcats vs. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football odds

Arizona is favored by 11 points against Hawaii. The line originally opened at -11.5 but has moved down to -11 in recent weeks. Note that a handful of books might have the line at 10.5.

The over/under for the game is set for 72.5.

Arizona Wildcats vs. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors Predictions

Most “experts” seem to be going with Arizona to win the game, but fans are mixed on who will cover the 11-point spread.

Week 0 #CFB Picks

Desmond Howard – Arizona

Michael Irvin – Arizona

Lee Corso – Arizona

Kirk Herbstreit – Arizona

NCAAFNation247 – Arizona

— NCAAF Nation (@NCAAFNation247) August 24, 2019

Arizona Wildcats vs. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football history

Arizona and Hawaii have played each other five times going back to 1951 and Arizona has won every single matchup.

1951: Arizona beat Hawaii 32-21
1952: Arizona beat Hawaii 57-7
1977: Arizona beat Hawaii 17-10
1998: Arizona beat Hawaii 27-6
2016: Arizona beat Hawaii 47-28

The biggest margin of victory was the 1952 matchup when Arizona won the game by a score of 57-7.

Arizona Wildcats vs. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors further reading

Looking to dig further into this Florida and Miami matchup? Here are some resources for additional reading:

Kevin Sumlin Opening Game History

Kevin Sumlin was the haed coach of Houston (2008-2011), Texas A&M (2012-2017) and Arizona (2018-present). Let’s have a look at how Sumlin has performed in opening games:

2008: Houston win over Southern
2009: Houston win over Northwestern State
2010: Houston win over Texas State
2011: Houston win over UCLA
2012: Texas A&M loss vs. Florida
2013: Texas A&M win over Rice
2014: Texas A&M win over South Carolina
2015: Texas A&M win over Arizona State
2016: Texas A&M win over UCLA
2017: Texas A&M loss vs. UCLA
2018: Arizona loss vs. BYU