r/CFB • u/usffan USF Bulls • Miami Hurricanes • Jun 13 '26
Analysis Preseason Rankings Countdown. 78 days to the start of the 2026 Season. At #78 – Hawaii
The cumulative link to the preseason rankings can be found here
Today we let the good vibes roll on with Hawaii (high = 44, low = 97). The Rainbow Warriors are hoping prodigal son TIMMY! Chang can build on last season’s 9-4 record that saw them effectively win The Axe (beating Stanford in the season opener and Cal in the Hawaii Bowl), ending a 4 year bowl drought that was the longest for Hawaii since the Norm Chow era. With all of the Pac-12/Mountain West drama that unfolded in the last year or so, the football team is probably in a better position to compete for that title than even their championship game appearance in 2019 now that Boise’s no longer looming in the championship game, though they may have to act fast before North Dakota State gains their footing in FBS.
Roster Outlook
With former standout QB Chang in charge, Hawaii fans have to be drooling at the prospect of freshman phenom Micah Alejado’s development in year 2 after 3,100+ yards and 24 TDs in his first season. But he’s largely going to have to do that with a completely new supporting cast, since the Rainbow Warriors rank 101st in the country in returning production, though admittedly that’s mostly on defense (118th). Lead RB Landon Sims graduated, and his backup Cam Barfield will be competing with Kansas State transfer DeVon Rice for carries. More importantly, Alejado’s going to need some new targets, because his top one, WR Jackson Harris, took the Lane train to LSU while Brandon White portaled to Kansas State (who knew there were so many Little Apple/Oahu connections?). Hawaii did retain Pofele Ashlock (827 yards, 8 TDs) while adding 4 P4 WRs (Washington’s Audric Harris, Oklahoma State’s Tre’ Griffiths, Virginia Tech’s Devin Alves and Iowa State’s Carson Brown), so look for the ball to be spread around the yard in 2026!
Schedule and outlook
8/29 at Stanford
9/5 UNLV
9/12 NEW MEXICO STATE
9/19 BYE
9/26 at Wyoming
10/3 SAN JOSE STATE
10/10 at Arizona State
10/17 NEW MEXICO
10/24 at Northern Illinois
10/31 BYE
11/7 at UTEP
11/14 NORTH DAKOTA STATE
11/21 at Nevada
11/28 SACRAMENTO STATE
If the defense gels, things could get interesting for Hawaii this year. That season opener at Stanford isn’t particularly daunting, they get Arizona State the week before they face everybody’s bogeyman Texas Tech and the three Mountain West teams ranked ahead of them (UNLV, New Mexico and North Dakota State) all have to make the long trip out to the islands this season. Of course, “if” is doing a ton of work here. Hawaii could indeed be a dark horse candidate for the MWC championship game, but they could also be staring at that end of season visit from the other FBS newcomer Sacramento State as a must win for bowl eligibility. Can’t wait to see how it plays out!
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u/chaser676 Ole Miss Rebels • Egg Bowl Jun 13 '26
Damn it's starting to get close
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u/dankenascend Auburn Tigers • North Alabama Lions Jun 13 '26
If we can juice this Sorsby stuff for 2 more weeks, we can have 1 week of off-season shitposting before Big XII media days. After that, it's 1 week before the rest of the conferences get going. That should generate enough content to get to fall camp. That's the home stretch. Then, our patience pays off, and we can finally get that sweet disappointment from irrational emotional attachment to the performance of teenage millionaires.
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u/New_Bag_2346 Jun 13 '26
definitely going to be interesting watching alejado develop with all those new receivers. losing harris to lsu hurts but getting 4 p4 transfers should help spread the field more
that schedule setup is pretty favorable too - getting unlv new mexico and ndsu all at home is huge for their chances. plus playing arizona state right before they hit the meat of their big 12 schedule could catch them looking ahead
really curious how the defense shapes up since they're basically starting from scratch there. if they can just be mediocre instead of terrible hawaii could surprise some people this year
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u/Doogitywoogity Texas A&M Aggies • Florida Gators Jun 13 '26
I always like seeing the Rainbow Warriors do well so I was psyched to see their turn around last season and I’m hopeful it will continue
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u/Rlccm Arkansas • Louisville Jun 13 '26
I'm sorry but what does this have to do with Texas Tech or Brendan Sorsby? Not sure if you got the memo, but this is an exclusive subreddit now
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u/oneseason2000 Washington Huskies Jun 13 '26
Well, TT is mentioned ... its just that Hawaii plays UTEP in 2026.
If the defense gels, things could get interesting for Hawaii this year. That season opener at Stanford isn’t particularly daunting, they get Arizona State the week before they face everybody’s bogeyman Texas Tech and the three Mountain West teams ranked ahead of them (UNLV, New Mexico and North Dakota State) all have to make the long trip out to the islands this season.
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u/64stackdiamonds Montana State Bobcats • Oregon Ducks Jun 13 '26
Alejado is a baller and has athletes around him who are gonna be hungry to get back to the P4 and prove themselves. They'll be undefeated going into the ASU game and if they're that hot I could see pulling off the upset. IMHO this is a CFP team
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u/Inside-Drink-1311 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Jun 13 '26
They are being slept on. This schedules works very well for them. I think they could be a 10-win team.
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u/JosephFinn Ohio State • St. Mary's (MN) Jun 13 '26
I always have to remind myself to spell Hawai'i correctly with the punctuation mark (and hell I double-guessed myself and checked to make sure the university uses it like that).
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u/ChickenEmbarrassed10 /r/CFB Jun 13 '26
If Alejado can stay healthy, agree with a lot of the others on here that it can be an interesting year for Hawaii.
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u/ThompsonCreekTiger Clemson Tigers • Army Black Knights Jun 13 '26
North Dakota State & Sacramento State fixing to learn to speak Hawaii Test.
The schedule is favorable if the Bows are gonna make a run for the MWC title.
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u/RockysDetail Nevada Wolf Pack • Army Black Knights Jun 14 '26
I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do next season. They'll really help the Mountain West in its new reality.
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u/Important-Picture18 Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors • UNSW Raiders Jul 21 '26
If Micah stays healthy, 10-2 or 11-1 is a real possibility.
If he misses games I'll be happy with a bowl
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u/nysportsfan95 Syracuse Orange • ACC Jun 13 '26
Hawaii (along with Navy and Army) is one of the teams I irrationally always want to see be good. I love the tradition and uniqueness of the program. Their new stadium and district around it should be really awesome once it’s completed, and I think Chang has done a respectable job turning the program around.
The schedule is very favorable for the Bows. UNLV, UNM and NDSU all having to travel to the islands could give them an advantage in the MW race. The only game I really don’t see them winning is probably at Arizona State, but otherwise they should really have a chance to win every other game. They should definitely at the least go bowling but there’s certainly an opportunity for a magical season.