The Pac-10 will be coming to the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl in 2006.

In an agreement that will be announced today, the bowl will sign a four-year contract extension with Conference USA to play a Western Athletic Conference team through 2009.

But as part of the deal, Conference USA will agree to bow out in 2006 and allow the Pac-10's sixth-place team to play a WAC team. C-USA will return to play in the bowl in 2007. The Pac-10 might return in 2008 or 2009.

"I would think that would help the attendance making it a West Coast team," University of Hawai'i football coach June Jones said. "I'm glad that the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl is in existence because the viewing audience has been one of the higher (ones). It's a positive for everybody."

Conference USA consists of Central Florida, East Carolina, Houston, Marshall, Memphis, Rice, Southern Methodist, Southern Mississippi, Tulane, Tulsa and Texas-El Paso and UAB.

The Pac-10 consists of Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Oregon State, Southern California, Stanford, UCLA, Washington and Washington State.

There are more Pac-10 alumni than Conference USA alumni in Hawai'i. For instance, Oregon's alumni in Hawai'i number about 1,400.

"The Pac-10 looks forward to participating in the Hawai'i Bowl," Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen said. "Hawai'i is a wonderful destination for our student-athletes and our fans and Hawai'i has an affinity with the West Coast that makes this a great fit for the Pac-10."

UH has represented the WAC the past three Hawai'i Bowls, which is owned and operated by ESPN Regional Television.

This year's game will be played Saturday, Dec. 24, at Aloha Stadium and will be telecast on ESPN.

Bowl Executive Director Jim Donovan said the 2006 game "in all likelihood will be played one or two days on either side of Christmas, or on Christmas." He said decisions aren't made until April of May before the bowl.

Donovan said having the Pac-10 in the Hawai'i Bowl mix is "the best of both worlds" given the competitive WAC-Conference USA games and the high interest in Pac-10 teams.