Now, that wasn't really so hard, was it?

A completed 2008 University of Hawai'i football schedule and 10 months before the kickoff of the season opener, too. What a concept.

A real schedule, to boot, with teams we have heard of and, more to the point, actually seen on television. Brand names like Florida, Oregon State, Washington State ... not who-da-guys that send you scrambling to Google.

There is even a Cincinnati team that is currently ranked and brings with it some recognition and box office appeal after the rumble in 2002, making it, all in all, a well-rounded schedule of interest.

Of course, before the applause gets too heavy and too many bows are taken, let's remember this is more akin to the lineup quarterback Colt Brennan and the Warriors should have had for this season. It is a gift delivered one Christmas late, teams to challenge them and make their mark against, not Northern Colorado and Charleston Southern, where the point spread looks like a trade deficit with China.

You would hope athletic director Herman Frazier has learned the lesson here. That being it is wise to schedule well in advance so that sudden forces such as the NCAA permitting a 13th game, Michigan State weaseling out of a contract or the emergence of a star quarterback don't leave you with four holes where there should have been but two.

Most athletic directors schedule well into the future. At the time of UH's visit to Alabama in Sept. 2006, the Crimson Tide's Mal Moore pulled out a schedule that was already set through 2012. Nevada-Las Vegas is already there, too. There is no earthly reason UH shouldn't have been. A point not longer lost on folks in Manoa after finding themselves in a situation where Charleston Southern could leverage contract talks to the point of getting another game at Aloha Stadium in 2011.

The good news is that 2009, 2010 and 2011 are nearly complete for the Warriors with recognizable teams — Wisconsin, Colorado, Southern California and Washington State, among others — to be found.

Now, Frazier can get on to football coach June Jones' contract, raising money for capital improvements, reading that Carmyn James lawsuit and a dozen other pressing issues.

But the final chapter on the 2007 schedule debacle remains to be written. The looming question to be answered is whether the lollygagging on this season schedule ultimately hurts the Warriors or curiously ends up helping them.

If UH should manage to go through the regular season 12-0 and find itself in a lucrative Bowl Championship Series game, then Frazier's folly will actually have paid off for the Warriors, having eased their way. But, should they go undefeated and get passed over by the BCS then there will be no doubt who dropped the ball.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.