When the University of Hawai'i football team chases a milestone this season, it often seems that it is one established by the 1992 UH team.

Only Top 20 finish in the polls? It was 1992.

Best season winning percentage? It was the 11-2 1992 (.846) squad.

Only team to play in a Mainland postseason bowl? Yup, '92 again.

This year marks an anniversary of sorts, the 15th season since that pace-setting team won a share of the Western Athletic Conference championship and beat Illinois in the Holiday Bowl, and what better time to commemorate that UH team? The Circle of Honor selection committee is at work on choosing the next class of inductees to the school's athletic shrine and this is a 24-karat opportunity to honor a deserving team and its coaches.

It is a prime time opportunity to recall and salute one of the high points in UH football and the school's athletic history. For one thing, the selection is well overdue. There should already be a plaque hung in its honor in the Stan Sheriff Center. For another, it would help give perspective to the accomplishments this year's Warriors are pursuing. Indeed, the 1992 team occupies a special place in UH history, having set the standard on so many levels.

It was also a team that marked the pinnacle of the Bob Wagner years as head coach. In nine seasons, Wagner took UH to its first share of a WAC title in football, its first NCAA bowl (1989) and its first bowl victory (1992). His 58-49-3 reign will also be remembered for ending Brigham Young's decade-long streak of domination. The 1992 team was one of his three teams that beat BYU.

The 1992 team was, until June Jones' teams came along, a pacesetter on offense, one of two teams in school history to that point to finish in the top 10 nationally in scoring offense (the other being 1989) and one of the most popular, averaging 44,431 tickets distributed per game.

It was a team in the sense of the word, but also a composite of stars from All-American kicker Jason Elam and the school's last 1,000-yard plus running back Travis Sims (1,498), to quarterback Michael Carter and defensive stalwarts Maa Tanuvasa, Bryan Addison and Taase Faumui.

So far there are only three UH football teams in the quarter century-old Circle of Honor, and none since the celebrated 1955 squad. It is time for a representative of the modern, all-college Division I age. Until the 2007 team finishes its season and much hoped-for Bowl Championship Series end, there is no better candidate for enshrinement than the 1992 team, which set the bar and provides perspective on greatness for all that follow.

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