ESPN.550.com
This was going to be one of those victories that University of Hawaii football fans were going to be talking about for years.
But a not so funny thing happened to UH en route to an apparent win over a team that already had assured itself of a berth in a BCS bowl game.
Depending on your perspective, either 13th-ranked Cincinnati rose to the challenge or Hawaii simply collapsed down the stretch.
Either way, the Bearcats rallied for 19 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to make up a 14-point deficit for a 29-24 win at Aloha Stadium.
After just about everything that could go right did for UH en route to a 24-10 lead after 45 minutes: Quarterback Greg Alexander was on the mark with his passes. The defense was containing Cincinnati's attack.
And then, just about everything that could go wrong did during the decisive four quarter.
The play that triggered the turnaround came with 5:05 left in the game and UH leading by four. On first down deep in its own territory, UH inexplicably called on Daniel Libre to run the ball wide to the left. Libre fumbled and recovered the ball in the end zone, giving Cincinnati a safety and forcing UH to give the ball right back on a free kick.
Cincinnati promptly scored a touchdown and, as a resulted, will be taking an 11-2 record into its New Year's Day showdown against ACC champion Virginia Tech in Miami.
UH did receive a consolation prize, of sorts: A chance to play against Notre Dame in the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve. But for the moment, that's small consolation, isn't it?
WAHINE ADVANCE The sixth-ranked Rainbow Wahine swept their way through Los Angeles. Next stop in their itinerary: Fort Collins, Colorado.
Hawaii roared into the regionals of the NCAA women's volleyball tournament with a pair of impressive victories in the sub-regional rounds..
On Friday, the Rainbow Wahine opened with a 25-19, 25-11, 25-22 romp past Atlantic Sun Conference champion Belmont.
On Saturday, UH pounded out a 25-21, 25-18, 25-22 win over 12th-ranked and sub-regional host USC. Jamie Houston's 17 kills and freshman Kanani Danielson's double-double of 11 kills and 15 digs led Hawaii, which improved its record to 30-3.
Friday's turnout was about 200; Saturday's was 1,019, with a surprisingly large portion of the crowd rooting for the visitors from Hawaii. Hawaii applied for and was denied the opportunity to host a sub-regional, despite again leading the nation in average attendance with well over 5,000 fans per game.
UH will next play against 10th-seeded Purdue (26-8) on Friday. Second-seeded Stanford (28-3) will face 15th-seeded Florida in the other regional semifinal.
HOOPS UDATE: Things haven't gone as well for the UH women's basketball team this season, although the Rainbow Wahine did improve their record to 2-7 last night with a 74-46 rout of UC Irvine in the third-place game of a tournament in Tempe, Ariz. Sophomore point guard Keisha Kanekoa led the way with a 19-point, 11-rebound, six-assist performance in the victory and was named to the all-tourney team.
The UH men, winners of three straight, face a major basketball challenge tonight on the road against Illinois of the Big Ten.
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