For Hawaii, This Is a Travel Brochure : Holiday: Rainbows hope first bowl game on the mainland will aid recruiting.

Beyond the perfunctory luncheons with service clubs and sundry other fetes, playing in one of these December college bowl games has an altogether different purpose.

Recruiting.

“Recruiting is like selling any product,” said Coach Bob Wagner of Hawaii. “It’s name recognition.”

So, yes, playing in their first mainland bowl game--the Thrifty Car Rental Holiday Bowl--is an important recruiting tool for the Rainbows.

Hawaii, the Western Athletic Conference champion, will play Illinois, fourth in the Big Ten, at 5 p.m. today at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium in a game that means little in the greater scheme of college football.

But to the schools involved, being here amounts to one more sales pitch.

It could also provide a boost to Illinois Coach Lou Tepper, whose Fighting Illini (6-4-1) are playing in their fourth consecutive bowl despite a mediocre season.

Things have gotten so bad around Illinois that a victory over Hawaii (10-2) could do something for morale. This, after all, is a team, that lost to Northwestern and Minnesota, defeated Wisconsin by a point and Purdue by three.

Wagner, whose teams have averaged eight victories a season in the last five years, recognizes an opportunity when one knocks. Exposure is difficult to obtain when your games are being played while most of the nation sleeps, as is the case in Hawaii, what with the time difference.

In his dream, Hawaii would play home games on Friday night, then make the national TV clips on Saturday. Fat chance. So far, Wagner has been unable to gain support for Saturday afternoon games, which would at least get Hawaii’s scores printed in some Sunday newspapers besides Honolulu’s.

Mainland insomniacs have been the Rainbows’ biggest fans outside of Hawaii. For everyone else, tonight’s nationally televised game is a chance to see one of college football’s best-kept secrets.

“A lot of how we’re perceived is how we do in this game,” Wagner said.

Wagner has faced this image problem head-on. Even some of the Islands’ best talent shuns Hawaii for mainland schools.

“I call it the missionary influence,” he said.

There was a time when islanders interested in higher education needed to leave because of lack of options. Although that has changed, Wagner said the school’s perception needs some polish.

“You still have local kids whose parents feel like they have to go to the mainland to grow up,” he said. “Hawaii is so much more cosmopolitan now. It is not the place it was 20 years ago. It is not a little bit of a backwater place.”

In a football sense, Hawaii is one of the country’s innovative enclaves. Wagner instituted a triple-option offense that has produced the country’s second-leading rushing team, gaining 293.3 yards a game and averaging 32.8 points.

“Bob has really come up with some imaginative looks,” Illinois’ Tepper said. “We’ve played no one who spreads you so far across the field.”

Michael Carter, a junior from Long Beach Poly High, has started the last nine games as Hawaii’s quarterback, the pivotal position in the option. Ivin Jasper, a junior from L.A. Jordan, has been Carter’s backup as well as a slotback.

Travis Sims, a senior from Washington, is sixth nationally and second in the WAC in rushing with 1,498 yards in 220 carries. He scored nine touchdowns and averaged 124.8 yards a game.

Illinois relies on Jason Verduzco, a senior quarterback from Antioch, Calif., who completed 158 of 248 passes for 1,531 yards and eight touchdowns. He will finish his career as one of the Big Ten’s best passers, but the offense has not exactly been potent.

“We have really struggled on offense,” Tepper said. “We haven’t scored as many points as I would like. We have a good foundation on defense. We’re just trying to reach some balance.”

And perhaps put on a good show for potential recruits.